What's Up WIth Norm?

That’s odd. I just looked their web site and sure enough what you say is true. If Norm wants to take a break I understand, but to rerun old episodes and just record an new intro seems very strange.

-- http://theinquisitivewoodworker.com/

Could be one of a several reasons.

1. Hes recieved death threats for saying “drawering” instead of “drawing”.
2. His 10 man crew that actually does the projects off camera is on strike.
3. The management requested he also wear checkered flannel pants and he quit.

-- "The way to make a small fortune in woodworking- start with a large one"

Miles,

You just made me think of my junior high industrial arts teacher. She was from Boston, Mass. Miss Cleves- She used to say that we had to drawer every project on paper. If we couldn’t sawer the board right, we couldn’t use the hand sawer at all. She was always talking about her Ford caa.

-- Lew- Time traveler. Purveyor of the world's finest custom rolling pins!

Kind of looking forward to seeing some old episodes myself. Honestly, I find it amazing that they have gone year after year, season after season with no breaks. That’s awesome! Maybe he is taking a break to work on his other hobby: sewing. ;)

-- For free video tutorials and other cool woodworking stuff, check out http://www.TheWoodWhisperer.com

I am only too happy to praise and admit a devotion to Norm Abram. I can truthfully say that he has not only made me a better carpenter, he has made me more money. More than once I’ve taken what I have learned from his shows, directly or indirectly, and applied them to my work and more than once I received additional compensation for same.

I hope that his hiatus is self imposed and not due to health or other personal issues.
If it is I would like to wish him well . . .

lay off Norm. Give the dude a break.

He has inspired millions to make woodworking their hobby. Like or dislike him… he is the reason so many people got into the hobby and made it profitable for the tool companies to innovate and come out with the cool stuff we all have in our shops. The more of us who become potential buyers, the cooler the tools will get and the more innovations we will see.

Thanks Norm!

-- making sawdust....

Norm was my inspiration to start woodworking.

When I was little I asked my grandfather to teach me to make his whirligigs and he said no because I was a girl.
When I was in school I had to take cooking and sewing classes because I was a girl.

When I got married my husband and I watched some of Norm’s early shows. I said I wished I knew how to do that. My husband said that he didn’t know how to do it, but he would buy some small tools and let me learn. So Thanks to Norm and the local library.

-- Berta in NC

I’d rather watch Norm in re runs than 90 percent of the other junk that people are watching now. Chances are I have not seen them all anyway.

-- rob, ont,canada

There’s so much junk on TV and with 400+ channels, there’s even more junk.

I appreciate Norm’s show and practical wood working techniques that are time savers for a reasonable product, but I’d like to see more artistic wood working like David Marks. (FYI: He has a new dvd out on Scrapers.) Since every wood worker has their own technique, it would be great to see more Master craftsmen/women demonstrate their trade work. Guess I’ll have to watch my Sam Maloof tapes and read my Tage Frid books. Something to say for the older technology.

-- "They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night." ~ Edgar Allan Poe

Mott,

Hope you didn’t take this post as a slam on Norm.

Meeting Norm is #1 on my “Bucket List”. I have virtually every program on tape and his show is the reason we don’t leave the house on Saturday morning. Because of his manner and style, he is the reason a huge majority of us Lumberjocks are here. His ability to make the difficult seem so easy has challenged us to expand our own capabilities and try things we may never thought possible. For all of us, he has been our friend, our favorite teacher and our mentor. If he is stepping down, I want him to know, I will miss him- Saturdays will never be the same.

Lew

-- Lew- Time traveler. Purveyor of the world's finest custom rolling pins!

Don’t worry guys, I’ll still be here. Right Napaman?

-- ??? My mistakes heat the house. It's very warm in here. ???

I haven’t seen any! I don’t have a tv so are his shows on disk?

-- Never board, always knotty, lots of growth rings

Norm is one of the reasons we bought a TIVO – so we could actually get out of the house on Saturdays!

:) :)

That being said, seeing some of these older episodes will be nice for someone like myself only lately come to woodworking.

-- Derek, Bremerton WA --

Just stop and think about this for a moment…how many shows do you know of that have had a solid 20 seasons. Not too many. I bet there are a number of people out there who have never seen a season 1 episode. I for one would like to see a few of the older shows. They kept the sawdust running through my veins as I was without a shop to cut in.

-- Greg - Charles Town, WV

From his website forum:

Question:
Thanks for the great work! Since the day that the Yankee Cam was discontinued, I have been concerned that something drastic had happened. Now I see that Season 21 is a compilation. I am not complaining about that, as EVERY New Yankee episode is great. But, I am very concerned that perhaps someone important to the show became ill or otherwise incapacitated. Is everyone all right? I genuinely care, and I think most fans care very much as well. What happened? – Mike Trull

————————————————————————————————————————

Answer:
We reassure you…all is well here at the Workshop. Norm is getting little more time to work on his own projects and to smell the flowers. Can we argue with that? But thanks for your concer

-- Randy, Tupelo, MS ~ A man who honors his wife will have children who honor their father.