What do you think about Scott Phillips and his show the American Woodshop?

13 Comments

  • primate - 3 years ago

    Phillips' show was on for 25 years, and I have to admit that I've only been able to watch maybe a dozen episodes in their entirety. But of those episodes, 80% or more were sloppily executed, and the finished project worth neither the time expended nor the video media they were recorded on. Joins that are not square and have visible gaps, furniture backs where the staves are uneven both in length & in spacing, Phillips and his wife jumping back and forth between 3 separate projects in the same episode as if they have Alzheimer's and can't concentrate, and Suzy being the enabler who encourages hubby to sink to lower and lower depths of crap production. She certainly has low standards if she thinks his projects consisting of recovered twisted tree branches "looks great". And who knew that cyanoacrylate was the craftsman's adhesive of choice. Take THAT, Titebond. 25 years. Cripes.

  • Stanley Tomac - 9 years ago

    I think the show is made infinitely better by his hot wife.

  • doug mcclenaghan - 12 years ago

    Scott :I wrote to you before on inverse cutting on a lathe don't you know how to do that ?All you do is carve as you would on any starting of a lathe then cut the collom in fours and inverse and re-attach the piece again but instead of a cove try a bead!.. how hard can that be ! it beats a sprial cuts. Scott your show could be better if you stop making me feel as if I had no knowlege on how to do any thing with wood most people have more knowledge then your giving them credit for!

  • Dean in Des Moines - 13 years ago

    Scott fills the void between Norm's perfectionism and IKEA. While I may be annoyed at his apparent lack of care joining and finishing, I still think that if I produced half of what he does I'd be very pleased with myself.

  • Rick - 13 years ago

    I agree both with Scott being enthusiastic and sometimes like Tommy Mac - who is hard for me to watch at times because of the staccato (GREAT adjective, Darryl!) nature of his presentation. Scott hits that wall sometime for me. But his love for the craft always makes me look for his next show on DVR. I think his projects are often a bit eclectic in his wood choices. What I DO like is that his wood choices challenge us to look for our own style and explore combinations of materials and styles. I have wondered if his project finishes are somewhat less than perfect, and would love to see the work up close to examine it more carefully. But the true mark of the show for me is that he stresses the safety, and usually goes from lumber to furniture. If he were my neighbor, I'd be delighted because of the type of people they seem to be. And he is the ONLY show I can think of that actually uses the safety equipment on his table saw and skips the "removed for photographic clarity." Maybe we NEED to learn to see how you do things with the guards on the saw!

  • Paul Skip Lincoln - 13 years ago

    I watch the show often. I think that it is a show that needs work. The shows problem is that it is way to short, the man is with out question competent and does the best that can be done in the allotted time. I would like to see him in person and spend time with him while he works. I think that he has a wealth of knowledge and technical know how and I would bet both he and his wife are fun to be around.
    I hope the TV station reads the comments and takes action.

  • John Verreault - 13 years ago

    I've seen a few episodes but the station I watched it on no longer carries it.
    Cheers
    John

  • Mike O'Brien - 13 years ago

    I do watch the show. The program always seems a bit rushed and Scott harried. Perhaps too much to do in too like time. His wife is a lovely person, but does not add any true woodworking expertise to the show, however, her presence should make novice women woodworkers feel relaxed and unintimidated, and that is good.I like how enthusiastic Scott is and that he always stresses shop safety.
    My Mother always said comparisons are odious, so I will not make any.
    I will continue to watch the show as there is something to be learned from each episode. Scott has continued to promote woodworking in an energetic professional way and that is a very good thing.

  • Scott V - 13 years ago

    Scott is good at presenting diverse projects completable by beginners. His techniques are Norm-ish (not a bad thing). He covers turning more than others.
    He must get walnut cheap. He uses a lot of it.

  • Tom - 13 years ago

    I like Scott's show because he doesn't seem to take himself all that seriously. He stresses safety, and I like that. He also does a decent job of explaining what he's doing, and why. I'll keep watching the show (and its reruns) as long as it's available.

  • Darryl Dodge - 13 years ago

    Scott is not as smooth as he could be, probably because he jams an hour of material into a half hour show. Norm was smooth and methodical even with the same time limitations as all the current wood working shows. David Marks was/is the same type presenter as Norm, only with higher class projects being made. Roy and Tommy are about the same as Scott in needing a longer time slot to help their staccato presentations smooth out !

  • Jack - 13 years ago

    I like the show. Can't find it on TV in my area, but I watched it years ago. I remember whey they built their 'new shop'. ... Scott isn't as smooth as some other presenters, but possibly smoother than Norm was!

    Still, and enjoyable show when it was available.

  • Sam Hamory - 13 years ago

    Scott enthusiasm is infectious. He really gets the joy from woodworking and wants to share it with everyone. We should all be so lucky as to earn a living doing something you love.

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