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beeg wrote:I didn't know that Roy has a school of woodworking.

http://www.woodwrightschool.com/

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JPG40504 wrote:Careful! You may be accused of distributing spam!]

Yeah beeg, whats the matter with you:rolleyes:

Begin - 5 lashes with a wet shoprag

Nice guy... I had the pleasure of getting acquainted with him several years ago at the Conner Prairie Living History Museum north of Indy during their annual fall Country Fair event. I started doing live demos there some years ago and a number of my family members now help us. We draw a pretty good crowd, mostly kid oriented.
Roy did his presentations there for two years in a row. We have been pushing them to have him back again.
They have a dinner for all of the Country Fair special demo folks and the antique tractor and steam folks and both years Roy came to our dinner and ate with us. He would also wander out and visit with some of us a couple of times during the days just for a break. He is as nice off stage as he is on. Very casual... I was crossing a parking lot one day and found him zonked off in the back of one of the staff member's station wagon.
The logistics of getting his demo stuff there was quite a chore. He once quipped "do you have any idea how hard it is now to get an ax on an airplane?"


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I attended one of Roy Underhill's classes at last October's WIA conference in Covington. Roy came across as a talented woodworker of course, and also somewhat of a clown in an entertaining fashion.

However, this guy has a "hidden" intelectual side that most people likely miss. In the February 2011 issue of "Popular Woodworking" there was an article about a folding bookstand, which originally appeared in Andre Roubo's "L Art Menusier" (circa 1790's). This bookstand was built by Roy Underhill, who researched and translated from French. Roy also included a thoughtful history of Roubo and his interaction with the bloody revolution going on in France at that time. This was the work of a real scholar, completely changing my initial impression of Roy Underhill.

8iowa wrote:I attended one of Roy Underhill's classes at last October's WIA conference in Covington. Roy came across as a talented woodworker of course, and also somewhat of a clown in an entertaining fashion.

However, this guy has a "hidden" intelectual side that most people likely miss. In the February 2011 issue of "Popular Woodworking" there was an article about a folding bookstand, which originally appeared in Andre Roubo's "L Art Menusier" (circa 1790's). This bookstand was built by Roy Underhill, who researched and translated from French. Roy also included a thoughtful history of Roubo and his interaction with the bloody revolution going on in France at that time. This was the work of a real scholar, completely changing my initial impression of Roy Underhill.

Just like 'books'. Do not judge them by their cover. Actually I liked what I have seen. I appreciate 'down to earth' folks!;) I will not hold the scholarly thing against him!

I enjoy Roy's woodworking show on PBS. I always wondered if he uses power tools in his "other" life or does he choose to only work with traditional hand tools the way he does on The Woodwright's Shop?

Last I knew Roy was a technical writter for IBM. So I believe he is well educated but he hasn't left that effect who he really is.

It has been several years since I talked to him last. He wanted to talk to me because someone had told him that I was a farmer. He was writing a new book (which he was fairly tight about giving away any details) and for some reason he was wanting to gain information as to just how manure spreaders worked.
I was going home each night so I dug out an extra copy of an owners manual I had for a John Deere one from the 1950's and gave him that.
When I gave it to him he was going through his pictures he had taken the day before putting them up on a big screen TV. I had not realized until then that he had taken a whole series of my grandson helping a line of kids try out an antique hand crank corn sheller.
Like I said, nice guy. I do understand from a friend at the museum that Roy does really struggle with trying to keep his private life private.

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robinson46176 wrote:and for some reason he was wanting to gain information as to just how manure spreaders worked.

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Sounds like a load of crap to me