Any alums of Shannon Rogers' online hand tool course?

[Howard Skillington]

I worked wood for many years with noisy, dangerous, whirring machines, until I attended WIA last fall and, to my surprise, caught the hand tool bug. I have most of what I need to do the job without electricity now, and would like to develop hand tool skills in a structured way.
I have watched videos by both Rob Cosman and Shannon Rogers (the "Renaissance Woodworker") online. Both are likeable enough and both have remarkable skills with hand tools, but their approach to their classes seems quite different.
Have any of you Neanders taken either? If so, your testimonials would be appreciated, before I commit to one or the other.

[Reinis Kanders]

I do not know about "Renaissance Woodworker", but his free videos are pretty good.
I tried Cosman and he was good, but his online course is not edited, so you see him do things almost real time, which can be nice, but then you would not have any time left to do actual woodworking.
I also tried Paul Sellers and he edits his videos, but editing is just about right for my tastes, still too much fluff, but he also shows you many ways to do the same thing and mentions nuances. Try some of his free videos, he is a good teacher with a style that keeps my attention, and has a good variety for an intermediate beginner such as me, even some axe work and stools, benches with spindles, etc.

[Tony Wilkins]

Don't know if you could call me an alumni because I haven't done all the projects but I have Shannon's first semester and think it's a great resource. I also enjoy Paul Sellers' paid videos. I think either would be a good launching point. I did the free thirty days of Cosman's but his were just too drawn out. Tom Fidgen also has a new paid content channel and it's ok but I prefer the first two I mentioned.

[Howard Skillington]

Thanks, guys. I appreciate your responses, and welcome any others.
I've been watching Cosman on Woodcraft's free 90 day membership deal, and agree that the lack of editing is a deal breaker. One well produced video on flattening a board would be ideal; watching him flatten every new board for a project in real time gets old pretty fast.
Shannon seems more focused on teaching a sequence of skills in a focused way.
I will certainly check out Sellers and Fidgen, as well.

[Hilton Ralphs]

If you want to save money then watch the Paul Sellers' videos as he shows what can be achieved with a minimal tool set. He's not fixated on only using hand tools though as his band saw is often clearly in shot and he's not afraid to use it.

He does sometimes appear grumpy especially towards new gadgets but take the good and ignore the bad.

Shannon tends to waffle on a bit more than I'd like. I often find myself fast forwarding but he's a great teacher and doesn't appear to favour any particular brand of tools in terms of potential sponsorship.

Rob has that annoying habit of always punting his own line of tools but it's his prerogative I suppose (as Britney would say). He does pitch the technical skill at a higher level (at least from what I've seen on his DVDs).

All three are likeable, have dark hair and are obviously passionate about their work and the need to pass on the knowledge. You won't waste your money on any of them.

[Ralph Boumenot]

Tom Fidgen has started an online video woodworking class. He uses no machines at all. Other than these 4, I'm not aware of anyone else offering handtool woodworking classes.

[John Schtrumpf]

In the beginning I was lost. But luckily one of the first tools I bought was a Wood River plane, and I got a free month of Rob Cosman. For that month all I did was watch every minute of Rob's hall table build. As the videos are basically uncut, I got to watch Rob build it in real time and in it's entirety. This gave me a context on working with hand tools. The repetition, what the basic tools are and where they are used. From that starting point, I have watched the others (Paul Sellers, Shannon / renaissance woodworker, Logan cabinet shoppe, Tom Fidgen, etc), for a particular skill, technique or project.

Whether that was a good approach or not, I don't know, it worked for me. I could definitely see doing something like taking Shannon's course, to learn the basics.

[Frederick Skelly]

I subscribed to Cosman for a while. Im the odd man out here, but I LIKED the unedited video - he showed me the whole tedious process of doing whatever it was and I feel he was a good teacher.

I think youll enjoy hand tools Howard. You may even decide to go "hybrid" and use machines for heavy work and hand tools for more finess work. But watch out - its a slippery slope!

Enjoy!
Fred

[Stewie Simpson]

I think its fair to say most of the well known names that promote the use of hand tools still rely on tailed machinery to work their stock to size; its just not seen within their limited presentations. In a thread by Rob Lee on another forum about 3-4 months ago. Rob recalled phoning up Chris Schwartz, but was then put on hold while Chris hurriedly finishes off some trim work with a nail gun before the glue had time to harden.

I personally have no issues with a mix of both methodologies.

Stewie;

[Hilton Ralphs]

I think Shannon actually sold off his jointer because his viewers complained. I may be wrong but I still don't understand why so many woodworkers get their pink panties in a knot over this 'hand tool only' thing.

I promise you that there are no brownie points for you if you spend the entire Saturday afternoon ripping boards by hand when a table saw would do this in seconds leaving you the rest of the weekend to make use of other hand tools that are actually enjoyable to use.

[Daniel Rode]

When I started using hand tools, I knew almost nothing and didn't know anyone who did. Watching Rob was like being in the shop with him as he built the projects. The repetition was good for me and I learned a lot. The projects progress slowly, but at the time, it really helped. As I learned more, the slow pace began to become more and more of a problem. I'd like to move on to Rob's advanced class, but none exists. I also learned a lot from videos by Paul Sellers, Chris Schwarz, Roy Underhill (PBS) and a handful of others.

My advice, is to watch as many different videos as possible and ask questions here.

I subscribed to Cosman for a while. Im the odd man out here, but I LIKED the unedited video - he showed me the whole tedious process of doing whatever it was and I feel he was a good teacher.

I think youll enjoy hand tools Howard. You may even decide to go "hybrid" and use machines for heavy work and hand tools for more finess work. But watch out - its a slippery slope!

Enjoy!
Fred

[Chris Hachet]

Tom Fidgen has started an online video woodworking class. He uses no machines at all. Other than these 4, I'm not aware of anyone else offering handtool woodworking classes.

My vote would be for Fidgen. Hand tool woodworking si more of a mindset than a particular skill set, and Fidgeon does the best to communicate this mindset IMHO.

Most of the rest of what you are learning through these video series can be learned easily from trial and error.

I am also not sure why these paid memberships are so expensive. If you have a 1000 members paying $25 each, that's $25,000 a month income. Does not cost 25 grand to amke that video, not anywhere near.

[Daniel Rode]

Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against Tom Fidgen, but his "mindset" leans toward hipster / neo-hippie and that's not really for me. Seller's "lifestyle woodworking" is a bit utopian as well but it's a more familiar daydream. Rob Cosman's, blue collar, work-a-day approach is what I find most appealing. He seems practical and decent. I'd probably enjoy working with him.

That said, I disagree with the mindset premise entirely. This is most definitely a particular skill set independent of mindset or lifestyle. I doubt many (any) would become highly skilled hand tool woodworkers by trial and error. It took many generations to develop and hand down these skills. We stand on the shoulders of giants.

[Chris Hachet]

I think its fair to say most of the well known names that promote the use of hand tools still rely on tailed machinery to work their stock to size; its just not seen within their limited presentations. In a thread by Rob Lee on another forum about 3-4 months ago. Rob recalled phoning up Chris Schwartz, but was then put on hold while Chris hurriedly finishes off some trim work with a nail gun before the glue had time to harden.

I personally have no issues with a mix of both methodologies.

Stewie;

It makes a lot of sense to use both IMHO.

[Eric Schatz]

I've got through just about all of these people. However, Rob Cosman has been the only one that I've done the paid portion on. Anybody with an issue about him saying how great his dovetail saw is (he only might spend 45 seconds on that) should not be bothered with opinions in general. Rob really has a great site with a forum that he is constantly on answering questions. He shows every bit of the process, his mistakes and how he fixes those. Get the 1 month trial and check it out. he also has a powered side of the site that shows how to make things that are powered. Even the powered videos end up being very hybrid though.

I think Cosman is a great teacher/woodworker. Isn't that what you're really looking for?