The two paragraphs below are excerpted from Anna-Rhesa Versola’s article in Chatham Magazine on the closing of The Woodwright’s School and what’s next for Roy Underhill. Click here to read the article in its entirety.
“Roy’s sense of wonder is part of his charm, delighting anyone who will listen with stories about the connected past, present and future of man and nature. ‘My whole interest in [working with hand tools] stems from this point – quality of life and responsibility,’ Roy says. “Working with muscle power is a good thing. It’s like riding a bicycle instead of driving a truck. The environmental impact of this. And that’s why I think this is the way of the future.
“He is a master craftsman, entrepreneur, author, historian and teacher. He is also a husband of 50- plus years and father to two adult daughters. After more than 15 years teaching woodworking classes, Roy has no immediate plans to retire but he feels compelled to close the school in Pittsboro. He will empty the storefront windows, clear out the piles of wood and hand tools and sweep out the sawdust by the end of summer.”
I received an email a few days ago that there’s a huge tool sale at the Woodwright’s School in Pittsboro…this weekend, I believe.
I discovered Roy Underhill’s Woodwright’s Shop on PBS so many years ago! While I have power tools and a hobby of restoring antique woodworking machines, the lure of the hand tool still possesses me.
When my son was young and we lived for four years in Northern Virginia, I volunteered at a week-long summer camp for children with hemophilia. My son is mild-moderate. They asked me to set up a woodworking shop for the kids…mostly boys, but a couple of girls. For an evening project, I brought the materials for Roy’s shaving horse. The first night, one or two boys watched me, asking questions. The second night, there were three more. By the end of the week, the place was crowded! And my son was there as my assistant instructor!
Most of these kids were from urban Richmond, VA. Few had a Father in their lives. Those who were under 13 were fascinated and soaked up the knowledge like a sponge. The older teens were, unfortunately, gang-focused and saw the shop as a threat to their recruiting efforts.
I wonder how many of those younger kids continued to be inspired by woodworking. We never went back, as the older teens spent the evenings threatening my son. A man can only do so much.
Roy is a man who can do so much more than any of us!
What Bob Ross was to the painting world Roy Underhill is to woodworking. Brought much joy and curiosity to millions who have watched, learned and inspired.
His show is were I found out about Chris. Literally changed my life for the last 8 year. Legend
I first met Roy back in the ’90s, and since we live in the same area and are both woodworkers our paths crossed a number of times.
Twenty years ago I decided to become a wood turner but I had no lathe. I saw Roy build a couple of lathes on his tv show and thought “Heck, if Roy can build a lathe, so can I”. So I did.
However, mine is powered by an electric motor – standing on one leg while turning bowls seemed inefficient to me, not to mention tiring.
Now, 2,000 bowls and a number of spindle turnings later I, like Roy, am coming to an end of that portion of my career.
Best of luck to you in the future, Mr. Underhill, you had a real impact on my life and career in woodworking and I appreciate what you accomplished in your life.
I was in his last class, just as much energy as when I first saw him on TV.
Enjoy the next stage Roy!
I will admit to a certain amount of sadness over his closing of his school, but I wish him well on his next journey into genealogy. I’m sure he will enjoy discovering the tools of ancestry as much as he has the tools of woodworking. I’ll look forward to the book he plans to write about it.
That episode–the Anarchist’s Tool Chest episode of the Woodwright’s Shop–is what got me interested in woodworking. I still have a couple episodes from his last season gathering dust on my DVR, re-watch them whenever my wife is in a sufficiently patient mood.
I hope his book goes well.
“Well, you get the idea!”
We do, St. Roy, we do.
My favorite of all St. Roy’s projects has been the elegant saw horses he built modeled on ones he found in his parent’s basement. It was shown on PBS on Season 21, Ep.1, “The Sawhorse” in 2001. Since then I have built multiple versions of these horses and ponies in several sizes, and they still get used with appreciation almost every day. I LOVE the light, efficient, stable, and sturdy design that serves as well or better for 95% of uses than the normally much heavier popular designs. Two of them together with any board or flat panel make an instant highly-portable workbench. And they are very easily made entirely with hand tools. [One page plan: https://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r102/garrettfrench/WoodWrightsShopSawhorse.jpg%5D
I also fondly remember his episode featuring the iconic Anarchist’s Tool Chest, but as I recall it, rather than Mr. Underhill hiding and climbing out from inside the closed chest, it was its creator, Chris Schwarz who did that, and I also remember thinking, ” Is there no dignity in woodworking?” That scene is the making-stuff of claustrophobic night mares.
In any case, I consider both Underhill and Schwarz, together with all their many and varied productions, to be National Treasures. There should be a hall-of-fame.
I, too, built those sawhorses, and they’re just as strong today as they were when I built them 20 years ago.
Thank you for this, Megan. Reading about Roy Underhill always makes me feel good. He’s a younger fella, and his enthusiasm is infectious.
Roy’s TV show and his classes in Pittsboro were both outstanding. In his classes, Roy took each student where they were and brought them to a much higher level. I can still hear him saying to me: “More legs and less arms number 6”. It seems like simple advice but it made flattening a board with a hand plane so much easier. He was a great teacher and I hope he continues to teach and inspire.
I shall good and truly miss watching “The Woodwright’s Shop.” Whatever you do next hide the blood and even more fun than had in those broadcasts,
Roy is entirely responsible for my woodworking hobby. When I was in middle school we moved to a new subdivision in a new town. The summer before school started, I didn’t have a lot of other kids around. But I did have my dad’s tools and scrap from all the homes going up around us. And there were two TV shows: Norm and Roy. I wanted to use my paper route money to buy a table saw, but dad vetoed that — I was going to make it to college with all my fingers attached. So in a fit of pre-teen obstinacy I went down the hand tool rabbit hole. Thirty-five years later I’m still at it. Very sad to see I missed a chance to take a class with the man himself, but I’m grateful for all he brought to the community.
I am unbelievably privileged to have taken a week long class with Roy in this school in 2011 with my dad. It was the first actual woodworking class either of us had taken in our lives(60 & 35) Even though I had been watching the show for as long as I could remember and grown up with woodworking, we both learned a lot and had too much fun doing what we love together alongside one of our few shared heroes. Roy is a treasure beyond words, I can’t imagine him retiring at anything, but he’s earned the right to do whatever he wants at this point.
I was fortunate to be in Roy’s penultimate class in June, and it was everything I’d hoped it would be.
One of the best things you folks accomplished during your time at PopWood was getting all of the seasons of Woodwright’s Shop released on DVD. Those can be found anywhere these days, and I got to watch them all.
I find lots on ebay, but they appear to be pirated. Know anywhere that offers the original DVDs? I’d buy the whole 37 season set if I could find it.
Gee, I wonder who would publish a book like this???
Roy has always been my hero. I wish the Woodwright’s Shop was still on TV.
I hope that one of his next projects would be a collaboration with Norm Abrams. It would be fun to see the contrast and compare.