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This Old House: The Rare Home-Improvement Show That Spotlights Skilled Workers

theatlantic.com

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Re: This Old House: The Rare Home-Improvement Show That Spotlights Skilled Workers

#71

Post by ariwilson »

Since I bought a house, I have begun to truly appreciate the craft that goes into house construction and repair, as well as how little it's appreciated outside of the industry. Screw all the "project guys" who have their insane ideas of how something should work; they're not worth as much as a properly concreted fence post any day.

I'm still no DIY home guy but I love learning from professionals when I need something done. I've used Angie's List and Thumbtack successfully, but honestly there are still huge parts of matching crews to projects that are entirely offline and very inefficient.

Re: This Old House: The Rare Home-Improvement Show That Spotlights Skilled Workers

#73

Post by c0vfefe »

dec0dedab0de wrote: post #16
bluedino wrote: post #12

These guys always do things 'the right way'. I'd love to see a similar show on software development. Building an interface for ecommerce with an existing 20 year old computer system. 'This old mainframe'

Building an interface for ecommerce with an existing 20 year old computer system. We had e-commerce in 1999. But that does sound like a fun show, I'd watch.

Yup, eBay was founded in 1995.

Re: This Old House: The Rare Home-Improvement Show That Spotlights Skilled Workers

#74

Post by sxcurry »

abakker wrote: post #15
Townley wrote: post #11

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…

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.

Re: This Old House: The Rare Home-Improvement Show That Spotlights Skilled Workers

#75

Post by zrobotics »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #51
Townley wrote: post #11

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…

>>What is more, the various presentations work for different people

This is such an excellent point, and something that really gives YT an advantage. For instance, AvE certainly has some excellent information in his videos, but I personally have found the presentation style (all the channel-specific jargon & toilet humor) increasingly off-putting; while a channel like this old tony still manages humorous content without sacrificing approachablility & technical accuracy.

For another example, there have been multiple people upthread reccomending channels like Abom & OxToolco. I really enjoyed Tom Lipton's (OxTool) book "Metalworking: Sink or Swim"; I just have trouble with the typical length of the videos so I rarely watch them. None of these channels can draw a large enough audience for television, but there's enough space online for these smaller, distinct presentation styles.

Re: This Old House: The Rare Home-Improvement Show That Spotlights Skilled Workers

#76

Post by zrobotics »

EADGBE wrote: post #56
selimthegrim wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vaguely remember an Orange County Choppers episode taking gratuitous potshots at Intel

OCC was definitely dramatized. The parent comment's suggestions though are indeed TOH-style mechanic shows.

Which was such a shame, since the guys definitely had great technical skills & I really wanted to like the show but couldn't get past the screaming. I'm not really into choppers, but am into antique bikes (currently mounting a sidecar on a 73 HD), so it should have been right up my alley.

Re: This Old House: The Rare Home-Improvement Show That Spotlights Skilled Workers

#77

Post by psadauskas »

abakker wrote: post #15
Townley wrote: post #11

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…

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.

I would add to this list Matthias Wandel, who has tutorial videos about making his own jigs and tools from wood, including a a 20" bandsaw from plywood. He also invented a "pantorouter", which allows a router to follow a template at 2:1 scale.

Re: This Old House: The Rare Home-Improvement Show That Spotlights Skilled Workers

#78

Post by war1025 »

peatmoss wrote: post #55
evandev wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't forget that Roy Underhill in the Woodwright's Shop on PBS is also an intellectual predecessor to people like Paul Sellers.

Oh my goodness, if there was ever a reason to donate monthly to PBS, it’s for the old episodes of the Woodwright’s shop on their “PBS Passport” service. That show, apart from being educational, is gentle and warm in the same was that the late great Bob Ross makes people feel from his show. It’s salve for the soul.

I discovered that they had many seasons of The Woodwright's Shop on pbs.org freely available while dealing with a bout of the stomach flu. That show is great. Even my three year old daughter enjoys it.

Re: This Old House: The Rare Home-Improvement Show That Spotlights Skilled Workers

#79

Post by daxorid »

davidblair wrote: post #53
falcolas wrote: post #9

There's a YouTube channel that I feel espouses the values set forth by "This Old House" - and is as much fun to watch: Essential Craftsman I grew up on This Old House, and I relax to Essential Craftsman today. I hope someone else can find it as much fun as I do.

Essential Craftsman is fantastic. For anyone who doesn't know, the concept is that he is building a spec house and walking you through every step of the process, from surveying the site, to getting permits, all the way through building it. It's going to take him a long time, but anyone who wants to catch up he has a playlist of the first 32 episodes at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRZePj70B4IwyNn1ABhJW...

Strongly agree. I'd like to point out that his Spec House project is only one of many things he's involved with. The blacksmithing, woodworking, and other videos are equally great. One video in particular is ostensibly about construction work ethic, but I like to think applies quite well to software development:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP1AmDRhoas

Re: This Old House: The Rare Home-Improvement Show That Spotlights Skilled Workers

#80

Post by 0xdeadbeefbabe »

abakker wrote: post #15
Townley wrote: post #11

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…

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.

I used to think it was great, but now I think about a powermatic bandsaw.

(AvE was involved. I chose wood shop because he said there weren't any old welders i.e. they don't live long)

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