Vote for why you think it jumped
Never Jumped
Norm replaces his Makita Router with a Porter Cable model
I met him at a book signing
Day One
The two part boat episode
Shark Bytes
Maybe Home Depot or Menards should have a "tool room" concept. They could build several rooms to rent out for people who can't spend the $82K on all of the tools necessary to do the projects.
This is an awesome show and Norm is a master at his craft. The only thing is, few people have the workshop and millions of tools this guy has making most of the projects impossible for the average viewer to actually do. But I still love watching his projects get built. Never jumped
Norm is nothing without his biscuits. Biscuits everywhere I look. OK, he overdoes biscuits and (as a furniture repair show pointed out a few years ago) he overdoes the jigs a little, but Norm actually inspired me to go out and build some stuff and I thank him for that. The fact that all of the stuff ended up in the shop 45 gallon burner has nothing to do with Norm and everything to do with me. Maybe next time I'll include the biscuits and jigs.
Norm Abram is a nice fellow.
How do I know that? We have the same interest (construction, woodworking, boating), live in the same area and I run into him, not at the trade shows, but out in everyday life around town. We know each other just because we hang out in the same circles. Whenever I see him I pay particular attention to how he treats the people that approach him because of his celebrity. He takes the time, signs an autograph, poses for a snapshot, chats for a few minutes and never seems like he is being putout. You can tell a lot about a person by the way they treat other people.
What "list" celebrity do you think he is? "E," "F" list? Probably closer to "Y" (for Yankee) list. But he doesn't care. 90% of the people he comes into contact with probably don't even realize he hosts a show on TV. That's because he doesn't give off that "I'm a celebrity, pay attention to me" aura.
He is such a non-celebrity that I bet you didn't know he married his college sweetheart? Or that they had a daughter? Or that he got divorced? Or that he re-married? Did you even know is mother died last year? Probably not. He has no publicity agent, no manager, and no entourage of flunky yes-men.
The show is shot with only an outline script, there's no dialog coach, the words you hear are from Norm himself, one take, no rehearsals. The only time a scene is re-shot is for clarity purposes, or maybe the sound wasn't right. The warmhearted, plain talking, easygoing person you see on the TV screen is the same person with or without the cameras rolling.
The show really isn't "The New Yankee Workshop," it's "Norm's Workshop" because without Norm Abram there is no show. And because he is truly a nice fellow the show will never 'jump.'
How do I know that? We have the same interest (construction, woodworking, boating), live in the same area and I run into him, not at the trade shows, but out in everyday life around town. We know each other just because we hang out in the same circles. Whenever I see him I pay particular attention to how he treats the people that approach him because of his celebrity. He takes the time, signs an autograph, poses for a snapshot, chats for a few minutes and never seems like he is being putout. You can tell a lot about a person by the way they treat other people.
What "list" celebrity do you think he is? "E," "F" list? Probably closer to "Y" (for Yankee) list. But he doesn't care. 90% of the people he comes into contact with probably don't even realize he hosts a show on TV. That's because he doesn't give off that "I'm a celebrity, pay attention to me" aura.
He is such a non-celebrity that I bet you didn't know he married his college sweetheart? Or that they had a daughter? Or that he got divorced? Or that he re-married? Did you even know is mother died last year? Probably not. He has no publicity agent, no manager, and no entourage of flunky yes-men.
The show is shot with only an outline script, there's no dialog coach, the words you hear are from Norm himself, one take, no rehearsals. The only time a scene is re-shot is for clarity purposes, or maybe the sound wasn't right. The warmhearted, plain talking, easygoing person you see on the TV screen is the same person with or without the cameras rolling.
The show really isn't "The New Yankee Workshop," it's "Norm's Workshop" because without Norm Abram there is no show. And because he is truly a nice fellow the show will never 'jump.'
The one thing that everybody is missing here is that PBS doesn't happen without sponsors. Norm's $50,000 dollar shop happens to be provided by his 2 main corporate sponsors. PC and Delta. (Save the Oscillating spindle sander, moulding machine, biscuit jointer, and wide belt sander.) The program is how they demonstrate new tools and how to use the old ones. If I had sponsors like that I would use everything in the catalog. As for Makita, if they had ponied up and sponsored him he would be using their stuff. Pure economics. That is how PBS works. Also if you care to check out the 1st couple of seasons, you would see that he used a Shopsmith, they had financial issues and they dropped the sponsorship. By the way I don't work for any of them. He is fun to watch and I have built several of his projects.
Never jumped - actually NYW gets better every season, but Norm isn't getting any younger, and his hands have started to shake a little more in recent years so I wonder how many years he will keep it going.
As far as his tools, if you watch the show long enough he shows you how to do things in different ways because even he acknowledges not everyone has $40,000 worth of Delta and Porter Cable tools at their disposal.
OK so I admit a 36" belt sander is unattainable for most "weekend warriors", however some that take their hobbies a bit too serious have been known to get such things....including my grandfather-in-law, and on the used market or at a good auction you would be surprised at how affordable they can be (although often the square footage in most shops is more difficult to find than the funds to acquire such a beast).
All things considered, Norm gives us something to aspire to, and his down to earth demeanor, his step by step directions, and his detailed plans for all the projects make it possible for an average Joe to build something beautiful. I might never have a 26' x 36' shop with a heated floor, but I can still use the techniques learned from Norm to make some really nice items that will be around long after I am residing in a pine box.
Hey I might be onto something here....maybe Norm should build a casket for one of his next projects - and it doesn't even have to be pine!
As far as his tools, if you watch the show long enough he shows you how to do things in different ways because even he acknowledges not everyone has $40,000 worth of Delta and Porter Cable tools at their disposal.
OK so I admit a 36" belt sander is unattainable for most "weekend warriors", however some that take their hobbies a bit too serious have been known to get such things....including my grandfather-in-law, and on the used market or at a good auction you would be surprised at how affordable they can be (although often the square footage in most shops is more difficult to find than the funds to acquire such a beast).
All things considered, Norm gives us something to aspire to, and his down to earth demeanor, his step by step directions, and his detailed plans for all the projects make it possible for an average Joe to build something beautiful. I might never have a 26' x 36' shop with a heated floor, but I can still use the techniques learned from Norm to make some really nice items that will be around long after I am residing in a pine box.
Hey I might be onto something here....maybe Norm should build a casket for one of his next projects - and it doesn't even have to be pine!
When TNYW first aired, it was great to see all of the neat stuff a guy could build with just a few power tools and the desire to do it. Over the years, Norm has acquired every single power tool known to man, and I'm sure we'll hear him say in an upcoming episode"...Now we'll just shove these bawds into our Windsa chair machine and out comes the finished product...".
The loving smile that our hero has on his face when assembling anything requiring the production of, the use of, or even the mention of, biscuits.
New Yankee Workshop is the Masterpiece Theatre of wood working shows. Sure Norm has machinery that I'll never have, but athletes have skills I'll never have and I still like to watch the NFL. Norm's laid back, "can do" attitude makes him the Cool Hand Luke of carpenters.
This show has never jumped the shark. If I wanted to watch a guy make square shelves with 3 cruddy tools, I would install a mirror in MY shop! If you want to watch a guy build a 17th century cuckoo clock, there's only one Norm!!
This is a cool show to watch, but the average person doesn't have all those tools or the connections to antique dealers to make that stuff ourselves!
NEVER JUMPED - Even persons that have absolutely no shop skills are totally absorbed into the "Norm Zone". Norm never fails to captivate and mesmerize the viewers. I realize that the large belt sander it a bit over the top, BUT once upon a time I got to operate the same “Time” belt sander, an awesome machine. It never bothers me that I cannot afford the tools that Norm uses. Who would want to watch a program that used only a Shopsmith and a 3/8 VSR drill anyway? Thank You Mr. Norman Abram.
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