The BEST episodes of The New Yankee Workshop

#1 - Entrance Door

Season 19 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/13/2007

Norm creates a custom made entry door from Mahogany with bulls eye glass inserts. The dimensions are 36" wide x 84" in height.

#2 - Kitchen Project - The Kitchen Office (6)

Season 20 - Episode 6 - Aired 2/9/2008

Norm builds a desk with a file storage area, a wall hanging cabinet with shelves, a concealed area for lighting, a computer and phone area, a series of pigeon holes, and a cork board. He uses a pair of wing walls to separate the office from the main area of the kitchen. (Part 6 of 9)

#3 - Nest of Tables

Season 19 - Episode 12 - Aired 3/24/2007

Norm builds a set of nested tables for his own living room using Mahogany and Walnut in a Chippendale style. The dimensions of the largest table are 18" long x 14 1/2" wide x 21 1/4" tall.

#4 - Tiger Maple Washstand

Season 21 - Episode 4 - Aired 1/24/2009

This lovely washstand is true to the circa 1830 original found in the antique collection of Stanley and Jacqueline Levine of Savannah, Georgia. Featuring elegant scroll work, turned legs, and a generous shelf drawer, this vintage design can be used today as a night stand. Norm produces this piece out of fine tiger maple, making it one of the most sophisticated pieces in his collection of low-country furniture.

#5 - Mesquite Bookcase

Season 21 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/23/2009

Norm’s expedition to Arizona in search of Arts and Crafts-style furniture projects to build in the New Yankee Workshop leads him to Arroyo Design, a small custom furniture company in Tucson, where he spies a beautiful, glass-front bookcase inspired by the famous Greene Brothers. Featuring divided pane windows and the Greene Brothers’ trademark square-peg detailing, its true artisan qualities make it one of the most sophisticated pieces in this season’s collection. To ensure its heirloom value, Norm crafts this project out of mesquite and in the process educates viewers on how to work with this native Sonoran desert hardwood.

#6 - Roll Top Desk (2)

Season 21 - Episode 26 - Aired 6/27/2009

#7 - Wine Storage Unit

Season 8 - Episode 8 - Aired 2/24/1996

In keeping with the wine-country theme, this project is much more than just a wine rack. It is the perfect system for people who take wine collecting seriously. Made of redwood and designed as a four-sided display, this storage unit holds 10 cases of wine while providing additional storage for glasses, corkscrews and oversized bottles, plus a platform for serving. No wine aficionado will want to return from a tasting tour of Napa Valley to anything less.

#8 - The Patio Table

Season 12 - Episode 9 - Aired 2/26/2000

Norm adds to his growing collection of outdoor furniture projects when he builds this round, teak patio table that is big enough to for six to enjoy a summer lunch. Measuring 51-inches across, the table seems like a big project but it can easily be built in any home workshop.

#9 - Kitchen Island

Season 17 - Episode 11 - Aired 3/17/2005

Largely unknown in grandmother’s time, kitchen islands have become indispensable in today’s modern home. Used to house sinks, cook tops, storage for pots and pans, recyclables, and barstools, they often become the most valuable work surface in a busy kitchen. Norm builds this one out of poplar and birch plywood for a painted finish and lines it with hard wearing factory-applied finishes intended to give this island a long career of heavy use. Along with the high-tech plywood, Norm uses state of the art drawer slides and period pulls to complete this useful project.

#10 - Table Saw 101 (2)

Season 19 - Episode 9 - Aired 3/3/2007

In the second part of the table saw tutorial, Norm begins with dadoing techniques, rabbeting, and building a fence. He evaluates miter gauges and uses them to make precision miters. He uses a factory built jig to make accurate tenons. (Part 2 of 2)

#11 - Garden Gate

Season 21 - Episode 6 - Aired 2/7/2009

Norm couldn’t resist bringing the romantic design of this garden gateway back from a visit to a historic New England village. This ambitious outdoor project features a spindled gateway and is complemented by a pergola and a trellis that frames the garden view. Norm builds this outdoor project out of common, pressure-treated pine to ensure that it will last through years of sunshine, rain, and snow. In the process, he demonstrates how to join wood segments together with splines to form the elegant archway.

#12 - Planter's Desk

Season 9 - Episode 1 - Aired 5/8/2006

#13 - Adirondack Trio

Season 20 - Episode 10 - Aired 3/8/2008

With the help of a friend, Norm builds an Adirondack chair, table, and footrest to accompany the chair he built in season 2 and the love seat he built in season 14.

#14 - Kitchen Project - The Island (7)

Season 20 - Episode 7 - Aired 2/16/2008

Norm builds an island using reclaimed heart pine and old pine for the turned legs. It has a butcher block top, a drawer-mounted microwave, an area for tray storage, and a pull-out drawer for trash or recyclables. (Part 7 of 9)

#15 - Table Saw 101 (1)

Season 19 - Episode 8 - Aired 2/24/2007

Norm begins this two part tutorial by discussing various table saws and how to use them. He focuses on ripping concentrating on how to work with large panels and narrow stock. He builds and out feed table designed to enhance the woodworker's efficiency and safety. (Part 1 of 2)

#16 - Side Chair

Season 17 - Episode 7 - Aired 2/19/2005

Norm has said many times that chairs are the most challenging projects a woodworker can attempt. Not only do they have to be strong enough to support the heavy twisting action of a human body, they also have to be attractive enough to take their place at the table. Norm visits historic Deerfield in central Massachusetts where he discovers, amid the vast collection of antique furniture, a comfortable, handsome, American-built side chair of the early 1800’s. Norm makes a faithful reproduction back in the workshop and upholsters it in a modern fabric that should stand up well to the rigors of time.

#17 - Tilt Top Table

Season 17 - Episode 8 - Aired 2/26/2005

One classic furniture form that Norm has long admired is the tilt top table. Graceful Chippendale feet support a central pedestal, which in turn supports the tilting mechanism and a glorious cherry top, which is fashioned in a "hanker chief" outline. When stored in the "up" position it provides a dramatic backdrop, and when it is down it is a comfortable and useful table for four. Norm finds the original at the historic Harrison Gray house on Boston’s Beacon Hill.

#18 - Kitchen Project - The Hot Wall (3)

Season 20 - Episode 3 - Aired 1/19/2008

The first section Norm builds consists of the cabinets that surround the double oven, range, and range hood. He shows how the existing kitchen will be upgraded and adds a storage organizer. Using a prototype inset door and drawer, he demonstrates how these items will be incorporated into the kitchen. Norm completes the episode by finishing a dovetailed drawer box with a plain front that will be used throughout the kitchen. (Part 3 of 9)

#19 - Adirondack Chair

Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/13/1990

Norm designs his own version of the rustic Adirondack chair out of cypress, an excellent wood that needs no preservatives or treatment.

#20 - Bowfront Chest

Season 19 - Episode 11 - Aired 3/17/2007

Norm builds a Bowfront chest out of Mahogany that poses challenges. The most difficult part of the process are forming the French feet and the dovetailed Bowfront drawers. The chest dimensions are 40" long x 22" wide x 36" tall.

#21 - Whirligig

Season 21 - Episode 23 - Aired 6/6/2009

On a sojourn to Nantucket, Norm is invited to view a local antique dealer’s private collection of children’s toys and whimsical whirligigs. Inspired by their endearing humor, Norm decides to build his own mechanized version of The New Yankee Workshop’s logo, featuring Norm, himself, working at the table saw.

#22 - Window Bench

Season 19 - Episode 13 - Aired 3/31/2007

Norm builds a replica of an antique window bench that was orginally built circa the early 19th century. Lee Industries in North Carolina aids him in upholstering his bench. The bench measures 53" long x 15" deep x 30" tall.

#23 - Bookcase

Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 2/25/1989

Norm builds a free standing bookcase with a cornice detail, adjustable shelves, and a removable base. He uses pine for the base and birch plywood for the rest. The bookcase dimensions are 80" high x 36" wide x 12 1/2" deep.

#24 - Workbench

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/14/1989

A good workshop starts with a well-equipped workbench. Norm uses one from his shop as a model for the affordable bench he builds during this episode. Norm builds a workshop workbench which features an oak edged hardwood top, a vice, a recessed tool storage space on the top, and a shelf below. The bench dimensions are 34" high x 64" wide x 25" deep.

#25 - Kitchen Cabinet Basics (1)

Season 20 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/5/2008

After a visiting a state-of-the-art kitchen lab, Norm returns to his shop to begin the process of building high-tech custom kitchen cabinets. He begins the process by demonstrating how to build a typical base cabinet. (Part 1 of 9)