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Re: The Chop : Britain’s best woodworker

PostPosted: 18 Oct 2020, 17:28
by Doug
droogs wrote:I give the chop - the chop. purile for the most part. will appeal to the instagram set that have no idea about woodwork and think shabby chick pallets are cool.


Bit of a broad sweep considering the amount of excellent furniture makers on Instagram,

Re: The Chop : Britain’s best woodworker

PostPosted: 18 Oct 2020, 17:47
by Woodbloke
Doug wrote:
droogs wrote:... will appeal to the instagram set that have no idea about woodwork and think shabby chick pallets are cool.


Bit of a broad sweep considering the amount of excellent furniture makers on Instagram,


:text-+1: - Rob

Re: The Chop : Britain’s best woodworker

PostPosted: 18 Oct 2020, 19:14
by Raymedullary
It's will always be a semi joke.
Woodwork classes et etc.
Why oh why any self respecting woodworker or related should expect anything different is beyond...

Re: The Chop : Britain’s best woodworker

PostPosted: 18 Oct 2020, 21:45
by droogs
My comments were not about the woodworkers on instagram but the audience who buy into the hipster rubbish, at whom this program is aimed. It is definitely not for woodworkers. No real showing of the contestants actually doing woodwork. You could see the surprise in the contestants faces that they were expected to use the axe and other basic tools to make a bench. If these were supposed to be the best candidates for the title" Best Woodworker" then I wish I had taken part. i just feel the standard of joinery was very poor for the most part. Also they seem to have a poor knowledge of the history of the craft and furniture and how it was traditionally made and the actual styles that were in vogue at different times.

I am not trying to put any novice off here. but for the standard that they are purporting to be it was to me not a well made or truly reflective program and to add insult to injury, having Lee Mack tack the pi$$ out of the contestants in a way that suggest they are unworthy nerds while doing something he is incapable of was annoying.

Re: The Chop : Britain’s best woodworker

PostPosted: 18 Oct 2020, 22:13
by Trevanion
Just gave it a watch, if these are Britain's "top woodworkers" the craft is truly doomed! :lol:

The frontier table was an interesting project but I do think each team was a little overstaffed which probably caused it to be more time inefficient than it should've been. In six hours, a particularly skilled craftsman more than likely could bang out one of those tables without too much issue to a similar standard by one's self. I particularly liked Glyn's wedges though, that was a nice touch I thought, and quite well done with just standard bench chisels!

The log stools were a bit of a farce but to be fair they were given rubbish gear to get the job done, you would have a hell of a time trying to rive a straight piece out of a log with a wood grenade as a splitting wedge! :shock: :lol: It seemed a little that the 'tool acquisition' side of the program didn't really know much about what they were sourcing.

The "Creative task" where each had to build their own project from their own design was quite interesting. Not sure if Tattooy McTattooface (Darren, who actually seems very competent to be fair) actually understood the aim of the task but what he made was an excellent bit of furniture but not exactly in keeping with the specified brief at all! Otherwise there were some interesting pieces made in ten hours.

I didn't think it was a terrible program actually. Yes, the constant remarks every other second from Lee Mack did get a little irritating after a while but on the whole I've watched worse! I imagine woodworking is a very difficult thing to record and keep your average punter interested in the content, whereas something like blacksmithing has all the drama of the hot metal, sparks and hammering whilst woodworking is rather slow and meticulous by comparison (Although blacksmithing can be very meticulous!). Of course, it's not "proper" woodworking as such but I'd watch another episode.

You can watch it on Youtube if you haven't got Sky: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0vKyqWZTUY

Re: The Chop : Britain’s best woodworker

PostPosted: 18 Oct 2020, 23:01
by TrimTheKing
Trevanion wrote:Just gave it a watch, if these are Britain's "top woodworkers" the craft is truly doomed! :lol:

The frontier table was an interesting project but I do think each team was a little overstaffed which probably caused it to be more time inefficient than it should've been. In six hours, a particularly skilled craftsman more than likely could bang out one of those tables without too much issue to a similar standard by one's self. I particularly liked Glyn's wedges though, that was a nice touch I thought, and quite well done with just standard bench chisels!

The log stools were a bit of a farce but to be fair they were given rubbish gear to get the job done, you would have a hell of a time trying to rive a straight piece out of a log with a wood grenade as a splitting wedge! :shock: :lol: It seemed a little that the 'tool acquisition' side of the program didn't really know much about what they were sourcing.

The "Creative task" where each had to build their own project from their own design was quite interesting. Not sure if Tattooy McTattooface (Darren, who actually seems very competent to be fair) actually understood the aim of the task but what he made was an excellent bit of furniture but not exactly in keeping with the specified brief at all! Otherwise there were some interesting pieces made in ten hours.

I didn't think it was a terrible program actually. Yes, the constant remarks every other second from Lee Mack did get a little irritating after a while but on the whole I've watched worse! I imagine woodworking is a very difficult thing to record and keep your average punter interested in the content, whereas something like blacksmithing has all the drama of the hot metal, sparks and hammering whilst woodworking is rather slow and meticulous by comparison (Although blacksmithing can be very meticulous!). Of course, it's not "proper" woodworking as such but I'd watch another episode.

You can watch it on Youtube if you haven't got Sky: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0vKyqWZTUY


Beautifully put.

I didn’t go into it expecting the best woodworkers in Britain because, despite the name, that clearly wasn’t going to happen.

I expected it to be consumerist, light hearted, light in detail but maybe a not insufferable watch, and that’s what I got.

I am no master craftsman by any stretch, just a hobbyist who likes to work meticulously and can occasionally turn out something of decent quality but as woodworkers we need to ensure we don’t become too snobbish, even about pallet work.

All of these things need to be seen as what they are and this was (despite Lee Mack, on that we agree), a not wholly unwatchable hour of TV that includes some woodworking. I expect it to improve.

Re: The Chop : Britain’s best woodworker

PostPosted: 19 Oct 2020, 08:57
by Woodbloke
I clicked on the linkie to watch it on UToob; I think I lasted less than a minute. TBH I'd rather watch Will ('the woodmangler') Kirk on 'The Repair Shop' - Rob

Re: The Chop : Britain’s best woodworker

PostPosted: 19 Oct 2020, 10:36
by Andyp
not watched it yet, No Sky. will check out the yootoob later. I have seen some of the stuff that will hardie produces on a channel four prog about building houses in small spaces. he is very clever.

Re: The Chop : Britain’s best woodworker

PostPosted: 20 Oct 2020, 17:57
by Trevanion
Someone on the other place commented about some of Tattooy McTattooface's tattoos being white supremacist in nature, seems as if there's been a bit of backlash about it:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8859725/Sky-History-defends-contestant-neo-Nazi-tattoos.html

Re: The Chop : Britain’s best woodworker

PostPosted: 20 Oct 2020, 18:00
by 9fingers
We can always rely on the daily maul for a balanced view on things
:lol:
Bob

Re: The Chop : Britain’s best woodworker

PostPosted: 20 Oct 2020, 20:11
by Blackswanwood
It appears the programme has been pulled while his tattoos are investigated ...

Re: The Chop : Britain’s best woodworker

PostPosted: 20 Oct 2020, 20:37
by 9fingers
Blackswanwood wrote:It appears the programme has been pulled while his tattoos are investigated ...



Disaster! What are we going to tear to shreds over the next few days if we can't have Chop pt2?

:lol:

Bob

Re: The Chop : Britain’s best woodworker

PostPosted: 21 Oct 2020, 07:20
by Andyp
I watched it last night. Lee Mack was far and away the worst part of the whole show. Shame about the “being in the right team” saved the elimination.
We could get semantic about what top woodworker actually means
I also wonder what most of us folks here would produce from a log, an axe, a chisel and a saw in a limited period.
I would watch the second episode, if it airs and appears on youtube. Tattoo face seems to be one of the better craftsman.
Felder was not mentioned in the credits when other suppliers names appeared.

Re: The Chop : Britain’s best woodworker

PostPosted: 21 Oct 2020, 08:18
by RogerS
Trevanion wrote:Someone on the other place commented about some of Tattooy McTattooface's tattoos being white supremacist in nature, seems as if there's been a bit of backlash about it:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8859725/Sky-History-defends-contestant-neo-Nazi-tattoos.html


You can guarantee that someone, somewhere will take things out of context and complain. I bet Sooty and Sweep would bring out the PC-vigilantes if it was on TV at the moment.

Re: The Chop : Britain’s best woodworker

PostPosted: 21 Oct 2020, 09:34
by Woodbloke
RogerS wrote: I bet Sooty and Sweep would bring out the PC-vigilantes if it was on TV at the moment.

No question Sooty's the best turner though Rog :lol: See here at 12.20 - Rob

Re: The Chop : Britain’s best woodworker

PostPosted: 21 Oct 2020, 09:47
by RogerS
Woodbloke wrote:
RogerS wrote: I bet Sooty and Sweep would bring out the PC-vigilantes if it was on TV at the moment.

No question Sooty's the best turner though Rog :lol: See here at 12.20 - Rob


Oh, that's brilliant, Rob. :obscene-drinkingcheers: :eusa-clap: :eusa-clap: :D

Re: The Chop : Britain’s best woodworker

PostPosted: 21 Oct 2020, 10:14
by AJB Temple
You guys have got too much time on your hands. Sooty and Sweep for goodness sake!

Re: The Chop : Britain’s best woodworker

PostPosted: 21 Oct 2020, 10:23
by Lons
Love the Sooty turning video, where did you drag up that from Rob? :lol:

Re: The Chop : Britain’s best woodworker

PostPosted: 21 Oct 2020, 10:25
by droogs
Really bad HSE form there. Glove puppetry and turning machinery. Sooty should have been NAKED :shock:

Re: The Chop : Britain’s best woodworker

PostPosted: 21 Oct 2020, 10:28
by 9fingers
Lons wrote:Love the Sooty turning video, where did you drag up that from Rob? :lol:


I think Rob uses those videos to brush up on his skills now and then - possibly they are on his play list. :lol: :lol:

I did wonder what lathe was used in the video. Relative to the on off switch which IIRC were about 2" diameter, the lathe was tiny. Smaller than a unimat for example. Might have been somethingthe Gamages would have sold back in the day?

Bob

Re: The Chop : Britain’s best woodworker

PostPosted: 21 Oct 2020, 10:53
by Woodbloke
Lons wrote:Love the Sooty turning video, where did you drag up that from Rob? :lol:

Just noodling around on the original b/w Sooty shows on UToob and purely by chance came across that very old clip which I think is entirely appropriate for this thread :lol:

9fingers wrote:
I think Rob uses those videos to brush up on his skills now and then - possibly they are on his play list. :lol: :lol:

Bob

Now you've let the cat out the bag Bob! :lol: - Rob

Re: The Chop : Britain’s best woodworker

PostPosted: 21 Oct 2020, 11:20
by droogs
joking aside, the lathe itself looks really nifty for a little thing. Does anyone know what it is?

Re: The Chop : Britain’s best woodworker

PostPosted: 21 Oct 2020, 12:36
by TrimTheKing
On the sooty theme, Matthew Corbett lives in Lymm, about 5 minutes drive from me. Well he did until a couple of weeks ago when he sold up after a period of ill health.

Lovely cottage right on the Bridgewater Canal and next door to 2 pubs. He could often be seen, pre illness, around the gardens or in the pub and is a very polite and affable chap.

Re: The Chop : Britain’s best woodworker

PostPosted: 21 Oct 2020, 13:19
by Rod
His father Harry used to live in Guisely.
We often passed his house when traveling to our weekend bungalow. Every time the kids shouted out “there lives Sooty”.

Rod

Re: The Chop : Britain’s best woodworker

PostPosted: 21 Oct 2020, 14:32
by MattS
RogerS wrote:You can guarantee that someone, somewhere will take things out of context and complain. I bet Sooty and Sweep would bring out the PC-vigilantes if it was on TV at the moment.


And rightly so, It's Sooty, Sweep and Sue in the programme but Sue doesn't make it into the title, wonder why?