A good example of someone who loves the work and presents it in a straight forward way but not in any way watered down.
Who do you follow on YouTube?
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A good example of someone who loves the work and presents it in a straight forward way but not in any way watered down.
Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)
Established Member
The issue I have with 90% of the YouTube presenters is that they are there for the money. The content is generally chosen for its clickability, not usefulness or originality. What sells a video is a catchy title, one which will pull you in, rather than a simple label of the contents. You will only discover that it is a rehashed rehash once you are watching. I am pulled in as much as the next person, always hoping for something new. I generally come away resentful about the deceit and angry with myself for being a sucker.
I am not against presenters doing it for money … as long as they have earned their chops and offer something that is meaningful. I bitterly resent those who portray themselves as philanthropes and are busily selling themselves behind the mask. Paul Sellers is a good example. Still, he has value as a teacher. He would starve as a philosopher.
I have more respect for Rob Cosman. He is a salesman, but does not disguise this.
Generally the “good guys” are not flashy, do not have any music and present without fanfare. But, of course, most want entertainment.
Regards from Perth
Derek
I am not against presenters doing it for money … as long as they have earned their chops and offer something that is meaningful. I bitterly resent those who portray themselves as philanthropes and are busily selling themselves behind the mask. Paul Sellers is a good example. Still, he has value as a teacher. He would starve as a philosopher.
I have more respect for Rob Cosman. He is a salesman, but does not disguise this.
Generally the “good guys” are not flashy, do not have any music and present without fanfare. But, of course, most want entertainment.
Regards from Perth
Derek
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Exactly. it's a trade of time for almost anything - formulaic, or outright salesy. I can't have as much resentment for cosman as he hides nothing. When you ask him a question and it's perhaps less than flattering, he still answers it straight up. I think he is a dead end for someone for more than a year, but that's everyone else's business.
The question about paul not promoting much on his videos led me to look at yesterday's retread - just picked his most recent video and it was a relatively tame piece of wood with some kind of mystical nonsense making things far more difficult than they need to be.
The comment section is filled with assurances from anyone who says they'd just plane it that if paul says you can't, then it's so.
Even outright experimenting as an amateur to observe outcomes is more productive than paul's advice. Or Rex Kruger's channel or anything else. it's fine to resign onesself to entertainment, but being lobbied with bad information with entertainment in mind will still leave a stain.
Peter was brought up earlier - it looks like he makes a video once in a great while. he may be touting something like plans for something he's made in the past, but at least you know whatever he provides will be done with care and you can disregard if you'd like. Other than that, if he bothers to make a video, it will be for something substantive.
Everyone doesn't need to strive to make great things. maybe I'll never make anything great, that's OK. But over time, I've found that it takes about the same amount of time or less to do better work than it does to do bad work. Bad work is a dead end - it results in a shop with nobody in it and a cheated hobbyist.
youtube could be a wonderful store and demonstration of knowledge, but it's not set up to be that and it doesn't promote it. it does a pretty good job of convincing people that that's part of what it's doing, though.
I must've been dumb enough to click on at least 2 dozen videos that said "the way to heat treat 1095 *the right way*" only to find it was someone doing something that would lead to bad results. Shame on me.
There could be videos of people forge heat treating the steels that I like to use and really showing what they've found over a long history of trying to get good results, but I couldn't find them.
Jacob
What goes around comes around.
More for the glory I would have thought. I've never paid for anything I've seen on youtube.
Bit heavy on Sellers IMHO. And he isn't promoting certain well known American brands of retro style tools.
All good philosophers starve. It's traditional.
Yebbut who wants to watch a salesman doing his spiel? Would you buy a 2nd hand car from Cosman? Not me!
He P's me off most when he says "welcome to my shaarp"
Yes the music can be a bad start, without a doubt! Nothing against banjos and guitars in the right place.
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Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)
Established Member
He's LDS. I would without reservation and his gimmick is more honest than Paul's. It's somewhat humorous that you can't make the connection between asking customers not to spend money on tools and then asking them to pay you for classes or website access. I'd imagine selling classes that fail to meet even the standard of public domain basic education about woodworking is at least as profitable as hawking tools.
Well my 2cts worth of interesting woodworkers
Scott Brown a Scot/ Kiwi builder renovation carpenter
Bradshaw joinery more classic joinery woodworking
Blacktail studio , one of the few well made video maker's of epoxy resin furniture
Shoyan , a traditional Japanese woodworker
JSK Koubou, more of a toolmaker in the same style as Matthias
Gary Thompson another old school woodworker
Manor Wood, great videos about setting up after a fire ruined his shop. Epoxy resin work and traditional joinery.
Wood and Shop
Alastair Johnson, UK furniture maker, setting up a commercial shop and design methodology.
Robin clevett,builder/old school joinery
Peter Millard's 10minute workshop, tooling and techniques
Andy Rawls, Texan woodworker
Rex Krueger hand tool aficionado
April Wilkerson, nuff said her
Bents woodworking, yank festool lover
Stumpy Nubs,tools and some techniques
Tips from a shipwright, boats and techniques
Finally a teaser, though imho the filming is more a teaser on her body - Wood Girl , Korean female woodworker, be warned filmed in a commercial shop with porn quality timber in the background
Scott Brown a Scot/ Kiwi builder renovation carpenter
Bradshaw joinery more classic joinery woodworking
Blacktail studio , one of the few well made video maker's of epoxy resin furniture
Shoyan , a traditional Japanese woodworker
JSK Koubou, more of a toolmaker in the same style as Matthias
Gary Thompson another old school woodworker
Manor Wood, great videos about setting up after a fire ruined his shop. Epoxy resin work and traditional joinery.
Wood and Shop
Alastair Johnson, UK furniture maker, setting up a commercial shop and design methodology.
Robin clevett,builder/old school joinery
Peter Millard's 10minute workshop, tooling and techniques
Andy Rawls, Texan woodworker
Rex Krueger hand tool aficionado
April Wilkerson, nuff said her
Bents woodworking, yank festool lover
Stumpy Nubs,tools and some techniques
Tips from a shipwright, boats and techniques
Finally a teaser, though imho the filming is more a teaser on her body - Wood Girl , Korean female woodworker, be warned filmed in a commercial shop with porn quality timber in the background
Bojam
Established Member
Jacob
What goes around comes around.
What he promotes more than anything is a no nonsense practical approach. Demystification. Complete opposite from those pages and pages of pseudo techy speak from the usual sources!
And he gets things wrong; doesn't know how to chop a mortice... etc. etc. which means he's fairly normal!
Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)
Established Member
Well my 2cts worth of interesting woodworkers
Scott Brown a Scot/ Kiwi builder renovation carpenter
Bradshaw joinery more classic joinery woodworking
Blacktail studio , one of the few well made video maker's of epoxy resin furniture
Shoyan , a traditional Japanese woodworker
JSK Koubou, more of a toolmaker in the same style as Matthias
Gary Thompson another old school woodworker
Manor Wood, great videos about setting up after a fire ruined his shop. Epoxy resin work and traditional joinery.
Wood and Shop
Alastair Johnson, UK furniture maker, setting up a commercial shop and design methodology.
Robin clevett,builder/old school joinery
Peter Millard's 10minute workshop, tooling and techniques
Andy Rawls, Texan woodworker
Rex Krueger hand tool aficionado
April Wilkerson, nuff said her
Bents woodworking, yank festool lover
Stumpy Nubs,tools and some techniques
Tips from a shipwright, boats and techniques
Finally a teaser, though imho the filming is more a teaser on her body - Wood Girl , Korean female woodworker, be warned filmed in a commercial shop with porn quality timber in the background
It all depends from where you are starting. I am a reasonably competent designer and builder. Those starting out will set lower bars.
I'd like to see something made by each of these presenters. Preferably a reasonably complex piece of furniture, since that is my medium.
There are some in this list who I enjoy watching, just because they are nice guys and do a good job without being pretentious. Blacktail studio, Scott Brown and Peter Millard. Most of the others are an insult to the intelligence (if you are expecting advice from someone experienced). The worst is Stumpy Nubs, who is fed info by a team, and has a set for a woodshop (tools, tools, tools) and I bet he has little idea what to do with them. But he makes out like he does. The last one, Wood Girl, is the genuine article. Her dovetailing is stupendous.
Regards from Perth
Derek
Bojam
Established Member
I also enjoy Rex Krueger. I can see why he isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but I find his videos informative and amusing.
Bojam
Established Member
For hand tool stuff I like (along with Rex) the Mortice & Tenon channel, Bob Rozaieski, and Frank’s Workbench.
What he gets wrong is trying to imply to people that he's something he's not (a lifetime professional - he's got 40 years of teaching under his belt, and probably now media creation and distribution). At least David Charlesworth would tell us "my primary job has been teaching students since ____".
And Paul's extremely arrogant in his actual actions - refusing to learn from people who know more than him and revise what he teaches.
he doesn't demystify anything - he provides a mediocre level of advice that's often bad and aggressively removes any information that he can get his hands on that states otherwise.
The most offensive of the bunch, maybe only safe from a tie in holding the heavyweight belt with Wranglerstar based on the fact that Wranglerstar likes to dabble in pretending he's a forester (who before I found the "don't recommend this channel" option once spent a whole video complaining that the forest service didn't take special orders for their provided lunches for people who have religious diets, and that the food was too processed or some nonsense).
thetyreman
Established Member
Bob in particular is highly under rated imo, one of the very few where every single video is useful, he's a great teacher.
Bojam
Established Member
I forgot Shannon Rodgers (the Renaissance Woodworker). Not a prolific YouTube creator anymore - probably because he mostly makes premium videos for his “hand tool school” - but interesting and knowledgeable content nonetheless. I also enjoy the podcast - Woodtalk - that he makes with Marc Spagnolo and Matt Cremona. Always good for a laugh.
Oeps forgot that one.
A mention for Andrew Pitts furniture. He does everything from kiln drying to the finished article in a workshop to die for. He is big into CNC machining now and has a very nice presenting style. If you like Federal furniture he is a go to - a more refined version of Norm Abraham.
A mention for Andrew Pitts furniture. He does everything from kiln drying to the finished article in a workshop to die for. He is big into CNC machining now and has a very nice presenting style. If you like Federal furniture he is a go to - a more refined version of Norm Abraham.
https://furnsoc.org/directory/andrew-pitts
Is this the same guy? Not that a guy capable of making studio stuff crisply can't do all kinds of things.
I'm reminded of the sellers idiocy on another forum - someone figured they need a thicker iron (I doubt sellers advocates that) and then pointed to a recent sellers video or blog on heat treating in open space with one torch and who knows what - some kind of vegetable oil? the comment was that he "demystifies things and what he says makes a lot of sense".
Except it doesn't. What he described looks good as a marketing piece to get people to go to his website, but at this point, that's not unintentional. that is, the stupidity of showing people something that will generally not work leaving them to waste money and fail. the picture showing the finished process had a big rounded over bevel just like every text published when it matters advised against.
I couldn't manage to tolerate the whole thing so I didn't catch the woo nonsense that he usually peddles or the whole "something for nothing" gimmick ("save your money, but here's a link to my site!").
there aren't many people I'd like to embarrass in person, but I'd do it to him.
