The Woodwright's Shop
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''The Woodwright's Shop'' is an American traditional
woodworking Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinetry, furniture making, wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning. History Along with stone, clay and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked b ...
television show hosted by master woodworker Roy Underhill and airing on television network
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
. It is one of the longest-running how-to shows on PBS, with 36 13-episode seasons produced. The show debuted as a local program in 1979, before it went national in 1980. It was filmed at the UNC-TV (University of North Carolina Center for Public Television) studios in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.


Overview

''The Woodwright's Shop'' teaches the art of traditional woodworking using hand tools and human-powered machines. Viewers learn how to make furniture, toys, and other useful objects out of wood. Viewers also learn how to lay out wood projects and which tools to use for specific purposes. The show also teaches viewers how to use tools properly.


Wood joints

Underhill often shows the viewers how to create several useful and strong wooden joints, which are commonly used in
woodworking Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinetry, furniture making, wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning. History Along with stone, clay and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked b ...
. *
Mortise and tenon A mortise and tenon (occasionally mortice and tenon) is a Woodworking joints, joint that connects two pieces of wood or other material. Woodworking, Woodworkers around the world have used it for thousands of years to join pieces of wood, mainly ...
: This joint is often used for two pieces of wood that attach at right angles to each other in a "T" shape. * Tongue and groove: Tongue and groove joints are typically used for large surfaces such as a series of wooden panels on a wall or a table top. *
Dovetail joint A dovetail joint or simply dovetail is a joinery technique most commonly used in woodworking joinery (carpentry), including furniture, cabinets, log buildings, and traditional timber framing. Noted for its resistance to being pulled apart, a ...
: This joint is typically used for the corners of boxes. * Rabbet: A rabbet joint is one of the simplest joints used on the show.
Timber framing Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...
techniques are often used in conjunction with the wood joints described on the show.


Hand tools

Hand tools A hand tool is any tool that is powered by hand rather than a motor. Categories of hand tools include wrenches, pliers, cutters, files, striking tools, struck or hammered tools, screwdrivers, vises, clamps, snips, hacksaws, drills, an ...
are a major focus of the show. All of the hand tools used on the show are manually operated (i.e. non-electric). *
Chisel A chisel is a hand tool with a characteristic Wedge, wedge-shaped cutting edge on the end of its blade. A chisel is useful for carving or cutting a hard material such as woodworking, wood, lapidary, stone, or metalworking, metal. Using a chi ...
: The chisel is one of the most commonly used tools on the show and is typically used to shave down material and to square up holes. * Wooden mallet: The mallet is often used to drive the chisel into the workpiece. * Bow saw: The bow saw is often used by Underhill to cut large pieces of wood and to make curved cuts. * Brace and bit: Most of the drilling on the show is done with a brace and bit which is a hand powered drill. * Plane: Underhill uses the plane to level out surfaces and to square up joints. *
Hatchet A hatchet (from the Old French language, Old French , a diminutive form of ''hache'', 'axe' of Germanic origin) is a Tool, single-handed striking tool with a sharp blade on one side used to cut and split wood, and a hammerhead on the other side ...
: Large pieces of wood are hewn down to manageable size with a hatchet. * Drawknife: This tool is often used to quickly remove excess material. *
Adze An adze () or adz is an ancient and versatile cutting tool similar to an axe but with the cutting edge perpendicular to the handle rather than parallel. Adzes have been used since the Stone Age. They are used for smoothing or carving wood in ha ...
: The adze is used to hollow out surfaces like a chair seat. Proper handling and maintenance of tools is also part of the show. This includes the sharpening and sometimes making of tools, such as a scraper made from an old saw blade.


Machine tools

The most commonly used machine tool on the show is the
lathe A lathe () is a machine tool that rotates a workpiece about an axis of rotation to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, deformation, facing, threading and turning, with tools that are applied to the w ...
. Underhill typically uses a treadle lathe, but has also shown the viewers how to build and operate a spring pole lathe. He also often uses a gouge, in conjunction with his lathe, to remove material and smooth out a workpiece. The show also features the use of various jigs and appliances, for example the miter box. This is used to create square and perpendicular saw cuts, or to create saw cuts at a specific angle.


Early history

The show started as an idea that Roy Underhill had in 1976. He built a workshop and historic museum in Durham, North Carolina, in the mid-1970s. He called it "The Woodwright's Shop" and started teaching classes on how to build things out of wood. Underhill pitched the show idea to the PBS affiliate in Chapel Hill in 1978 but was rejected. He tried again in 1979 and filmed a pilot. Only in the fall of 1979 was the show accepted. 1979 was the same year that ''
This Old House ''This Old House'' is an American home improvement media brand with television shows, a magazine, and a website. The brand is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. The television series airs on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) television ...
'' started airing on PBS. Underhill admits that he made up the term "woodwright" and that it is not an actual term. Initially, he was concerned about using the made-up term in the show's title, but decided to use it anyway. The show went on a brief hiatus in 1980 while Underhill was negotiating funding for the second season.


Production

The show has a tight filming schedule. The show does not have a real script; instead, Underhill works out the story he is going to present and how to do it. He decides where camera shots are needed and sets workpieces and tools in those locations. The filming of different shots is limited to three takes because of the limit of workpieces used on the show. In recent years, the show is filmed in one take with no editing and as a result, the host is often out of breath by the end of the 24 minute program.


Injuries

The show also does not hide the nicks and cuts that come from woodworking with hand tools. The first such incident occurred in the third episode of the series, "Dumbheads in Action". A ''dumbhead'' is a clamping fixture on a foot-operated shaving horse used to hold unseasoned ("green") wood. The incident happened when he accidentally touched the cutting edge of the hewing hatchet he was using to produce the dumbhead, cutting his thumb in the process. On one occasion, Roy seriously injured his hand with a hatchet. The scene was kept in the show because it was the last take of this particular scene. Underhill reviewed the take and felt that it gave the show some realism.


PBS funding

*
State Farm State Farm Insurance is a group of mutual insurance companies throughout the United States with corporate headquarters in Bloomington, Illinois. Founded in 1922, it is the largest property and casualty insurance, property, casualty and auto i ...
(1984-2017) *The Cooper Group (1982-1985) *
Corporation for Public Broadcasting The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB; stylized as cpb) is an American publicly funded non-profit corporation, created in 1967 to promote and help support public broadcasting. The corporation's mission is to ensure universal access to ...
(1991)


Host

Roy Underhill is the host and creator of ''The Woodwright's Shop''. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.F.A. in theater direction. Roy went to Duke University for environmental studies in the mid-1970s. For his thesis, he did a live presentation titled "How to start with a tree and an axe and build your house and everything in it." Somebody told him "You ought to do that on TV", when he was finished with his presentation. He went on to work at
Colonial Williamsburg Colonial Williamsburg is a living-history museum and private foundation presenting a part of the historic district in Williamsburg, Virginia. Its historic area includes several hundred restored or recreated buildings from the 18th century, wh ...
as a carpenter, building houses the way they were built in the 18th century. During this same time, he also started producing ''The Woodwright's Shop'' television show for PBS. For 10 years, Underhill was a master housewright for Colonial Williamsburg. He helped with program development for another five years before he left over a disagreement about the authenticity of slave quarters on the project. Roy has written several books on woodworking, most of which have been published by the
University of North Carolina Press The University of North Carolina Press (or UNC Press), founded in 1922, is a not-for-profit university press associated with the University of North Carolina. It was the first university press founded in the southern United States. It is a mem ...
. Some of the books include, ''The Woodwright's Shop: A Practical Guide to Traditional Woodcraft'' () and ''The Woodwright's Guide: Working Wood with Wedge and Edge'' (). Roy lent his woodworking expertise to the 2005 movie '' The New World'' about the founding of the settlement in Jamestown, Virginia, in the 17th century. He also taught actor
Colin Farrell Colin James Farrell (; born 31 May 1976) is an Irish actor. A Leading actor, leading man in blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters and independent films since the 2000s, he has received various List of awards and nominations received by Col ...
about woodworking for the film and acted as an extra in the movie.


Guests

Roy has had a wide range of woodworking professionals as guests on his show from many different fields of woodworking, Frank Klausz, Christopher Schwarz, Nora Hall, Steve Latta, David Calvo, Michael Dunbar, Dan Mack, Don Weber, Wayne Barton and Curtis Buchanan as well as many lesser-known specialists in the fields of
tinsmith A tinsmith is a historical term for a skilled craftsperson who makes and repairs things made of tin or other light metals. The profession was also known as a tinner, tinker, tinman, or tinplate worker; whitesmith may also refer to this profe ...
ing, spoon carving, cooperage (barrels, buckets, canteens), lutherie (stringed instruments), whirligigs, archery, puppetry, basket making, spinning wheels and blacksmithing. Guests have also included famous people with a woodworking hobby, such as Governor
Mike Easley Michael Francis Easley (born March 23, 1950) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the List of Governors of North Carolina, 72nd governor of North Carolina from 2001 to 2009. He is the first governor of North Carolina to have been ...
. Roy's wife and children have appeared on various episodes over the show's thirty-plus-year span of production.


Episodes

Each season of ''The Woodwright's Shop'' consists of 13 episodes broadcast during the last 13 weeks of the year, typically starting at the beginning of October.


Video release

The show was first released on VHS tapes in 1993. In April 2012, ''Popular Woodworking'' announced an exclusive deal to bring the show to DVD, beginning with the first three seasons and Season 20. The current season of the show can be watched online at the PBS video website. Also, the last few seasons of the show can be watched online at the official website.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Woodwrights Shop 1970s American television series 1980s American television series 1990s American television series 2000s American television series 1979 American television series debuts 2017 American television series endings American English-language television shows Arts and crafts television series PBS original programming Woodworking mass media