The Wood Whisperer Network

13 Responses to “The Wood Whisperer Network”

1. William on February 12th, 2008 9:03 am

   Super job, Marc! This is a significant contribution to the world of woodworking on the internet. I love the layout of the page - very dynamic. The internet also the perfect medium for craftsman, who are mostly introverts, like us former lab geeks. (That’s what makes people watching at wood shows such fun!)

   I agree that this is a terrific way to “apprentice” when you don’t have the time or money to go off and take classes with the masters, as great as that experience would be. Most of us learn by doing anyway, and the videos provide great visual templates from which to work.

   The only danger I see is that there is so much virtual woodworking on the ‘net, we’ll forget to make some real sawdust in our own shops. It would probably be better to view the network while at work and not let it cut into your woodworking time.

2. Mattias in Durham, NC on February 12th, 2008 9:31 am

   You’re right, now there is no boundary to how much time may be wasted online. But seriously, TWW network is pretty sweet.

   Here’s some constructive feedback (hopefully). There are two ways I use woodworking blogs. First, to be inspired to do or build something new, that I might never come up with on my own. To move outside of my comfort zone, and be inspired to try new things. This means I am browsing for -anything- that might catch my eye.

   Second, I use blogs to seek out specific information. Maybe there is a finishing technique I am curious about, or I need to buy a tool and want others’ experiences.

   The first use is pretty well addressed by TWW network. For the second use, I wish there was a way where the blogs, or maybe even individual blog entries could be indexed by what they are about, and their quality level (per user votes?). That way, let’s say I need to learn about a certain finishing method, I could find the two or three most highly regarded entries about that. I guess it would be useful to know whether it’s a video entry, perhaps how many comments there are. Sometimes entries are broken up (e.g. part 1, part 2) - that might be hard to handle. Google is more or less useless for this, unless “you’re feeling lucky.”

3. Ace HoleInOne on February 12th, 2008 11:45 am

   What is the definition of a “Pro WW Blog” age..? experience…? writing style…? a good bull sh*ter. …? how many furniture items you have sold…? handsome good looks?

   -Ace-

4. thewoodwhisperer on February 12th, 2008 12:52 pm

   Well I guess there may be some room for interpretation, but the standard definitions of pro and amateur apply here. If woodworking is the person’s career, then they are professional. If its a hobby then they are an amateur. Skill level, experience, “bullshitability”, etc… have nothing to do with it. Make sense?

5. Roger (rjack) on February 12th, 2008 1:00 pm

   Very, very cool! I really like Mattias’s indexing/voting idea.

6. thewoodwhisperer on February 12th, 2008 1:08 pm

   And that would be very cool Mattias. The new network page is definitely limited simply by the fact that it really is just a blog. The type of site you are describing is a whole other ball of wax. We considered going that route, but it would have been pretty costly. So maybe some day we can go down that path.. But right now, we will continue to grow and the blogging/podcasting community grows. And when we max out the functionality of this particular system, we’ll look for the next big thing.

   EDIT***
   Ok now you guys got me thinking more. In order to search content on other sites, we would need to index their articles. A blog that pulls in RSS feeds and republishes them would do the trick. But there is a fine line between offering a service to interested readers, and simply “scraping”. The only way to do this is if we could pull the articles, use their text for the queries, but only display the title and a short except. The reader would have to actually go to the site to read the full article. I wonder how difficult that would be…….

7. Mattias in Durham, NC on February 12th, 2008 1:23 pm

   I think TWW network is the best starting point (IMHO). It has no agenda other than informing folks about all good woodworking blogs. I appreciate your investment!

   You might keep it in the idea box, or maybe some web developer/woodworker can step forward to help the community.

   By the way, I’m seeing less “goofing off” in your videos these days. Are you having less fun? I hope not.

8. thewoodwhisperer on February 12th, 2008 1:31 pm

   Well if you look at the wood whisperer videos on the whole, the goofing off occurs when the show is completely planned out. I have most of the content scripted and if I think of something funny to do or say, it gets written into the video. The current set of videos, on the other hand, is literally documenting my building process from start to finish. The “whole story” happens over the course of many videos and nothing is scripted. So “funny” only happens by accident.

   Just like the outtakes, it all depends on how the show is filmed. I hope you can see a pattern forming by now.

9. allen on February 12th, 2008 2:55 pm

   I’ve always been concerned as to where the next generation of woodworkers will come from, and had assumed it to be a dying hobby/ profession. Those of us who had shop class in Jr. High or High School are rare anymore, and that is what got many of us started later in life. So perhaps the next generation is taught by internet forums and online videos. This is a good thing to help perpetuate custom woodworking. However, I remain concerned since you don’t see many people in the 20’s and 30’s at the woodworking shows.

10. Mattias in Durham, NC on February 12th, 2008 7:45 pm

    Allen: I’m in my 30s I have been to only only one woodworking show, in 2002. My brother-in-law and I drove three hours (one way) and we were really excited to go. But it was a disappointment.

    Maybe we just didn’t do it right, but it sure doesn’t feel like the place to start when you know little about woodworking. It’s just a bunch of people trying to sell you stuff, and you have no idea what is good or a gimmick. If you already know what you want and like, and have experience, then you might get something out of it. I think I would get more out of it today.

    Magazines, and the odd class, have been my sources for learning woodworking. In the last year or so the Internet has been inching into magazine territory but so far I’m still buying and reading magazines and I imagine I will keep doing that. I have no plans to go to a woodworking show - I have fairly little time available and I think spending that time just building something is a better investment. So don’t take lack of young people there as an indication of the number of woodworkers going down.

    That’s some fine cabinetry you’re making, by the way. I looked at your website.

11. Mattias in Durham, NC on February 12th, 2008 7:48 pm

    Marc, I understand, but it’s still fun when you do things like “I poke the band saw blade about as hard as I would poke my wife” and then you switch to a view of you poking Nicole, ending right before she guts you like a fish. Not that I condone poking your wife. That’s not what I meant at all. You get the idea.

12. Schwigs on February 12th, 2008 7:54 pm

    Dooood…Spags….talking to yourself is a perfectly natural activity and you shouldn’t hide it in a box. If you can’t talk to yourself, who else will convince you that you are not insane? That’s what I always tell myself, at least.

    I’m very excited to see where this goes. Being a tech geek and a wood geek its very cool to see these two things come together!

    And you know if you ever need any database help…call THIS GUY. (points thumbs to himself)

13. Dave on February 13th, 2008 1:58 pm

    For new crops of woodworkers, I am lucky in that the local high schools still have woodshops and actually do some pretty nice stuff. I have some hope that technology - like Saw Stop can at least convince some of the weenies that set curriculum that woodshop is not ‘just asking for a lawsuit’.

    I think the problem is the people who are pushing to remove shop from school are the ones who couldn’g glue two boards together - so “if they couldn’t do it ……it must not be important to learn”

    I think in addition to the Web, shows like New Yankee Workshop and Woodworks (I know it is done) will be major venues to show that it s possible to do these things yourself. Add to that the clubs and guilds.

    As far as talking to yourself - I find it easier to convince myself that I need a new tool than it is to convince my spouse…

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