Roy Underhill swinging an axe

[rhancock]

TEDxRaleigh 2011- Roy Underhill- Have Broad Axe Will Travel - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Au1TbIyLcPU)

[pmcgee]

Very cool.
Thank you.
Paul.

[TobyC]

Never get enough Roy. I'm sure glad we planned ahead on our mountain placement!

Toby

[ch!ppy]

Never get enough Roy. I'm sure glad we planned ahead on our mountain placement!

Toby

i watched that late last night when i had a chance, i hadnt seen him, naturaly american biased but thats ok, he's a hoot, what a funny bugger, the mountain comment cracked me up, yeah right haha:p and offering to the audience to pass around an 8 foot log was funny, his carelessness with using the adz is a bit worrying though, no one should copy that method, a good way to loss your leg or do a serious injury, reminds of when i sliced into my big toe with an axe when i was young

you might find it interesting (or not) but whenever i see those log cabin construction (i've built lots of them, almost all the modern contemporary way though) in movies or such it alway makes me ponder how it came about that the construction differed on different continents, when you think about it, the reasons are there. a lot of our log homes and of course we only go back a couple of hundred years but some i found in the middle of outback, way off the paths that people travel (otherwise they would be gone with people interferring with them) that i think were built as late as the early 1900's some much older early/mid 1800's, but were built with the logs in upright configuration, especially in the drier areas where the trees were sparser, in some of those areas they used cypress pine which although a softwood works more like a hardwood and is pretty resistant to termites too which in Oz is practically a necessity, put your rocking chair out on the porch in the evening and forget it, in the morning it will be gone lol...anyways a few i found were made out of cypress about 4-6in in diameter with hundreds used side by side with mud pressed in between, as the years went by the owners clad the inside with plaster board or just plaster trowed on or other cladding, on the outside with weather board or corrugated iron, floors of dirt or paved with stone, some still had furniture and pots and pans on the stove/fireplace. i never tell people were they are but i used to get such a kick out of walking though and sitting there, not wanting to even disturb the dust sometimes i was in awe of taking in the imagined history of the people that lived in these isolated homes

cheers
chippy

[malb]

Six seasons of TV programs online here (http://www.pbs.org/woodwrightsshop/video/3100/index.html). Link goes to last season released online, side box at right accesses previous five seasons.

The Highland Woodworker (http://www.thehighlandwoodworker.com/) has a new webcast starting last Feb. The first episode has about 10 minutes with Roy around his home, shop and school.

[rhancock]

I watch the tv shows on line when I'm bored, and I love his attitude, although sometimes he comes across as a pretender.

The comment from Ch!ppy about safety I think is a good one. I grew up swinging an axe as a Scout, but now I'm in the construction industry I don't see any reason for anyone in a professional setting not to wear steel toe caps.

I liked this show mainly for it's historical content, mainly Roy's point that often the reason things are the way (shape, size, marks) are, is because that was the easiest / quickest / cheapest way of doing a job that needed doing.

I'm not sure that last paragraph makes much sense, but I've got man flu and I can't cope with rewriting it...

[TobyC]

Check this out.

Roy Underhill's 'The Woodwright's Shop' Coming to ShopClass | Popular Woodworking Magazine (http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/editors-blog/get-ready-for-roy)

Toby

[TobyC]

He's no pretender.

Roy Underhill - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Underhill)

The Woodwright's Shop - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Woodwright%27s_Shop)

Amazon.com: Roy Underhill: Books, Biography, Blog, Audiobooks, Kindle (http://www.amazon.com/Roy-Underhill/e/B001JSBCO0)

Toby

[seanz]

Great stuff. Worth watching.

[rhancock]

I don't mean he's a pretender in the sense that he doesn't know what he's doing, only that his act seems to be an act made for TV, and I find it a little grating.

I watch his shows as avidly as anyone else.

[Berlin]

I find his schtick a annoying but he can swing an axe.

[rhancock]

Schtick is the word I was looking for!

[Andy Mac]

I enjoyed it too, his skill set and depth of knowledge is formidable (the bit about ice ages and tree species survival). I get the feeling that the whole act, or schtick, is a very forced way to make a living (US style) from an obsolete way of working... despite his objections.
How to you maximise the potential of having so much experience and knowledge? Get on TV or stage, possibly prompted by an agent.
Maybe I'm being a bit harsh, Underhill no doubt has a desire to see those skills remembered and continued. In that way I see him as a bit of a hero, just the commercialisation makes me shudder a bit.

[rhancock]

The fact we're talking about him, and that he's being recommended on other threads on the forum suggests he's doing a great job of keeping the enthusiasm for old skills going.

I'd love to see more like him on tv, schtick or not!

[pmcgee]

I enjoyed it too, his skill set and depth of knowledge is formidable (the bit about ice ages and tree species survival). I get the feeling that the whole act, or schtick, is a very forced way to make a living (US style) from an obsolete way of working... despite his objections.
How to you maximise the potential of having so much experience and knowledge? Get on TV or stage, possibly prompted by an agent.
Maybe I'm being a bit harsh, Underhill no doubt has a desire to see those skills remembered and continued. In that way I see him as a bit of a hero, just the commercialisation makes me shudder a bit.


I don't think it/he is very commercial at all.

He started out on a local PBS station - 1979 - North Carolina - for two years.
That's like our ABC, but only in 1 US state out of 50. And he's continued on PBS ever since AFAIK. I'm pretty sure that, like our ABC, that is not the source of the big money pay packets.

He has written books - the ones I've seen must have been very early on - and runs classes. I like Rob Cosman well enough, but I would say he for example is commercial - not Roy.

30+ years enthusing people about traditional tools and knowledge, and a bit of self-reliance is a bloody good effort I think :2tsup:

Cheers,
Paul.

[firemedic]

I don't think it/he is very commercial at all.

He started out on a local PBS station - 1979 - North Carolina - for two years.
That's like our ABC, but only in 1 US state out of 50. And he's continued on PBS ever since AFAIK. I'm pretty sure that, like our ABC, that is not the source of the big money pay packets.

He has written books - the ones I've seen must have been very early on - and runs classes. I like Rob Cosman well enough, but I would say he for example is commercial - not Roy.

30+ years enthusing people about traditional tools and knowledge, and a bit of self-reliance is a bloody good effort I think :2tsup:

Cheers,
Paul.

I enjoyed the vid! Thanks for posting.

I have to agree with Paul about ole' Roy and I think his point is well stated. Were he "commercialized" he would be advertising his own signature line of hand tools all emblazoned with his signature - but he's not despite
How lucrative that would be. I think he's truly driven to bring back his niche of the lost art of self reliance. He has my respect for being a true frontier given the time period he got it all started. That was truly the time of the power tool even more so than now, I think. The time of one tool does all gizmos.

Attaboy Roy!

[Fricasseekid]

Love his philosophy!
Thanks for sharing.

[pmcgee]

More magic Underhill ...Roy Underhill (http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/editors-blog/roy-underhill-%E2%80%93-thats-entertainment)

The Woodwright's Shop 20th Anniversary Episode - YouTube

[malb]

He started out on a local PBS station - 1979 - North Carolina - for two years.
That's like our ABC, but only in 1 US state out of 50.

Actually a lot more like our Channel 31 or it's variants in other states, very little money to go round, and lots of groups trying to get a share of it and the airtime.

Not only did he start with PBS, he has stayed with them. A lot of local acts started out in public broadcasting as an interest, and headed for the money when there was some on offer, (thinking radio here as public TV is still fairly new to Oz).

Stusshed and others had it good, they were able to start up with the internet and could find an audience that way. Roy, Norm and Router Workshop had to pioneer the format, get an audience and convince the public networks that it was worth the precious airtime.

Pity it's so hard to get hold of Roy's earlier efforts.

[TobyC]

Roy Underhill | The Woodwright's Shop PBS Woodworking Show | Popular Woodworking Magazine (http://www.popularwoodworking.com/roy-underhill)

...and more will come.

Toby

[firemedic]

Pity it's so hard to get hold of Roy's earlier efforts.

From what I'm told, all 30 yrs are being digitized and put on DVD as we speak... They'll be available in box sets.

[TobyC]

Roy Underhill | The Woodwright's Shop PBS Woodworking Show | Popular Woodworking Magazine (http://www.popularwoodworking.com/roy-underhill?lid=pwdtbl071212)

Toby

[pmcgee]

More excellent St Roy of Underhill ...

Housewrighting ...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP3sS1u4fSo