Marc Spagnuolo on Rough Cut


davewyo

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This afternoon Idaho Public Television aired the Rough Cut episode with Marc.

It was really well done.

The Hall Tree & Bench was an interesting project.

It involved gluing up some stock to get the grain match in the legs, a little Domino, some flexible sanding strip, setting up to cut a half lap with a router...all kinds of good things.

Tommy even gave a shout out to Mateo.

Great job Marc!

 

Check your PBS station.

 

Dave

 

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Our woodworking club did an online chat chat with Tommy MacDonald. He was pretty much what you would expect, boyish enthusiasm, hyper, good natured, friendly, and all about woodworking.

 

Our PBS can be all over the place with Rough Cut. Last year they showed the season in order except for one or two episodes from the middle, then showed those episodes out of the blue 8 or 9 months later. Woodsmith isn't on anymore. Woodwright they usually get right, which they should since it's UNC.

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I haven't even seen the episode yet myself. :) Tommy says they should be putting the episodes online in January. I'll let you guys know as soon as I know. But it does look like the preview was published, which is pretty cool. 

Episode 508: Hall Tree and Bench from Tommy Mac on Vimeo.

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I was quite surprised to see the episode this year. Idaho isn't exactly on the cutting edge of...anything.

 

I agree Tommy is a bit much...and, as with all half hour woodworking shows, he can't cover everything as well as we would like.

Even with its shortcomings, it's better than nothing.

On the up side, his show seems less frantic than in the past.

 

My biggest peeve is that he is constantly saying "Right Eli?".

I know that isn't much, but he says it at least a half dozen times per episode.

 

The thing I really like is that he uses a hybrid woodworking style that is much like what I generally do.

He stays away from the over use of pocket screws and he generally works with some impressive lumber.

 

I still find Roy Underhill's Woodwright's Shop to be the most enjoyable woodworking show that I have available (I've never seen WoodWorks).

Roy's projects are a little less useful to me as inspiration for projects, but he is just plain fun to watch,

 

Dave

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I just love to see younger guys like Marc and Tommy being passionate about sharing woodworking skills with everyone. I know I have tried with several apprentices over the years but I don't have the personality or people skills to do it like they do. But ask any of them and they are still learning, lord knows I still am.

Congrats Marc, I hope I get to see the episode !

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I know I have tried with several apprentices over the years but I don't have the personality or people skills to do it like they do.

Apprenticeship seems to be a lost art these days. I think there's not a lot of dedication early in life to a given trade which contributes. Nowadays people pick stuff up as hobbies and maybe it becomes a job or career. Few get into it with the intent of going pro...and if they do, they're at specialized schools.

I, for one, would love to take some time and apprentice with Steve or Marc or Chet or PB or any of the others. (I'd mention Eric but I imagine an apprenticeship full of drinking and debauchery instead of woodworking.) Think how much and how fast you could learn...at the cost of destroying their efficiency. =p

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Apprenticeship seems to be a lost art these days. I think there's not a lot of dedication early in life to a given trade which contributes. Nowadays people pick stuff up as hobbies and maybe it becomes a job or career. Few get into it with the intent of going pro...and if they do, they're at specialized schools.

I, for one, would love to take some time and apprentice with Steve or Marc or Chet or PB or any of the others. (I'd mention Eric but I imagine an apprenticeship full of drinking and debauchery instead of woodworking.) Think how much and how fast you could learn...at the cost of destroying their efficiency. =p

 

C'mon now, Eric would be fun!!  Look at your feet while watching TV, a drink in your hand I'm sure, and some 300 plus hours to finish a bed project.  Toss in a free cell phone and you've got the perfect "job"...

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C'mon now, Eric would be fun!! Look at your feet while watching TV, a drink in your hand I'm sure, and some 300 plus hours to finish a bed project. Toss in a free cell phone and you've got the perfect "job"...

While he wasn't looking I would rearrange all the clamps in sets of 3.

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:lol:  Yous guys.

 

I like Tommy as a woodworker and as a human being...he's a really nice guy.

 

It's the format of the show that does no one any favors.  You simply cannot squeeze a forty hour project into a twenty minute show, and that's why I'm such a big fan of Marc's content.  If something requires ten minutes to demo and explain, then that's the time he gives it.  He's limited only by his own gauge of what's sufficient.  If I think really hard about it, I might be able to remember a couple things I learned on Tommy's show...just glimpses of a different technique or design feature caught in the background in passing.  But it's not his fault and I won't hold it against him.  I sure do wish they would do ONE complex project per season, and break each component of the build down into focused episodes.  What happens behind the scenes is where woodworking is done...we don't need to see another dado cut on the table saw or another mortise plowed out with a HCM.

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You can thank the 'everyone HAS to go to college mantra of the last 20 years for that'.

 

There is some truth to that but a lot has to do with technology. When I got into this we were forced to go to apprenticeship class at night and the shop was forced to move us from area to area until we reached journeyman level and got a card. That died quit a few years ago. The union was forced to ask volunteers to teach the classes at night, I taught one session a year for ten years. Then the local voc schools got greedy and stopped allowing use of the shops at night. Today the voc schools have their own classes but they are worthless. When I say worthless, they still teach low tech cabinet making. There are no jobs in low tech small shops. The only jobs out there require slim to no skill. The real work is done behind a desk and the operators are trained over the course on a few minutes. Most parts are made on a screen and sent to machinery via the network the operators are only cutting a batch. Vacuum lifts have taken the physical work out of the job, no more lifting sheets of plywood. I resisted it for years and did quite well but today all you can do is embrace it and and go along for the ride, Its all about numbers. There are many purist that believe production stuff is in some way inferior but that is changing daily and there is not much you can do that a machine can't do better and faster. 

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