The WORST episodes of The New Yankee Workshop
Every episode of The New Yankee Workshop ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of The New Yankee Workshop!
In this PBS series, craftsman Norm Abram demonstrates how to build quality furniture in one's own workshop using traditional carpentry techniques. Abram also gives pointers on restoring and caring for antique furniture, along with short history lessons regarding famous craftsmen of America's past.
#1 - Press Cupboard
Season 11 - Episode 11 - Aired 3/13/1999
Norm found the inspiration for this simple press cupboard in a Nantucket house he vacationed in last summer and was convinced that the antique original's modest size offered just the right amount of space to store linens and serving utensils for entertaining. Featuring streamlined flat-paneled doors, an upper drawer, and turned feet, its simple design seems almost modern. Norm crafts this piece out of recycled pine to give it a vintage look. Watch and learn: how to create flat paneled doors, making shelves, using the lathe to create turned feet.
#2 - Console Table
Season 4 - Episode 8 - Aired 2/22/1992
Norm builds a simple, yet elegant, console table with a half-round top using knotty Pine. He crafts curved legs using a band saw. The table measures 29 1/2" high x 44 3/8" wide x 22 1/2" deep.
#3 - Colonial Fences
Season 4 - Episode 7 - Aired 2/15/1992
Norm demonstrates how to build four versions of a fence. He uses Eastern White Cedar to build a 6' garden, a 4' 4" flame, a 3' 6" diamond, and a 3' 2" mortised fence.
#4 - Shaker Tall Chest
Season 4 - Episode 6 - Aired 2/8/1992
Norm designs a tall Shaker style chest modeled after one he viewed at Hancock Shaker Village. The chest measures 78 3/4" high x 45 1/4" wide x 18 5/8" deep.
#5 - Gardener's Workbench
Season 4 - Episode 5 - Aired 2/1/1992
Norm's gardener's workbench is constructed of Redwood. It has open shelves for pot storage and the potting surface is an overlay top that is moisture resistant. It also features storage for stakes, markers, and gardening tools. The bench dimensions are 72" high x 37 1/4" wide x 34" deep.
#6 - Outdoor Lidded Bench
Season 4 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/11/1992
Norm fashions an outdoor lidded bench from Cypress. The bench measurements are 55 1/4" high x 36" wide x 18 1/4" deep.
#7 - Rolling Shop Cabinet
Season 4 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/4/1992
Norm builds a rolling shop cabinet using several construction techniques and materials he hasn't used previously. He chooses veneer plywood with a high-pressure laminate top and lockable swivel casters. It measures 34 1/2" high x 32" wide x 26 1/2" deep
#8 - Grill Cart
Season 11 - Episode 13 - Aired 3/27/1999
For the outdoor chef, Norm offers a solution to the shortcomings of modern barbecue grills-extra counter space-with a rolling grill cart made of weather-friendly redwood and cedar. Cart also features a pullout drawer, towel racks, hooks for utensils, and a large bottom shelf.
#9 - Chef's Table
Season 11 - Episode 12 - Aired 3/20/1999
Norm Abram's butcher-block topped chef's table combines style with utility, featuring a poplar base with tapered legs and a large storage shelf.
#10 - Wheelbarrow
Season 4 - Episode 9 - Aired 2/29/1992
Norm uses Oak to build a wheelbarrow. It features a pneumatic tire, removable sides and a medium density plywood bed. The wheelbarrow measures 25" high x 25" wide x 60" long.
#11 - Sink Base
Season 11 - Episode 10 - Aired 3/6/1999
Inspired by the recycling efforts of two professors and woodworkers, Norm Abram acquires some black cherry timber for use in a kitchen sink base.
#12 - Classic Kitchen Cabinets
Season 11 - Episode 9 - Aired 2/27/1999
The classic look of Norm Abram's two-unit kitchen cabinet comes from its cornice moulding and vintage-style café hardware made from brushed nickel.
#13 - Table Saw Station
Season 11 - Episode 8 - Aired 2/20/1999
Most woodworkers and homeowners own at least a portable light weight table saw for a variety of projects, but are limited to the size of wood they can cut due to the shortcomings of its design and a lack of accessory work surface. Always looking to expand the versatility of common tools, Norm created this season's home workshop accessory to expand the function of the common table saw. Using basic construction techniques, he shows how to build this station out of melamine and wood and to how to make an auxiliary fence, feather board, and push stick which will allow the home woodworker to safely cut and rip large pieces of lumber for more ambitious projects. Watch and learn: basic construction techniques, how to build a sawhorse, how to make essential saw accessories such as a panel cutter, feather board, and push stick.
#14 - Bake Center
Season 11 - Episode 7 - Aired 2/13/1999
Norm demonstrates how to build a bake center.
#15 - Laundry Center
Season 11 - Episode 6 - Aired 2/6/1999
Norm demonstrates how to build a laundry center.
#16 - Teak Bar
Season 11 - Episode 5 - Aired 1/30/1999
Woodworkers who entertain are going to love making Norm's attractive, custom designed teak bar. Featuring great-looking, nautical-inspired brass hardware and stunning louver doors, it promises to hold everything a party needs. The interior of the wall-mo
#17 - Old Pine Hutch
Season 11 - Episode 4 - Aired 1/23/1999
In each season of The New Yankee Workshop, Norm crafts at least one woodworking project whose beautiful design and detailing ensures that it will become a cherished heirloom. This season it is unquestionably the hutch he crafts out of 200 year-old pine. Featuring two glass front doors, a drawer for storing linens, and a lower cabinet with raised panel doors, the beauty of the old wood is accented by Norm's use of high-end, vintage looking brass hardware and wonderful molding. Watch and learn how to: make glass cabinet doors, construct dovetail drawers, select and apply appropriate moldings and vintage hardware.
#18 - Kitchen Secretary
Season 11 - Episode 3 - Aired 1/16/1999
Norm's kitchen secretary solves the problem of creating a work space in the kitchen that still allows you to keep tabs on the dinner that's cooking on the stove and to take part in family conversation. Built out of mahogany, the ingenuity of its design can be found in its efficient use of space. Hung from the wall, this handsome piece features adjustable shelves to store cookbooks or a small TV and cubby holes for organizing recipes, bills, or correspondence. Below that there's a hinged desk front which folds down and offers enough space to accommodate a laptop computer. Watch and learn how to: create raised panels and intricate shelving work, and mortise and tenon joinery.
#19 - Shaker Washstand
Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 1/26/1991
Norm uses Pine to build a classic Shaker washstand with dovetail joinery in the flared top section, a drawer, and raised panel doors in the lower section. The washstand measures 37 1/2" high x 27" wide x 19 1/2" deep.
#20 - Standing Mirror
Season 3 - Episode 13 - Aired 3/30/1991
Norm uses a band saw to aid his in constructing a Mahogany frame for a full-length standing mirror. He uses a router to give the piece a softer edge. The frame measures 68 1/4" high x 27 1/4" wide x 20" deep.
#21 - Pie Safe with Punched Tin Front
Season 3 - Episode 12 - Aired 3/23/1991
Norm's two-door pie safe has multiple shelves and is put together using mortise and tenon joints. He uses a punched-tin front that he fabricates in the workshop. The pie safe measures 60" high x 38 3/4" wide x 17 3/8" deep.
#22 - Cricket Table
Season 3 - Episode 11 - Aired 3/16/1991
Norm's hardwood cricket table is crafted with complex angled mortise and tenon joinery. He uses a set of jigs to ensure that the pieces fit together properly. The table is 27" high with a 29" diameter top.
#23 - Garden Swing
Season 3 - Episode 10 - Aired 3/9/1991
Norm builds a two-seat swing using Redwood and a swinging mechanism that uses common off-the-shelf hardware. The swing dimensions are 92 1/2" high x 83 1/2" wide x 85" deep.
#24 - Library Table
Season 3 - Episode 9 - Aired 3/2/1991
Norm crafts a Cherry library table. He demonstrates how to match the grain on the front of the two overlaid drawers. The table measures 30" high x 16" wide x 48" long.
#25 - Shaker Woodbox
Season 3 - Episode 8 - Aired 2/23/1991
Norm builds a wood box with storage space for kindling in an upper section and firewood in the lower section. The fireplace tools are stored on pegs mounted to the sides. He uses milk paint to seal the Pine box. The box dimensions are 33 1/4" high x 22 3/4" wide x 17 1/2" deep.