The Evils of TV
Koontz - Before I go on to my TV topic, a small insertion regarding counter-balanced windows.
A counter-balanced window in a period home operates with a pulley built into the window jamb through which a sash cord is strung. On the window side, the cord is knotted and inserted into a groove cut out of the window frame. On the jamb side, the cord goes into the wall space and is tied off to a weight. When you operate the window the weight gives resistance so the window stays where you leave it.
New windows operate on a tension fitting; the tightness of the window against the frame. There are clips and wires that keep the window in place in the frame, but the window itself is not counter-balanced by anything. If the window is large, the tension method just makes the window hard to operate.
Now for TV! My partner, Keith, asked me if I had caught any of the Oprah Show the other day. He was livid! Oprah had carpenters from several of the DIY shows on. Keith said they were all very cute, (trolling), and young, and claiming to be Master carpenters. In our world of carpentry, it is virtually impossible to have reached Master carpenter level at the age of 24. You would have had to begin your career around the age of seven...a tad earlier in fact.
Apparently they showed a few projects, or worked on a few projects and they were using Liquid Nails, (a construction adhesive), and nail guns. A Master carpenter takes pride in the joinery and would not tout the use of adhesive to hold it all together. (That's not to say they wouldn't use an adhesive, but they wouldn't claim that it was their primary construction method).
Though I am a fan of educating people to do things themselves, when and where they can; I am not a fan of these shows that give the public the impression that carpenters become Masters when they discover a caulking gun, or designers spend their time ripping off ideas that are created for one space, but will work as well in any other!
A counter-balanced window in a period home operates with a pulley built into the window jamb through which a sash cord is strung. On the window side, the cord is knotted and inserted into a groove cut out of the window frame. On the jamb side, the cord goes into the wall space and is tied off to a weight. When you operate the window the weight gives resistance so the window stays where you leave it.
New windows operate on a tension fitting; the tightness of the window against the frame. There are clips and wires that keep the window in place in the frame, but the window itself is not counter-balanced by anything. If the window is large, the tension method just makes the window hard to operate.
Now for TV! My partner, Keith, asked me if I had caught any of the Oprah Show the other day. He was livid! Oprah had carpenters from several of the DIY shows on. Keith said they were all very cute, (trolling), and young, and claiming to be Master carpenters. In our world of carpentry, it is virtually impossible to have reached Master carpenter level at the age of 24. You would have had to begin your career around the age of seven...a tad earlier in fact.
Apparently they showed a few projects, or worked on a few projects and they were using Liquid Nails, (a construction adhesive), and nail guns. A Master carpenter takes pride in the joinery and would not tout the use of adhesive to hold it all together. (That's not to say they wouldn't use an adhesive, but they wouldn't claim that it was their primary construction method).
Though I am a fan of educating people to do things themselves, when and where they can; I am not a fan of these shows that give the public the impression that carpenters become Masters when they discover a caulking gun, or designers spend their time ripping off ideas that are created for one space, but will work as well in any other!
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