Series 3: Britain's Best Woodworker

[BucksDad]

It's a real stain on this forum that it's actually one of the moderators who always makes misogynistic comments

 

[robgul]

It's a real stain on this forum that it's actually one of the moderators who always makes misogynistic comments

Hey, lighten up there - the comment was really about her so-called "script" not the person - she's paid to do the acting and say the inane words - it could equally be a bloke . . . Alan Carr comes out with scripted drivel.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Perpetually.

 

[Jameshow]

It's very much

Hey, lighten up there - the comment was really about her so-called "script" not the person - she's paid to do the acting and say the inane words - it could equally be a bloke . . . Alan Carr comes out with scripted drivel.

Or Noel what's his face and Matt thingy me bob!

 

[C.R. Miller]

I've been a professional woodworker for almost 40 years, making anything from guitars and other musical instruments to expensive bespoke furniture in the style of Chippendale, Sheraton, Hepplewhite (mainly), John Makepeace, Krenov and C.R. Macintosh, as well as various Shaker designs. I've also made wooden boxes of all shapes and sizes, 3 dimensional childrens books and metal dovetailed infill planes.

I've watched the first two seasons of this show in full, and I do enjoy it a lot, but the title is woefully bad. For the most part these people are amateur woodworkers, school kids or "potterers" in wood - and that's fine. Nothing wrong with that, and I dare say all of us started from a similar low-ish standard. Sure the guys have shiny new tools - and some of them know how to use one or two of them. They also have a team of wood machinists preparing all their dimensioned stock according to their individual cutting lists... and that's fine as well, given the time constraints.

The problem for me though (and it's not really a problem because it adds drama) is that a lot of these contestants just try to take on too much in too little time. Sure, make a Carlton House desk - but in two days?? Get serious! Some of the designs are just way too ambitious, and I would prefer to see the contestants take on these challenges with a much more realistic timeframe. That's not going to happen, of course, because television is a very expensive business - and the producers love the drama and the turmoil. However I think that the experience for the contestants would be much more beneficial if they actually had enough time to really make their designs properly, rather than rush through them.

Mel doesn't really bother me that much as many of these types of shows tend to have weird/wacky presenters. The judges - which are also typical of these types of shows - are a bit "meh", showing little knowledge of, well, anything really. They might know a bit about design or know what a dovetail joint is, but that's about it. I personally don't expect that much from them and they do deliver on that.

Having said that, what many of these contestants do in such a short time is nothing short of remarkable, and some of the designs are truly spectacular. What I think is really good about these shows is that it gets people interested in making things. It can start them out on their journey to become a decent - even brilliant in some cases - woodworker, and that can only be seen as a good thing.

 

[TRITON]

Plus what this type of show does is helps convince people who feel they couldn't possibly achieve a woodworking project that they can.

Something I constantly get onto my sister about. And then one day(without any direct help from me) but with advice and encouragement built a series of fences around her hedges, to keep the dogs from getting through into next door.
Nothing fancy, simple posts with thin slats screwed to them, but she was proud as punch with her work.

We've went round them and she has pointed out flaws as she sees them. Difficulty here and there, to which I've been sympathetic and offered more advice as how to solve this problem or that, tips etc for fixing through thin slats avoiding splitting etc. Again noting too technical, no criticisms.

 

[Rhossydd]

The problem for me though (and it's not really a problem because it adds drama) is that a lot of these contestants just try to take on too much in too little time. Sure, make a Carlton House desk - but in two days?? Get serious! Some of the designs are just way too ambitious, and I would prefer to see the contestants take on these challenges with a much more realistic timeframe.

This is a really difficult issue for the contestants. Understanding how long a project might take when working at home is one thing, but working in a different TV environment is a whole can of worms.
How much time will be saved by having the cutting list pre-made ?
How much time will be saved by having high end tools at your disposal ?
How much time will be saved by have expert helpers ?
Have they any understanding of tightly they'll have to work to time constraints from the production ? No just carrying on for an extra half hour or more, fixed meal times, being interrupted to be filmed/interviewed ? almost certainly not.

It's enough to trip up really experienced craftspeople.

 

[Rhossydd]

Plus what this type of show does is helps convince people who feel they couldn't possibly achieve a woodworking project that they can.

Possibly, or possibly not. The show can also make people think that they need thousands of pounds of kit and loads of space to do anything too.

What would be nice to see is a hand tool only challenge one week to show what's possible without the expensive power tools.

 

[TRITON]

they need thousands of pounds of kit

Seems to have had some sort of influence on me

 

[Adam W.]

For the time scale they get the project are not that bad, yes the M&T are very dubious and one of the quotes I heard last night was "First time I've used a chisel" whether he was just saying that, hope so. As to "Britain's best wood worker" it is very much best of that bunch. The one bit that did niggle me though, the Black guy who made the covered bench looked stunning, by far the best joints but all they did was take the p***s out of it for it's size, and you are right that Mel woman tries way too hard to be funny.

What did the White guy make ?

 

[CaptainBudget]

I wonder if the green eyed monster isnt at the heart of some of the above comments. "Why are they on national TV, my stuff is so much better, why arent I on national tv meeting potential customers etc."

You're definitely right about that.

For every series that has come out there's been a thread on here, and the amount of butthurt in said threads is hilarious...

 

[Mickjay]

It both is and isn't about woodworking, A lot of it is about the contestants and their " backstory". As with many of these type of programmes there will be many hands assisting, in the background except these bits won't make for entertaining T.V. Which is why we won't see them

The guy with one arm will be particularly useful for the format - a plucky underdog who will have viewers rooting for him, and will come good in the end. Even if it is only to announce his upcoming marriage. Fair play to him for doing something that obviously gives him enjoyment If there is a will, then many things are not only possible but can be carried out to a high standard.

On the woodworking side of things, lots of the mortice and tenons that were shown were the wrong shape or the tenons themselves were too large, leaving only tiny amounts of end grain to prevent the structures collapsing. There seemed to be no helpful critique of the finished pieces, pointing out better ways of doing things.

So, will I be watching it again? Well , yes I will. I didn't watch the last series, but I will certainly try and catch a few more episode of this.

Regarding the guy with one arm, he started a YouTube channel as a means of helping his recovery, both mentally and physically. He makes some pretty impressive stuff, especially one armed. Check him out on Hand-i-Craft channel on YouTube. Oh and he is already married ;-)

 

[MF1000]

It's very much
Or Noel what's his face and Matt thingy me bob!

and Tom Alan is even worse

 

[MikeJhn]

It's a real stain on this forum that it's actually one of the moderators who always makes misogynistic comments

I could be offended by that if I knew what misogynisitc meant.

 

[cmoops2]

For the time scale they get the project are not that bad, yes the M&T are very dubious and one of the quotes I heard last night was "First time I've used a chisel" whether he was just saying that, hope so. As to "Britain's best wood worker" it is very much best of that bunch. The one bit that did niggle me though, the Black guy who made the covered bench looked stunning, by far the best joints but all they did was take the p***s out of it for it's size, and you are right that Mel woman tries way too hard to be funny.

What looked stunning - the black guy or the bench ?

 

[Nick.]

Regarding the guy with one arm, he started a YouTube channel as a means of helping his recovery, both mentally and physically. He makes some pretty impressive stuff, especially one armed. Check him out on Hand-i-Craft channel on YouTube. Oh and he is already married ;-)

Leo has just posted quite an interesting 'behind the scenes' view on what the programme involved and the design reasoning for his bench on the first episode, along with his views of what he would do differently in hindsight. I enjoyed his take on it all.

 

[TheUnicorn]

I was stumbling around the bbc iplayer yesterday and stumbled across 'loggerheads', broadly similar to handmade, but all greenwood projects, in teams of three, half hour episodes, worth a look

 

[Drifter2406]

What looked stunning - the black guy or the bench ?

LOL, without taking anything from the Black guy, the Bench,

 

[murphy]

Watched it last night, I did fast forward through some parts and it would be better without Mel but overall

Yes I agree, that Mel does my head in

 

[hlvd]

The New Yankee workshop used to drive me mad, was there any tool the guy didn't have?

To be fair to Norm, he was a skilled tradesman and knew how to use those tools both hand and powered.