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The Editors Mailbox

Fine Woodworking on Martha Stewart

Ed Pirnik, Senior Web Producer

30 users recommend

L-R: Ed Pirnik, Asa Christiana, and Long Island Woodworker's Club President Mike Daum, seated front-and-center at the show.

Asa kicks his feet up backstage in the dressing room, ahead of the show.

Asa (R) chats with Charles Brock on the set, following the show. The ceiling was absolutely covered in lights--I mean bathed in 'em!

L-R: Ed Pirnik, Asa Christiana, and Long Island Woodworker's Club President Mike Daum, seated front-and-center at the show.

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It's not too often that woodworkers get a center-stage spot on national television. So when Fine Woodworking was approached by the producers of the Martha Stewart Show to be a part of an "all-things-woodworking" episode, we jumped at the opportunity.

FWW editor Asa Christiana jumped on a train to New York along with me for a special taping of the show that even included the work of Stewart's brother, Eric Scott, himself an accomplished woodworker whose Maloof-inspired chair was featured in one of the segments. We were honored to hear that Scott decided to tackle the classic rocker after having seen it on the cover of Fine Woodworking #207 (Remembering Sam Maloof). Also appearing with Eric was his teacher and mentor, woodworker Charles Brock, who teaches classes down in Georgia on how to Build a Maloof-Inspired Rocker.

L-R: Stewart's brother, Eric, chats with Asa after the show. (click to enlarge)

Eric also brought along this gorgeous hand-carved fish for a show appearance. (click to enlarge)

Eric's teacher and mentor, Charles Brock (R) chats with Asa. (click to enlarge)

Asa appeared near the top of the show, answering questions from Martha concerning the resurgence of the craft--especially hand tool-use. You'll have to watch the show to get all the details though, as I don't want to give away the farm!

The episode also included an appearance by Maine bowl turner David Lancaster, who rolled out a super-sweet One-Way Lathe for a turning demo. While watching Lancaster, it became very apparent that this fellow has turned out thousands-upon-thousands of bowls. The speed with which he can craft a beautiful item is just astounding, and a true pleasure to watch.

An appearance by actor Nick Offerman was also a heck of a lot of fun. Offerman, who plays the roll of Ron Swanson on the NBC television show Parks and Recreation, is also an avid woodworker and was on-hand to demonstrate his method for building custom canoe paddles.

A super-enthusiastic woodworker, Offerman met up with Asa backstage (left) after the show and might, just might, be interested in producing a shop tour with us some time in the near future. He's apparently a longtime reader of the magazine. Be sure to have a look at his beautiful work. His boats are of particular interest to anyone thinking about crafting a woodstrip canoe or kayak.

In the end, the show went off without a hitch and really honored the craft in a way that's long overdue. Cheers to Asa, Eric, Nick, Charles, and David for a job well-done!

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Comments (8)

Scrappydoo writes: Great shows!!!!!! I wish they all had more time to really show technique. All had beautiful samples of their work and I know they all take allot of effort to get that professional result.
Posted: 9:20 pm on February 1st

sirnero writes: I watched the show and enjoyed it but it seems to me that she kind of talked over everybody that was trying to explain things. It would have been nice if she spent less time talking and more time listening.
Posted: 8:03 am on January 27th

ottoparts writes: I thoroughly enjoyed watching all the segments on her website, although I wish I had recorded it. The audio and video were fine, although it would have been preferable to watch it on a larger screen.

It would be nice to tackle a canoe and paddles, but it'll have to wait for a few more home projects to get done first.
Posted: 8:46 pm on January 25th

MikeCraw writes: I just tried to watch the segment, both from the link here and on the MS website, and it's unwatchable. The sound is choppy, almost like 60 cycle interruption. I'm computer un-friendly enough that I have no clue why this is happening.

Mike
Posted: 1:22 pm on January 25th

GEide writes: adamwk, isn't that how most RSS feeds work?
Posted: 11:44 am on January 25th

adamwk writes: I created an account and logged in to tell you that none of the articles written here are posting full content to the rss feed, and thus I'm not reading them.
I hope that changes, cheers.
Posted: 3:36 pm on January 24th

vayo writes:
Posted: 7:35 pm on January 21st

KParrilla writes: That is awesome!! I can't wait to see the segment!!
Posted: 4:59 pm on January 20th

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