Britain's Best Woodworker

[Droogs]

Methinks there will be a considerable amount of slightly used clamps on sale very soon

Too late, the sale of all the equipment was conducted by Felder/Hammer a couple of months ago, in fact one of the members here got one of the combination machines, I think

 

[MARK.B.]

Could be clue that there will not be a second series

 

[Jameshow]

Just catching up on it!!

These three woodworkers are the best in Britain.... Sorry guys someone has to tell you ...

 

[Woodernhift]

Misty good designer, but a woodworker? Her final piece looked good but single screws into end grain! I’d give it a couple of weeks of use at most before it fell apart.

 

[Padster]

Once I stopped thinking of it as a woodworking show, I did enjoy it, and watched with my wife and daughter - as many have said it got treated a bit like bake off, but less coherent. Rahda did have the best joinery skills, but that wasn't really the brief in the end. Design concepts in wood is perhaps a better definition of what it was and Misty had a lot of the best designs, and was able to turn those designs into concepts or prototypes that if then given to a more skilled carpenter/joiner/woodworker could have been turned into viable products.

It was watchable and I'd watch a second season but would prefer ... a slightly different title, different presenter and different judges, but if they didn't change I'd still watch, it was ok entertainment.

Padster

 

[grumpy brit]

The truth is that the shows name does not tally with what they're actually judging. It should be "Britains Best Wood Maker". They focus a LOT on design rather than quality of workmanship.

Of course, they're trying to cater to as wide an audience as Bake Off does, and I applaud them for that. I would love to be watching a hardcore woodworking version, but the audience would be tiny and I'd rather see more people getting interested in the subject.

There is You tube for the more hardcore "woodworker". As you say, this series is for a wide audience, many of whom wouldn't know fine workmanship if it stood up and bit them on the bum. I hasten to add that Im not sure that I could have done any better than any of them, I did see the fatal flaw in Mistys project, but having said that, cutting all those angles, hats of to her.

 

[Stigmorgan]

There is You tube for the more hardcore "woodworker". As you say, this series is for a wide audience, many of whom wouldn't know fine workmanship if it stood up and bit them on the bum. I hasten to add that Im not sure that I could have done any better than any of them, I did see the fatal flaw in Mistys project, but having said that, cutting all those angles, hats of to her.

I think there were a couple on the show early on that everyone here would have been better than.

 

[Slinx]

Who is he? And what are his wood working credentials?

Not exactly Paul sellars, Chris tribe or Peter sefton... Let alone the many many bespoke craftsmen up and down the country....

Cheers James

That’s a great idea. Real woodworkers setting achievable tasks, who can actually comment on techniques used- not just the design

 

[Nelly111s]

For all those in this thread who think the title of the programme is wrong, spend 3 minutes watching this video …Mission statement

or even if you’re ok with the title, if you’ve ever had a corporate job.

 

[MorrisWoodman12]

Several people have said it needs different judges. Well how about our own @Peter Sefton for one?

 

[Droogs]

As long as it's not Jeremy Broun

 

[Peter Sefton]

Several people have said it needs different judges. Well how about our own @Peter Sefton for one?

Ha Ha, It's so subjective, not sure I would want all the public scrutiny

Thanks for thinking of me though

Cheers

Peter

 

[Cooper]

It was a good pilot and I hope it makes it to a second series. If it does I think the participants will be better prepared and the there will be a step change in the technical quality of the projects. It is always going to be a mix of design and execution skills and those that excel in both will progress. I hope we will meet some really exciting makers that can inspire new generations of skilled woodworkers.

I agree but less of that dreadful presenter please and more shots of their hands doing stuff and not their faces. They have bits of equipment I'd never seen before, for example the electric chisel when they whittled and the digital angle marker version of a sliding bevel, they could have highlighted. It would also have been interesting to see how Misty marked out the plywood fixings/joints on her pavilion. I suspect that a lot more of actual work and detailing is done or suggested by the technicians.
I was pleased that Radha didn't win, though without a doubt he is the better crafts person. He made a real mess of some of his M&Ts. He should have made much better use of the materials and his chunky dowels should have been his construction of choice, given the time constraints and could have been a real feature of his design. (Were they suggested by the technicians?)
Why didn't she (I forget her name) use a stapler on the wigwam? After she split the first slat she must have known nailing it would be a disaster and the first thing you would see. Or she could have piloted the holes.

I could never go on a show like that though, as I'm exhausted after a couple of hours in my shed and need a nap and I would spend far too much time working out the details of my design.

 

[Spectric]

All I can say is that the winner was ok with ideas and designs but he was not so good at putting them into reality, so really a good woodworker should have both and design for manufacture. Also that other younger guy who did the lion, I think he was more skilled but just managed time badly so in another show, different judges he could easily have won.

 

[SteveH2]

At the end of the day we are never going to properly see what the contestants can do or see a polished result because these programs (whether this, or Bake Off or Sewing Bee......) never give someone a realistic amount of time to do the job ?

 

[biskit]

I would have liked them to have used only hand tools not Powertools. As I did for the first half of my carpenter and joinery life.

 

[Dynamite]

Rhada should have won IMO. The enemy of the series and the builds was time!!!

Kind Regards..........Rob

 

[Smike]

Most of what I had to say has already been said. I think Rhada should have won as he produced the best woodwork.

In the workshops I’ve worked Misty wouldn’t be allowed in, with those loose clothes and scarves etc

It made a change from endless cooking programs though.

Be good to have a proper woodworking show ...

 

[thetyreman]

hopefully there's no second series, it was awful

 

[cisamcgu]

I rather enjoyed it. Mel tried her best but the judges just sucked the life out of it.