Whatever Happened to Norm Abram?

[Calpol]

I've not seen him on the telly for ages, well into last year I think... I was hoping with Discovery Shed he'd be on all the time but still nope. He might well be on at some point but I haven't come across it!

:norm:

 

[BradNaylor]

He's still going strong in America

http://www.newyankee.com/index.php

For some reason, he seems to have fallen out of favour with the Discovery network over here, and his last few series have not been shown.

I don't understand why, unless it is simply down to Discovery not being prepared to pay the asking price. A few years ago every other bloke I met was a Norm fan, even if they didn't do any woodworking themselves. The viewing figures must have been respectable at least.

I will always owe Norm a debt of gratitude for reawakening my interest in woodworking after a gap of twenty-odd years. It is now my living.

I've got a signed photo of him over my bench!

Norm rocks!

 

[mailee]

I couldn't agree more Brad. He was an inspiration to me many years ago in my Pine period. Learned a few tricks from him in the past. I have a lot of the early series on DVD so I can repeat my own but not the same as watching new ones. I have my fingers crossed they will bring him back in a new series. (Maybe if he did a few projects on angling like make your own rod rest or something) :lol:

 

[FogggyTown]

I used to enjoy watching Nahm until it got to the point where I was watching the same episodes from 1997 evry 8 weeks. I swear if I had to watch him upholster that &£*?#% ottoman one more time . . .

:norm:

 

[p111dom]

I'm 50/50 on the guy. Good that he's brought many more people into the hobby and his early stuff is good back when he had fewer tools even if its not to European tastes. The later series just went to show what you could achieve with 200 grands worth of tools. A sure way to make me turn over and judging by the fact that they stopped showing the new series's, a view held by others too.

 

[hog&bodge]

Lets all talk shop safety... :lol:
http://www.newyankee.com/2009.php
Did not miss his programs as like most was fed up with all the
power tools.
We had to put up with the extreme rustic efforts of
Le Salvager (Rico Daniels)
Eeeek is all I can say when you look at his eclectic display of
furniture..
One he made earlier..
http://www.shedblog.co.uk/wp-content/up ... o_side.jpg
Who would you rather watch...Plz not Tommy Walsh...

 

[brianhabby]

As Dan says, Discovery probably won't pay for the new series.

If it ain't a fishing programme or an old repeat they won't show it. And if you try contacting them they completely ignore you. I don't even bother looking anymore

Norm has been responsible for a lot of people getting into woodworking and I always like the way the NYW programmes were filmed - no mad zooming in and out or ridiculously loud music like you get on a lot of the British programs.

As for Rico - completely opposite to Norm Abram but I still think he's great. I don't think I would want much of his stuff in my house but I still love watching him. He did say at one time that he was planning to do Salvager holidays in France where you would go spend a week with him and build something, but nothing has come of it yet.

regards

Brian

 

[Ironballs]

It is a pain, I don't why they've called it Discovery Shed when it should be The Fishing Channel. I hate fishing. Don't even see Restoration Man on there anymore either

 

[yo_chuci]

and at the weekend they get worse...
today lunchtimeish sit down for a relax... hmmmm what to watch,
norm won't be on should i watch him via xbox from downloads on pc... nope...
maybe tommy is on... nope... ok holmes on homes... nope...
ah fishing... on realtime, realtime +1 and on shed...
wicked... not being funny but won't most of the fisherpeople (pc peeps)
be out um oh i dunno..... FISHING... its the weekend its slightly overcast and little bugs are hatching all over the place.. aint that perfect conditions?
mix it up abit discovery please...

even this old house is only on now and again and early in morn...

 

[BradNaylor]

Did not miss his programs as like most was fed up with all the
power tools.

The whole point of New Yankee Workshop is that it is a programme about using power tools!

I know well quite a few old-style cabinetmakers and most are huge fans of Norm. Few people who make furniture for a living would dream of picking up a hand tool when there is a power tool available that will do the job more quickly.

NYW is by far the most realistic portrayal on TV of the way a cabinetmaker works in real life.

Hand tools are for amateurs!

:wink:

Cheers
Brad

PS Here in the New Mankee Workshop we've got every machine and tool that Norm has (and a few more) and it doesn't come to anywhere near £200k.

30 grand tops if you buy well.

 

[Jetset]

I saw some more recent episodes at a friend's house. He got them from his friend, Don Load. :wink:

 

[Rich]

I have no problem at all with the ethos of using power tools, I have admiration untold for the likes of sheraton and morris, but if a tool can take away the elbow grease, then why not, I reckon Norms progs are great and inspired me to have a go, I'll never be as good as him, but that won't stop me trying, but I do envy those who CAN use hand tools and will keep on trying, it would be nice if there was someone local to me whom I could turn to for advice and guidance on the use of hand tools, let's not forget that I have been an engineer for the best part of 40 years and am used to working to accuracy in materials that DON'T alter their shape when worked, obviously, wood is a different matter and I wish I had turned to it many years ago, I love it.

Rich.

 

[mailee]

Did not miss his programs as like most was fed up with all the
power tools.

The whole point of New Yankee Workshop is that it is a programme about using power tools!

I know well quite a few old-style cabinetmakers and most are huge fans of Norm. Few people who make furniture for a living would dream of picking up a hand tool when there is a power tool available that will do the job more quickly.

NYW is by far the most realistic portrayal on TV of the way a cabinetmaker works in real life.

Hand tools are for amateurs!

:wink:

Cheers
Brad

PS Here in the New Mankee Workshop we've got every machine and tool that Norm has (and a few more) and it doesn't come to anywhere near £200k.

30 grand tops if you buy well.

Oh Duncan, My hero. :lol:

 

[p111dom]

The by hand or powertool debate is something thats been haunting me for a while now. The problem being that while I espire to have the skills to cut dovetails etc by hand the fact remains that when I ask which ones people (mainly women) prefer they say they like the look of the machine cut ones. As woodworkers we appreciate the skill that goes into the hand cut stuff but does that make us visually blinkered as to what looks better? Maybe its the symetry thats more visually appealing and machine or jig cutting makes that simpler and more consistant. Either way I'm left wondering if I'm wasting my time learning the traditional skills. What do you guys think?

 

[Rich]

The by hand or powertool debate is something thats been haunting me for a while now. The problem being that while I espire to have the skills to cut dovetails etc by hand the fact remains that when I ask which ones people (mainly women) prefer they say they like the look of the machine cut ones. As woodworkers we appreciate the skill that goes into the hand cut stuff but does that make us visually blinkered as to what looks better? Maybe its the symetry thats more visually appealing and machine or jig cutting makes that simpler and more consistant. Either way I'm left wondering if I'm wasting my time learning the traditional skills. What do you guys think?

Well, I suppose one has to ask the question, how did the artisans of yesteryear get by without modern power tools, it's not the fine woodwork that I like to see and look at but I'd rather spend time watching the man who made it in the first place and chatting to him.

Rich.

 

[BradNaylor]

The by hand or powertool debate is something thats been haunting me for a while now. The problem being that while I espire to have the skills to cut dovetails etc by hand the fact remains that when I ask which ones people (mainly women) prefer they say they like the look of the machine cut ones. As woodworkers we appreciate the skill that goes into the hand cut stuff but does that make us visually blinkered as to what looks better? Maybe its the symetry thats more visually appealing and machine or jig cutting makes that simpler and more consistant. Either way I'm left wondering if I'm wasting my time learning the traditional skills. What do you guys think?

I don't think you are wasting your time at all, any more than someone who makes models of ships out of matchsticks, or spends the whole of every Sunday morning polishing their car is wasting their time.

Learning a skill such as cutting dovetails - which isn't actually that much of a skill if we're honest - is something that one does for one's own satisfaction; that's what a fulfilling hobby or interest is all about.

My point is simply that such a skill has little commercial value today. Very few people are bothered whether their drawers are jointed with dovetails anyway, and certainly couldn't give a fig whether they are cut by hand or machine.

Having said that, on the rare occasion that a client asks me for dovetailed drawers I now do them by hand; I find it as quick and certainly more satisfying than spending a couple of hours setting up a Leigh jig and router for a few joints.

I must be getting old!

Cheers
Brad

 

[wizer]

I have nothing against Norm and have only stopped watching because I have seen all the ones they show on Discovery about a thousand times each. I've also seen the British woody programmes enough to not bother watching them when they are aired. I have them all on my server and watch them whenever I want.

On the machines v hand tools debate. I'll never be a hand tool woodworker. Planing a board from rough to ready does not float my boat. I want to make furniture, I don't want to spend time learning new hand techniques or doing things which take longer just because the tool is shinier. In the past couple of years I have been turned on to a few hand tools that really do make like easier in a power tool world. Such as the smoothing plane and the spoke shaves. But I'm in the camp that believe that if it can be done with power it's quicker and easier in almost all cases. The only type of handwork that I really enjoy and want to get into more and more is carving and shaping.

 

[Mr Ed]

I love handtools and enjoy, as a hobby, learning and perfecting hand skills. I also happen to think that in a lot of situations handtools are quicker and/or do a better job, HOWEVER....

I am convinced that had power tools been available to them, the old furnituremakers of times gone by would have used them in an instant. They had no magical reverence for handtools, they were just using what was on offer.

I have this theory that the modern equivalent of the work Shakespeare wrote is something like Eastenders - he was writing basically soap operas just in the vernacular of the time. In the same vein, power tools are the new hand tools maybe...

Cheers, Ed

 

[wizer]

I am convinced that had power tools been available to them, the old furnituremakers of times gone by would have used them in an instant. They had no magical reverence for handtools, they were just using what was on offer.

I have this theory that the modern equivalent of the work Shakespeare wrote is something like Eastenders - he was writing basically soap operas just in the vernacular of the time. In the same vein, power tools are the new hand tools maybe...

Basic common sense I think Ed

 

[misterfish]

Talking about using power tools and machinery to 'do' woodworking I was surprised to find that some of the Shaker woodworkers were using such equipment over a century ago. Norm actually showed one of the workshops with its original machinery at the Hancock (if I remember rightly) Shaker Village. Norm has always been keen of the Shaker style and workmanship and is certainly affiliated to at least one of the historic sites.

As for Discovery here - I despair. I had hoped that the change to Discovery Shed would change the emphasis of the channel. My question is 'How do you fish in a shed?' I get questionnaires from Discovery from time to time and was asked about a new 'DIY/Workshop' channel that would emphasise the building/workshop element - but all they have actually done is changed 'RT Extra' to 'Shed' and not actually changed the programming.

As for NYW - they used to run through series after series (always missing series 5, 6 and 8 for some reason), but of late all they show is series 17. Currently they are transmitting series 21 in the US although this is actually a rerun of series 9 and 10 with new introductions.

As for This Old House we once again get the same few programs over and over again. You can tell how in tune Discovery are as they insist on calling it 'This Old House with Norm and Steve' when in fact Steve left to pursue his own programs some time ago and has been replaced by Kevin.

The only way to watch the newer stuff is to buy official DVDs (if you are rich) or look around for suitable downloads. There are some of us that 'might possibly' have 'access' to some of these 'alleged' downloads and might even be able to offer 'help and guidance' to colleagues suffering from Norm Deficiency Syndrome

Misterfish