Nice thread.  I like it.

I don’t know too much about most of the folks mentioned in this thread.  But, I own material from Chris Schwarz, Roy Underhill, John (now Jennie) Alexander, Peter Follansbee and, of course Paul Sellers.  I see value in them all.  And I’m sure you all see value in the ones you’ve mentioned.

Paul is my favorite by far.  Not only for the things mentioned here in regards to his presentation, knowledge and skill.  But, because of his approach to teaching you how to work wood.  He’s not just letting us watch him work.

Paul is not just showing what he can do, or letting you watch him make something.  He is teaching us all the fundamentals.  The old adage about teaching a man to fish comes to mind.

And another point I like.  Paul demonstrates that you don’t have to spend your life savings in order to build things and enjoy doing it.

Paul is passing down knowledge that might otherwise be lost very soon.

I met Paul yesterday at the Woodworking Show in Ft Worth Texas.  He was just as I thought he would be …a geninuinly nice guy.  Completely approachable and down to earth.  Even though I was asking silly questions that he’s probably heard and answered 500 kadrillion times. 🙂 He was just as pleasant as anyone could be.  And he had a few funny lines too.  🙂

And *_that_* is what’s coming across on the videos.  And *_that_* is what’s making the difference, setting Paul above the others.

Just my 2 cents.

P.S. Don’t worry, I’ve got more change in my pocket and I’ll be spending it recklessly, 2 cents at at time.  🙂

Well said John!

There ya go!  You hit it on the head Dallas!  That’s what I was try’n to say.  🙂

Paul’s videos are very instructional and the blend of projects with tools and techniques is just right for me. I have a large collection of woodworking video, mostly older VHS, that I’ve collected over the last 20-25 years. Never counted (don’t want to really know because the next step would be to estimate how much I’d spent), but my guess would be 50 or so. Only in a very few cases have I felt like I wasted my money.

Other than the high quality of the instruction, Paul’s videos are somewhat rare in that the focus is upon the foundational skills a serious hobbyist. such as myself, can achieve with tools that are within reach. And, he uses these techniques in projects that are useful and aren’t so large or overly complex to be impractical for me. Lots of good videos out there on tools and techniques but not very many that use them with the context of a project. Example, many good dovetail videos but only a few that incorporate it into the buildings of a useful box.

The projects in this class are much more like the one week classes one can take around here. Some benefits of one-on-one are probably lost but I don’t have to devote an entire week away from work/family and I can pause and rewind. Plus, the on-line stuff is much less expensive.

The form Paul’s instruction takes is excellent and well suited to training / providing a solid grounding for future professional cabinetmakers in terms of structure and the format of projects undertaken.  Each aspect of hand skill building is covered and IMHO it doesn’t get much better unless taught directly in class or on a one to one basis by a highly skilled and patient craftsman.

JDykes wrote:

And while I can’t take classes, I feel like I’ve bought every woodworking DVD produced in the last 20 years – Sellers, Charlesworth, Cosman, Schwartz, Tom Law, Kingshott, Klausz, etc.  

Very nicely described. My experience is somewhat like yours. I’ve watched many DVDs and some changed things for me completely. As you said, Charlesworth’s stuff can be watched, copied, and made to work and it got me going when I was stuck on sharpening with no one to show me. His methods still give me the sharpest edges, but man oh man the price you have to pay in time to get there! Paul’s is so much faster. Schwarz’ changed things because he was the first person to tell me I was an idiot. Well said and true! He pointed out that sometimes you cut to get in the ballpark of your goal, sometimes to get closer, and sometimes with great precision and they are a progression to get you to the end. For example, you rip to get close, then use the plane to refine it. That’s where I learned to put a 9″ camber on a #5 blade and use it to hog off wood like Paul shows in one of his videos. Wood flies everywhere. It’s great fun. Maybe some day I’ll be able to control the fun to land at my dimension lines.  He taught me that planes aren’t always meant for fluffy shavings and sawing exactly to the line isn’t always the goal but sometimes just to pave  the way for refining later.

I wish there were some Tage Frid videos just because I’d have liked to see him work. His books are very detailed and clear. He wrote one of my favorite woodworking lines (paraphrasing): “This joint is very easy to make, especially after you screw it up a dozen times.”

But, of all of these series, Paul’s is the only one that is a curriculum for working wood.

“This joint is very easy to make, especially after you screw it up a dozen times.”

This has to be one of my all time favourite quotes as it’s so close to the truth.  😀  I think as learners – we’ve all been there – it’s all too easy to grow impatient and frustrated when failure sneaks up on us time and again, until we finally succeed.  This is where a good teacher is especially important, as – while we’re still liable to suffer a number of failures – it becomes possible to uncover the reason behind mistakes and how to remedy them. 🙂

I think Paul is such a capable teacher.