Originally Posted by
Steve Voigt
I think that Sellers learned most of his methods as a young man in the 1960s. People like to represent this as some sort of traditional apprenticeship, but it's not like he was working in an 18th century shop. The 60s were pretty much the nadir of the hand-tool woodworking darkness; it's like saying you learned quality control in Detroit in the 1970s. When I see the chisel-router trick that David mentioned, I think it's a neat trick, but it reminds me of that scene in Terminator where they're sitting in front of a TV, but they're using it as a fireplace. In the 20th century, so many traditional techniques and methods (like leg vises,to take just one example) were more or less abandoned; the chain was broken, except for a very few people who bothered to research the old ways. In the last 20 years, there's been a tremendous resurgence of people rediscovering these old techniques. But it doesn't seem to have affected Sellers at all;I think as far as he's concerned, he already knows it all and has nothing to learn from anyone else. I think if he really tried to understand, say a traditional Scandinavian-style or Roubo-style bench, he would have to admit they work better, but that will never happen. He's too invested in being a guru; it's how he makes his living.
I'd also add that I agree with what Dave said in his post above. You can learn from reading books, watching some videos, and most of all practicing. There are no secrets, and almost all the information you need is free or pretty cheap, either on the web or from your local library. There's no need to pay $160 or whatever to gurus like Sellers, Cosman, etc.