Britain's Best Woodworker

[Chunkytfg]

Whatever, I am a fan of this entertainment show, which is not a woodworking tutorial. Misti’s chair was spectacular, if a little unsteady.

Agreed. Got to appreciate his design ability and surprising skill at turning it into reality with aparently any previous experience.

Joe's chair was lovely too. I do love a bit of bent lamination and his design without trying to over complicate it was spot on.

 

[robgul]

Another vote for Joe's chair - very clever, especially in the time. The one thing I would have done which I think would have improved appearance and usability would have been to create a radius corner cut out in the front leg area to give the appearance of separate, wide, "legs" and space for the user's heels/feet when getting out of the chair.

Misti's chair was clever and well made, but not to my taste.

. . . and Mel's part in the programme is going from dire to even more dire - adds nothing at all. Judges seemed slightly more human this week.

 

[Bristol_Rob]

Agree, this episode was better.
Joe was a deserving winner

I find the lady judge irritating as she is critical without adding any value.

As for someone wearing red trousers

Next week they crack open the chain saws

 

[Doug71]

I enjoyed it.

I would have sent Rahda home rather than the older lady.

They seemed to struggle whittling a spoon so the chainsaw carving could be interesting!

 

[Cooper]

I can't believe that the chap who made the bent wood chair didn't have a plan in mind. How else could the technicians have known to build him the drum former, which in itself I found the most interesting thing in the show. How did he fix the bends together?

I didn't like the idea that the chair design had to meet all the requirements of an ergonomically designed chair yet be unusual/quirky. I think a traditionally designed and elegant chair would have really displayed their design and making skills far better. The laminated chair with the seat reaching the ground at the front would have been really difficult to get in and out of. You need your heels under you the lower and lift yourself in and out. But I think it amazing he achieved the laminate so well. Again I think the technicians must have played a big part in making the former, the pieces were on his bench at the beginning of the show.

The oak chair with all the slats was obviously the design of someone who had spent their career as a designer but the flimsy construction seemed typical of someone who was used to sending a sketch to a professional workshop to have things made but had no real understanding of the engineering required to construct it. It looked nice though.

I would have liked to see more of the chair with the square section laminate. I couldn't see how it could be strong enough to take someones weight for more than a few moments.

The rocking chair with the back joined to the seat with Dovetails was mad. Its completely the wrong thing to do at a joint with so much leverage applied to it. Yet they commended his excellent "joinery" skills.

However, I think the contestants are doing really well to cope with the tight time constraints, silly commentary and superficial judgements. I will be watching next week.

 

[swisstony]

Well aside from the fact that finally something for me to watch than the guff my OH makes me watch. I can't be critical at all about the level of expertise or craftsmanship because all of the contestants could beat me hands down on skill ( well maybe not tim ) so I won't judge them on that. I think there are some interesting levels of woodworking , design on the show. Sure the presenting is pretty dire and less said about the judges the better ( wonder what kind of PJ's he wears unless he is ready for bed after the show ) however I spend my time just laughing at the 'eclectic ' mix we have. and WTF is happening with the technician who has a tache but wears his hair like Heidi !!

 

[Mike.R]

I caught the quick shot of the mustachioed technician with the Rapunzel like barnet.

Sooner or later that's going to get twisted round something that's spinning quite quickly.

 

[swisstony]

I caught the quick shot of the mustachioed technician with the Rapunzel like barnet.

Sooner or later that's going to get twisted round something that's spinning quite quickly.

My daughter sat through it last night ( I made her though as a yoooth she was multi-tasking between the show and tiktok/snapchat/whatever ) and she now thinks that all woodworkers are freaks and couldn't get her head round the concept of someone called Misti who looks like a wrestler with a deep voice yet is a 'she" and she was on the floor in tears when the technician came into view.

Observation : When Rhada was doing the resin pour, I spent some considerable time explaining what a form was , and why he was using melamine faced wood . She was looking puzzled until my wife piped up.. ' oh stop being complicated , its like a big jelly mould ! " I give up...

 

[recipio]

Joe did well to get the laminated ply down. Those Bessey clamps are really for light clamping - a set of Record sash clamps would have been better. As for Rhada attempting a resin pour with no experience -what could possibly go wrong Duh ! Does anyone know anything about that workshop ? Its pretty well equipped for a workshop with apparently no windows.

 

[Lonsdale73]

Those Bessey clamps....

If Axminster were hoping for some quality advertising and sales from their involvement then I guess they're going to be sorely disappointed.

When they announced the double elimination, I did wonder if the producers decided after the first two shows to speed things up a bit and save too much precious/expensive timber going to waste? And before a tool was touched, I predicted which two would exit. I thought they were a bit harsh on Michelle and the chair custom sized to suit her form and once again Radha got an easy ride. I was pleased for Joe, the one genuinely likeable contestant. I've never watched a single episode of Game of Thrones so Misti's creation meant nothing to me and wasn't to my liking; really not buying their "I've never done this before" b/s. Odds on eventual winner.

I find Bill almost as irritating as Tim was but with more ability. That said, he had an impressive show last night.

Given their involvement with the program, Axminstr's Craig and Colwin would have made far more credible and likeable judges albeit nowhere near as flamboyant/extrovert/loud!

 

[Jameshow]

Joe did well to get the laminated ply down. Those Bessey clamps are really for light clamping - a set of Record sash clamps would have been better. As for Rhada attempting a resin pour with no experience -what could possibly go wrong Duh ! Does anyone know anything about that workshop ? Its pretty well equipped for a workshop with apparently no windows.

Timber framed roof with pvc sides?

Where was it?

Devon? Derbyshire?

Cheers James

 

[swisstony]

Timber framed roof with pvc sides?

Where was it?

Devon? Derbyshire?

Cheers James

its in wales isn't it ? sure I saw a bloody big dragon on a flag at some point

 

[Chunkytfg]

its in wales isn't it ? sure I saw a bloody big dragon on a flag at some point

Google agrees with you . Wales

 

[Alpha-Dave]

I’m looking forward to the next one, it’s interesting to see how the challenges vary, but the overarching theme for me is that:
1) This is mostly about the design.
2) The overall finish&execution (the actual wood work) is then secondary.
3) There is little or no consideration about skills, productivity, safety, efficient use of materials or choice of production methods; all of that is covered by the ‘technicians’.

Therefore taking this as a competition to ‘design a thing (70% marks), and see if you can bodge it in 2 days (30% marks), then it is alright.

I would like to see a ‘second channel’ (maybe on YouTube) that covered the technicians building the jigs and doing most of the work.

 

[HamsterJam]

I thought the whittling was dangerous. Many occasions the contestants were cutting towards their hands and not a glove in sight. I would have thought the programme makers would at least have safety covered off.

 

[Alpha-Dave]

I thought the whittling was dangerous. Many occasions the contestants were cutting towards their hands and not a glove in sight. I would have thought the programme makers would at least have safety covered off.

While I agree in that I cringed a couple of times as there were shots of people pushing hard into the wood, where if there was a slip they would cut themselves, there must have been hundreds of knife-strokes where it didn’t go wrong, unless Joe’s injury was the only one shown.

I very much hope that no one is actually thinking that this could be instructive for someone wanting to learn to whittle (or make a bed!) any more than having watched Bake Off makes me able to make a wedding cake.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I thought the whittling was dangerous. Many occasions the contestants were cutting towards their hands and not a glove in sight. I would have thought the programme makers would at least have safety covered off.

people watch Formula One hoping to see an accident - maybe the producers work on this theory.

 

[HamsterJam]

people watch Formula One hoping to see an accident - maybe the producers work on this theory.

I really hope this doesn’t apply to the chainsaw episode next week.

 

[MARK.B.]

Chainsaw carving what could possibly go wrong

 

[HamsterJam]

I very much hope that no one is actually thinking that this could be instructive for someone wanting to learn to whittle (or make a bed!) any more than having watched Bake Off makes me able to make a wedding cake.

Although the public emulating what is shown on TV is a valid point, I was thinking more of the contestants injuring themselves and wondering how well the programme company’s safety regime would stand up to an investigation.