Jim wrote...
>
>Regarding Norm Abrams. I was teaching woodworking when FineWoodworking
>put him on the cover. I never saw such an uproar from the woodworking
>purists,

Interesting post.  I've thought of chiming in on Norm before.  I started as
a carpenter in the early 70's.  My friends and I used to laugh at Bob and
Norm.  Norm was a hack.  I have always given him credit for becoming a
pretty fair carpenter since.  Villa is still a joke and just a salesman for
Sears.  I know almost all of us started with power tools and I still use
'em.  In fact I couldn't resist a beautiful 1950 craftsman 10 inch table saw
at a garage sale the other day.  I paid $50.00 and it beats the hell out of
my ten year old Delta contractor saw.  The guy even threw in a nice Stanley
#34 type 2 machinist level cause we were talking tools.  The $2.00 Atkins
#65 is nice too.  (Sorry Tony I'm keeping that one)
Anyhow, Norm is a nice likeable fella even if he is overboard on power.
He's got a good thing going for himself and his Yankee woodshop is a nice
gig.  He has fun building ALL that stuff and he gets paid.  I bet a lot of
us wish we had it so good. We of course would emplore hand techniques when
they were quicker than the router setup we don't see on the show.

Charlie Nunemaker
Wilmette, IL
M-WTCA