Is Norm infallible?

[Rob Franz]

I know the man is just human. But with the magic of television, every cut looks acurate the first time, every mortise and tenon snug and perfect, every hand cut angle right on, every "sand to the line" curving slope magical.

But in reality, like when he makes the " prototype".....how often do you think he mismeasures, miscuts, cuts the wrong angle or side, or get chip out on that last cut??? Enough so, where he has to scrap the whole piece big or small.??

I swear in all my years watching him work, I think I've only seen one cut that after glue up, didn't look right to me. ( the miter bench drawer)But maybe it was my angle.

I hope this topic doesn't offend anyone. I'm just a curious kinda guy.

And thanks for all the great advice I've gleamed from this site, in just the past few weeks.

Rob

[Jon Bonham]

I've wondered the same thing myself.

Oh, and the word you're looking for is "gleaned" just in case you have a test.

[Rob Franz]

Thanks John, I won't even SAY it was my lousy typing. I really thought you spelled it/pronounced it that way


Rob

[Jim Becker]

Everyone makes mistakes, even Norm. Ask him and he'll tell you that looking into your eyes. But folks who have that many years under their belts as skilled craftspeople will certainly make a lot less of them that most of us who don't have that experience. And something else they know how to do is deal with the mistakes so they are no longer a problem to a project. I've been observing that first hand with many of the folks working on our addition over the past 6 months. It's impressive.

BTW, if you want to, you can watch the taping of the NYW "live" via the webcam and they have slide shows for previous tapings. While it's stop-action with shots about every minute, it's quite interesting. Things really do flow, more or less, how you see things later on PBS. And it's always been impressive to me that they are able to get things done in the time they have to do it, especially because outside of some of the finishing work, Norm does all the work. There are no "elves"... He builds two of each project...one prototype; one "real" one. Russ Morash often gets one of those...after all, it's his shop!

And welcome to SMC!

[Joe Mioux]

He has all his fingers doesn't he?

The most impressive part of that show and him, is the safe demonstration of cuts on the TS.

He has minimized ripping and cross-cutting big plywood sheets on the table saw over the years. I have seen him do that, but that isn't any different than any carpenter out on a job site.

I still remember the first show of TOH that I saw back in 1979. I was hooked and a lot of what I enjoyed back then was Norm's expertise as a carpenter.

joe

[keith ouellette]

I have always wondered about that. I figured it was like those fishing shows on tv where a fish is being caught every couple of minutes but if you watch the sun when its in the camera shot you can see all the dead time has been cut out.
I make mistakes all the time. The new ones don't bother me but the old ones kill me.

[Cody Colston]

There have been many requests over the years for a Norm "bloopers" episode showing some of those mistakes that you mentioned.

According to whomever answers the questions on the NYW web site, there just aren't enough recorded bloopers to fill a 30 minute show. I have to think that if there were, it would be published because I'm sure it would be very popular.

I've seen a couple of minor mistakes; a joint that wasn't exactly tight (he used sanding dust and glue to fill the gap) and a kerfed skirt that broke as Norm was attempting to bend it. However, the mistakes are few and as Jim said, he is likely adept at hiding those mistakes.

[Adam Boyer]

I can't believe this question has been asked - of course Norm is infallible - and he is omnipotent and all powerful...
They way that guy can churn out a Chippendale chest of drawers in 30 minutes... gives me chills.

[keith micinski]

Who's rush morash and you mean the new yankee workshop isn't Norm's and if not does Norm have his own shop to.

[Lee DeRaud]

Who's rush morash and you mean the new yankee workshop isn't Norm's and if not does Norm have his own shop to.

Morash is the producer of NYW, TOH, and Ask TOH. The actual "New Yankee Workshop" is the lower level of a barn on his property at a very closely guarded location (probably) somewhere in Massachusetts. (FWIW, "Ask TOH" is taped up in the loft of the same barn.)

[Greg Cuetara]

I believe Norm works out of Russ's shop down on Nantucket. As far as I know Norm does not have his own shop becuase he can go over there and he has a great set-up he can use anytime.

This is an interesting question. I would be more interested if any professionals out there have any major mis-measurements etc. I would venture to say that Jim is correct that most professionals don't make that many mistakes and when they do they know how to hide them or fix them. It is what makes them a professional. If you were a cabinet maker you couldn't make that many mistakes and still make money. JMHO

[Dewayne Garrett]

I enjoy the show when I see it. However I saw on the site the shop is only 936 sq ft. much smaller than I expected. Still nice size for that is what just over a 30*30.

I may have a chance after all need to look at how to regroup some items. I'm taking over the garage!

[Bob Feeser]

[Michael Gibbons]

Lot's of speculation here. If you happen to see the NYW episode where he builds a model of the shop, well thats about it. It's a seperate building on his property. I've seen an episode of the Victory Garden which is also shot on Russell Morashs property and you can clearly see the NYW in the background. I believe that the NYW is actually on Morashs the property where he lives ( like in back yard). The garage workshop episode is also what I believe to be his garage which is connected to his house. Russell said in an article that they needed a convenient place to shoot the NYW. Once they decided to film it, Norm added a huge addition the the already existing garage ( outbuilding) which is now where the show is filmed. Russeel also stated in that same article that they have a peice of wood that Norm goofed on and they put it on display in the NYW. Apparently it was from the Butlers Table episode.

Keith, Russell Morash is the producer of "This Old House", "New Yankee Workshop", " Victory Garden", " Cooking with Julia Childs" and a few others I can't remember off hand. He's won a few award's ( I think Emmy's) for the photography and editing of the series.

[James Hart]

I haven't seen a ton of NYW episodes, but has anybody seen Norm pull out a plane to fit a joint or smooth something after it came out of the planah?
I won't dispute that he doesn't make mistakes, just a bit amazed that he seems to make perfect fits direct from power tools. Rough carpenter?

Jim