81–90 of 132 posts
Then there was that one season (roughly around when Bob Vila left) where they had new carpenter who was missing some fingers. One episode he shows up with a mass of bandages on one hand, gives a lecture on saw safety, and never appeared again.
The intellectual successor to This Old House's take on the entertainment potential of skilled craftsmanship probably isn't drama-filled reality TV, but rather YouTube channels like that of Paul Sellers. My drama-detesting father-in-law and his grandchildren watch those videos all day long to appreciate the craftsmanship, learning opportunities, and creativity of final products. I don't feel particularly concerned by…
Don't forget that Roy Underhill in the Woodwright's Shop on PBS is also an intellectual predecessor to people like Paul Sellers.
Anyone know where to get old seasons of This Old House?
Hulu used to stream a few seasons, but when they did it was a subset of the seasons available on the apps mentioned.
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> But the show has a great focus on embracing new technology and weaving it in successfully. My favorite clips from This Old House is when the hosts talk about how much better the new tools and techniques are and why.
Those are mostly native ads which is the main weakness of the post-Abram series.
Likewise, a lot of logos are blurred out or taped over. They use generic references whenever possible.
But, despite all that, I know that Tommy loves Festool, and Norm is Kreg guy. But is there money changing hands?
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On the one hand, yeah, it's annoying. On the other hand though, if a piece of advice is wrong, it's wrong. It's not really a great idea to just ignore the building code when it doesn't suit you. There's a real problem in some parts of the internet where people with a superficial understanding of the problem space offer advice as if they were experts, and it needs to be pushed back against when those people offer bad…
Yeah, but bad advice is easy to tear down without resorting to the "hurr, durr, check your local code, my code requires X." The people that just worship the code without understanding why the code says what it says are what I'm complaining about. A lot of building code is there to facilitate consistency and ease of inspection and in those cases the "wrong" way of doing things is perfectly fine at small scale but it w…
When a new home addition in Los Angeles is featured, you get the Brick Mafia laughing about how we use wood frame construction ("You yankees use cheap stuff"). Never mind that earthquakes favor the bendy sticks over the brittle blocks.
Huge swaths of code are tied to local weather and common disaster scenarios. Florida really likes their hurricane ties, California loves their Simpson ties, in New England you need to dig down 4 feet to install a birdbath!
Other large discrepancies just come from different attitudes toward methods. Like mechanical vents for plumbing (where the vent goes to an interior check valve instead of up through the roof). Some places allow it, others prohibit it. I don't know why exactly, or who is "right".
But the point is: if The Code is someone's only objection to a construction technique, then I don't think it's a valid objection. They need to say why the technique or omission is wrong or dangerous.
I love TOH, but the last few seasons they have started doing more "field trips" (lets go see how glass is made) and less home improvement. For me this makes it less enjoyable to watch.
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Agree so much with this. Frank Howarth, Abom79, This Old Tony, Welding Tips and Tricks, Jimmy DiResta, Stumpy Nubs, Stefan Gotteswinter - there's so much great content like this on youtube. TV was never a great place for craft because it has to serve a general audience. Youtube has so much niche specific content with pretty great production values.
Great list. Also really good - Mustie1 who does a lot of old VW "rustoration", and South Main Auto, who's a whiz with electronic diagnosis tools. I've learned a lot from these channels.
The intellectual successor to This Old House's take on the entertainment potential of skilled craftsmanship probably isn't drama-filled reality TV, but rather YouTube channels like that of Paul Sellers. My drama-detesting father-in-law and his grandchildren watch those videos all day long to appreciate the craftsmanship, learning opportunities, and creativity of final products. I don't feel particularly concerned by…
Agreed that there are some real gems on Youtube. What is more, the various presentations work for different people, so finding someone who can explain the process to you in a way you understand is more manageable. I think the subtext of the article which is that skilled tradespeople are to be admired just as much as skilled professionals (doctors, lawyers, Etc.) is sometimes overlooked. For young people, especially t…
A sibling lives near an old industrial center; he drives truck for Sysco. We occasionally discuss different careers. Tool & die makers near him don't make more than truck drivers.
I'm sure there are some examples -- if you can do eg old-style timber framing for people who can afford 10-inch old growth timber and want 30+ foot ceilings, there will always be a handful of well-paying gigs.
But how common are these jobs for people at the, say, 70th percentile of skill rather than 95th?
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxr2d4As312LulcajAkKJYw
A channel dedicated to exploring the 18th Century lifestyle
The intellectual successor to This Old House's take on the entertainment potential of skilled craftsmanship probably isn't drama-filled reality TV, but rather YouTube channels like that of Paul Sellers. My drama-detesting father-in-law and his grandchildren watch those videos all day long to appreciate the craftsmanship, learning opportunities, and creativity of final products. I don't feel particularly concerned by…
This isn't even that new; your post reminds me of Orange County Choppers, supposedly a show about custom-made motorcycles. I tried watching this once or twice, many years ago (10+), when it first came out, thinking I'd get to see some interesting welding and such. No, I just saw a bunch of yelling and arguing. And this was on the "Discovery Channel".