Caution! Just because Norm & Company use it does not mean its the cat's meow!

[Jim Becker]

Lee, TOH is now produced by Time Warner (Time4 Media), but Morash is still "chief in charge". This change happened approximately two years ago, give or take.

[Wes Bischel]

Lee, TOH is now produced by Time Warner (Time4 Media), but Morash is still "chief in charge". This change happened approximately two years ago, give or take.

I didn't know that - we'll I'll be a __________ (I'll let you guys fill in the blank - hey - be nice ) I always thought WGBH owned the show - live and learn.

Wes - who seems to miss all the TOH and NYW shows, but somehow seems to find Lawrence Welk on our PBS station.

[Dennis McDonaugh]

....but somehow seems to find Lawrence Welk on our PBS station.

Wes, it seems like he's on more now than when he was alive...or, at least it seems that way here in San Antonio.

[Dev Emch]

Get away with charging for exposure?...... ABSOLUTELY! Its called "Product Placement Endorsements" and they have full time folks who manage this stuff.

There are ways to get around this by buying the tools yourself and possibly taping up the nameplates. What attracted me to David Marks was not his skills. It was the fact that this host was using a 1940s/1950s Walker Turner Drill Press and a 1950s American wedge bed 16 in patternshop jointer.

Dont get me wrong, the tool business is hard and you need the exposure. But the overall exposure picture does not always paint an objective picture. For example, how many Lie Nielsen planes have you guys seen on TV lately?

Also for the record, I have evaluated Festool and come to the conclusion that they will gradually replace all my older porter cable stuff as it wears out.

But also keep this in mind. Yesterday, there was a new program on TV. Some lady was building modern, quick, easy high quality furniture. Folks, that is an oxymoron. Quick and easy and high quality do not fit in the same sentence when it comes to making really nice furniture. And some of you who are amatures know this. You also make some very nice items... often way better than what is found in stores.

But I did learn a new term from this program. Did you guys know that "TO CUT PROUD" means to cut the item a bit oversize? WOOOOOOOOW I COULD HAVE A V-8! So many of these sponsored shows are also dumbing down the content. Yes, I can understand why and actually tolerate it for the sake of newbies coming onboard. Besides, I would much rather watch an attractive host wearing safty googles than all that nasty negative news content lately.

What we really need is a new show. A show shot in a killer shop like Lou's with pristine industrial rejects. Call it Lou's Corner or Barn Time with Dev. Something needs to change here because we can only tolerate so many plywood bookselves.

[Jim Becker]

Dev, David has a nice mixture of machines in his shop...some old like you cite; some new. In the latter catagory...a 36" MiniMax MM36 bandsaw that arrived in his shop in the last year. I believe he has two other bandsaws; one is an older model, but I don't think it is quite as old as some of the gear you love. He has multiple jointers, too...the big old one you mentioned and a small, late model 6" or 8".

[Dev Emch]

Well, I have stuff from all over the time warp. Most of my woodworking machines are from the late 1960s and my martin is from the mid 1970s. The really old stuff is more for show than hard use. But my snowflakes are both from the late 1930s and they **DO** have ball bearings. The most important machine I have is my shaper and it was new in about 2003 to 2004 however.

David Marks also has/had a 20 inch American bandsaw. That was the larger one. He has also had at one time an oliver lathe but seems to favor one of those OneWay lathes these days. His oliver was a wood lathe and not a patternmaker lathe so I can understand why he may like the OneWay better.

My position is this. I believe one should gather tools based on performance and price value. If that means buying new, so be it. But many times, the better machine is actually an older, discontinued machine. In which case, you have to find it and possibly rebuild it. I think the worst thing you can do is have a shop loaded with machines from the same time period and the same maker. It looks like you have been hired as a marketing rep for that maker and you loose your own individualality in the noise.

Right now, I am looking for a Brown & Sharpe #2 Vertical (LIGHT) Milling machine from about the 1930s to the 1950s. They were virtually unchanged in this time frame. Its an older design by a company who no longer exists. But serves a function that I cannot replace without having to spend a MASSIVE amount of money to get. For what I need it for, the $600 to $2500 or so dollars for this machine is worth it. Dropping $150,000 on a new Gene Hass milling center is not going to make the business case. This is an example of what I am preaching about.

[Keith Christopher]

Those sponsor placed items are everywhere, sometimes even stated not shown. See an actor in a movie drinking a coke, or perhaps the bottle of Trinity water that was covering the trunk release in the movie "The whole Ten Yards" for example. Why not tool shows.


But it is funny that norm has stuff most of us will NEVER buy. That big stinking widebelt sander for example. nice but not in my shop.

[Lee DeRaud]

Wes, it seems like he's on more now than when he was alive...or, at least it seems that way here in San Antonio.

Well, it's not like he's the only musician for whom dying was a "good career move".

[Vaughn McMillan]

Regarding black tape over logos...years ago a friend's band made it through the prelims and onto the Star Search TV show. Throughout the various auditions, they used their own instruments, but when they taped the show, they were strongly urged to use Yamaha instruments, since they were a big sponsor. I don't know the details, but in the end they used the Yamaha instruments provided by the show, and they were not happy with the results. To a certain extent they felt robbed, since their performance wasn't up to its usual level. Although Yamaha makes fine instruments, switching axes right before a performance would be like a race car driver hopping in a completely different ride right before the race.

At other times, I recall seeing performers on Star Search with black tape over the logos on their (obviously non-Yamaha) instruments. I'm guessing they didn't cave in to the pressure from the producers the way my friend's band did.

- Vaughn

[Richard Wolf]

Well, I have stuff from all over the time warp. Most of my woodworking machines are from the late 1960s and my martin is from the mid 1970s. The really old stuff is more for show than hard use. But my snowflakes are both from the late 1930s and they **DO** have ball bearings. The most important machine I have is my shaper and it was new in about 2003 to 2004 however.

Sure would love to see pictures of those machines. I guess I missed the shop tour pics!!

Richard

[lou sansone]

Sure would love to see pictures of those machines. I guess I missed the shop tour pics!!

Richard

nope all we got so far from dev has been that dinky spindle sander and some massive 3 phase load centers. We know he has more but maybe he is out of film

lou

[Dennis McDonaugh]

Well, it's not like he's the only musician for whom dying was a "good career move".

Yeah but Lee, isn't that a tough way to make a living?

[Frank Hagan]

So in general, any company who gets their tools onto a show with a popular host will most likely have to pay through the nose to get the chance. So when I see Tom Silva using all those green and black tools, well then, I need to wonder how much Festool is having to fork over to the DIY channel for the opportunity. Maybe Tom Silva has bought all these tools outright from his own coin in which case, Festool may be off the hook. But that is the problem with some of these shows. All this product placement is really confusing things.

Sure, "product placement" is done pretty frequently. I did notice that David Marks rarely shows the logo on his tools, and except for the MultiRouter (which he also sells on his website), almost never mentions a brand name. Kind of refreshing!