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The New Yankee Workshop PBS Schedule

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Router 101 (2-Part Series) (2-Part) Programs #0606 and #0607 Saturday, May 10th at 1:00 PM ET Saturday, May 17th at 1:00 PM ET (check local listings) Is there a woodworker anywhere who doesn’t own a router? Ever since these ubiquitous power tools were invented many years ago, craftsmen like Norm have been devising ways to use them for a wide variety of useful tasks. Norm begins this special two-part program with a demonstration of both the standard base and the plunge type router and declares his preference. He also shows some of his favorite bits for creating both simple and complex edges on his projects. Then, Norm turns to the task of making perfect mortises for hinges by creating a jig that allows even a novice to achieve perfect results every time. Next, Norm uses the router and builds another home-built jig to form precise dadoes in shelf standards, elements he might build for a bookcase project. In part two of this router special, Norm begins with a demonstration of commercial router tables and moves on to show his version of a router station that so many of his fans have copied for their own workshops. With it, Norm shows the step-by-step procedure of making raised panel cabinet doors. Next, Norm uses a homemade circle-cutting jig to form perfect circles of various diameters with a router. Also included are instructions and a demonstration on how to make inlays using a router. Measured drawings are not available for this project. Click Here for a Video Preview Order Now!

Corner Table - Program #0608 Saturday, May 24th at 1:00 PM ET (check local listings) This project involves some considerable effort. At the suggestion of a friend who, with his colleagues, is trying to restore a historic river, Norm agrees to paddle a canoe over some rapids in search of some unusual white oak that’s been submerged there for nearly 150 years. The oak Norm wants was used as a dam on Virginia’s mighty Rappahannock River. Today it sits as a pile of salvage on the river’s edge just hoping a woodworker floats by to rescue some of it for furniture projects. Norm engages Bill Jewell, a local sawyer of historical trees, to prepare this timber for the purpose of making a drop-leaved corner table, which Norm finds at nearby Kenmore House, a noted Fredericksburg mansion that was once owned by George Washington’s sister. After Norm gets the wood to his shop, he spends considerable effort turning it into suitable pieces to make a copy of the original table – including the challenging turned legs that add so much style to this particular piece. Click Here for a Video Preview Order Now!

Greek Revival Bookcase - Program #0609 Saturday, May 31st at 1:00 PM ET (check local listings) While prowling a designer show house, Norm discovers a handsome collection of bookcases built in the Greek Revival tradition. Although they are made of plywood, every detail gives the appearance of solid tablets of white stone. The shelves resemble slabs of marble and the cornice on the tall case might have been carved from stone in the manner of a Greek temple. Glass doors enclose the lower bookcase element and swing on concealed European hinges. No mere bookcases here; they are worthy of your finest volumes and your most valued treasures. Click Here for a Video Preview Order Now!

Storage Shed - Program #0610 Saturday, June 7th at 1:00 PM ET (check local listings) Taking his cue from a pool house he finds on Nantucket, Norm creates a relatively simple, multipurpose structure so coveted by today’s homeowners. It could be a garden shed, a place to store the outdoor furniture for the winter, a pool house, or a home for the family bicycles and yard machines. This 96-square foot building is the perfect size for many backyards and features low-maintenance materials that are expected to hold paint and resist weather. Best of all, it is attractive to look at and relatively easy to build. Click Here for a Video Preview Order Now!

Wall Hung Console - Program #0611 Saturday, June 14th at 1:00 PM ET (check local listings) We first found this item in a decorator show house and were impressed with its functionality and beauty. No more than a shelf really, it is fastened to the wall with massive decorative brackets. It is a perfect solution for displaying vases, candles, lamps, and other objects in a narrow space. Norm builds his out of mahogany. Click Here for a Video Preview Order Now!

Corner Chair - Program #0612 Saturday, June 21st at 1:00 PM ET (check local listings) Corner chairs go way back in the history of furniture. Some say their early popularity had to do with the convenience of those wearing swords who could sit on such a chair comfortably. During a visit to Historic New England, a preservation society, Norm is shown a number of variations on this classic form. Norm decides to build his chair out of cherry. Click Here for a Video Preview Order Now!

Wall Paneling - Program #0613 Saturday, June 28th at 1:00 PM ET (check local listings) In this program, Norm demonstrates how easy it can be to panel a wall. Norm begins by showing some wonderful examples of wall paneling techniques in a home restored several years ago by This Old House. At one end of the spectrum, Norm shows how simple molding applied to a plain wall can create a paneled effect. Then, he moves back to the Workshop to show classic bead board paneling, raised panel systems and, finally, elegant mahogany paneling using veneer hardwood plywood and solid custom moldings and trim. Click Here for a Video Preview Order Now!

Giltwood Mirror - Program #0701 Monday, July 7th at 1:00 PM ET (check local listings) One of the most challenging projects ever attempted on The New Yankee Workshop comes when Norm tries his hand at reproducing a Federal-style Giltwood Mirror. It isn’t the woodworking that is particularly difficult. Norm makes that part seem easy. It’s trying to gild the mirror with gold leaf and make the frame appear as solid gold that takes time, patience, and lots of skill. Norm picks up the history of Giltwood and sees some remarkable examples when antiques expert Gary Sullivan discusses his collection. Then, Norm visits Linda Abrams a gilder and reverse painter for an understanding of what it takes to turn wood into gold. Linda Abrams may be reached by e-mail at lindabrams@yahoo.com or by phone at 781-647-0672. Click Here for a Video Preview Order Now!

Entrance Door - Program #0702 Monday, July 14th at 1:00 PM ET (check local listings) It would be hard to think of a more important element of a home’s appeal than its entranceway. But all too often, modern doors are an unremarkable (yet necessary) feature quickly forgotten by those who pass through them. Not so with this custom-made, mahogany beauty that Norm creates in The New Yankee Workshop. He designs and builds it from scratch for an old house that cries out for a new door. Along the way, he is able to find a pair of antique looking “Bulls Eye” glass inserts and a handsome brass knob and lock to set off this masterpiece. Click Here for a Video Preview Order Now!

Old Pine Dry Sink - Program #0703 Monday, July 21st at 1:00 PM ET (check local listings) Arlington House sits high above the National Cemetery in Virginia as an imposing witness to historic events. Once the home of Robert E. Lee, it survives today under the watchful care of the National Park Service and is brimming with antiques of the Civil War era. Historic records prove that, at one time, the estate owned 63 slaves, some of whom worked in the kitchen. Lots of the tools and everyday objects they would have used still take up residence in the house, including a painted Old Pine Dry Sink. Norm notices it immediately and decides to build one himself out of recycled pine. However, the only water Norm’s dry sink will ever see is from tending the houseplants he intends to display on its copper top. Click Here for a Video Preview Order Now!

Martha's Candlestand - Program #0704 Monday, July 28th at 1:00 PM ET (check local listings) To see Martha Washington’s bedroom, you’ll have to talk to the Ladies of Mount Vernon, who look after the first President’s mansion near the Potomac River. Although not officially on the tour of Mount Vernon, the Ladies agree to take Norm to parts of the old house that the public rarely sees. In one such room, the third floor bedroom that Martha took after George died, Norm comes across a handsome candlestand that sits near the bed. Upon further inspection, he discovers that it is a diminutive, wellcrafted stand complete with a wooden “birdcage” element that allows the tabletop to rotate and flip up for storage. Before he leaves Mount Vernon, Norm works with a sawyer of historic wood, William Jewell, to obtain some cherry (what else?) harvested from one of the estate’s fallen trees. Click Here for a Video Preview Order Now!

Dominy Clock - Program #0705 Tuesday, August 5th at 1:00 PM ET (check local listings) Without dispute, one of the greatest collections of American antiques resides at the Winterthur Museum in Delaware. One of the Museum’s most popular displays, the original workshops of the Dominy family, quickly draws Norm’s attention. The Dominys were clock and cabinetmakers who worked in eastern Long Island from the 1730s to the 1830s, creating high-quality clocks and furniture. Norm visits the exhibit and selects a clock, circa 1821, from the Dominy collection to reproduce back in the Workshop. Inspired by the Dominy clock, and up for the woodworking challenge, Norm builds his own simple tall case clock out of poplar and paints it to resemble the original. Click Here for a Video Preview Order Now!