Richard Maguire?

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ChippyKlutz

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16 Aug 2012
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Essex, United Kingdom
I used to be an avid follower of 'The English Woodworker' but his blog and website haven't shown any activity for several months.

I can't search the site for his name because the search facility no longer seems to function. Does anyone know what's happened?
 
Maybe he just needs a break. I'd imagine setting up the content that he did on his website and servicing the day to day business effort at the same time was probably not a 40 hour a week effort.
 
nev - thanks, I hadn't spotted that.

AndyT - well done! I never dreamt of scrolling all the way down there. I would just look occasionally and see no later blog post and move on.
 
I was wondering the exact same thing, but had come to the conclusion that his web content doesn't generate the funds to do that full time, and that's what he does between other projects. So my guess is that he's working on his day job, but probably hopes to do more and more online as time goes buy. Still, he's only young, and it might take a while!
 
that's great news. I did wonder - after the long gap - if the pair of them might have decided to fall back on something more secure than making a living from t'internet (I wouldn't have blamed them!) so it is a bit of a relief to see they have decided to go for it full time. IMO the premium video series is a shining example of how good paid content should be done - clearly the product of a huge amount of effort, skill and care.
 
Yes, a welcome return. As someone who might be deemed 'addicted to woodworking porn', I always enjoyed Richard's very individual style, which was a welcome relief from some of the more 'razz'ma'tazz' overseas offerings. And it was Richard's English workbench series that inspired and motivated me into eventually building my own bench a year ago!
 
All roads apparently lead to teaching once making money elsewhere becomes too difficult. Not a slight, just an observation. Most people seem to make a big splash hoping to either sell paid content or to teach on-site classes.

I think Richard is probably getting bothered by things that shouldn't bother him - people who don't know what they're talking about OR low production quality videos that other people are making. The latter is something to worry about only if you're watching videos to be entertained rather than to learn. Or more plainly put, let's say Richard had 40 new things to tell everyone - things that aren't out there anywhere. And let's say he can make 40 videos by turning on a camera and just running with it, or 4 the quality of what Lie Nielsen makes. I'd rather the former than the latter.

I'm not personally a paid-content purchaser and don't much care who is delivering the message as long as it's credible, accurate and worthwhile, but my interests are not down the center as far as woodworking interests go, so it doesn't matter. The only thing I've got against it is that it had better show something new if I'm going to pay for it. The moulding plane making video by Larry Williams is a good example - it's an incredibly well made video and it's new. I care less about the production quality than the content quality, though, and the latter is there. Most of the rest of the stuff out there is not so new, and my point of view is that we, as a group working a hobby, ought to share it amongst ourselves for free. If 75% of the free stuff isn't worthwhile, then a list of credible free stuff could be put together.

I predict this venture making paid content will be temporary due to the creator's perception that it's not returning enough (poundage in this case) for the effort that goes into it - not as a result of anything nefarious but frustration borne out of perfectionism.
 
I am all for the free sharing of information, but I also recognise that good, well presented info takes a lot of effort to create.

We have the same discussion regularly over here about the future of journalism - my view is that the current trend (and probable eventual dominance) of user-generated content and federated low-cost 'web-journalism' is a stark reminder of why you need to pay if you want well researched and authoritative content.

Of course, how you pay is a different question - personally I would rather subscribe and pay for decent content directly rather than having the authors depend on tailoring their stuff to attract advertisers in order to earn a crust.

I think the dilemma for Maquire, Sellers and co is how to differentiate themselves from the morass of free, and the answer is what you say above DW - much of it is rubbish and not worth watching for free, let alone paying for! If anything can make it work in the long-term it has to be an insistence on high quality, authoritative and well presented info.
 
I probably didn't explain myself that well.

I guess i'm thinking that there really isn't much need for any more paid content. More for the folks who know a lot about a specific thing to instead to turn the camera on while they're working from time to time and talk a little and not worry about production quality. Content quality is important, but as a woodworking community, we can easily make a list of legitimate stuff for beginners to go through - long enough that they would never be able to get through all of it.

I have only one thing to contribute, which is some toolmaking related stuff. So, I did. Not well produced, but the content is accurate and the results will not be bettered in terms of making wooden planes (says nothing about me, but more about what I copied). I put that stuff on youtube for two reasons:
1) there are a lot of videos showing people how to make rubbish planes (that's just wasted time, nobody will use them in the end)
2) there was no full documentation of making double iron planes, so rather than make a post on a forum (which won't be viewed or easily found, and could disappear into history quickly with one or two arguments of the type that get a thread locked), I put it on youtube. There's nothing groundbreaking about it, it just wasn't documented. Writing an article about it that someone would have to pay to see would be counter to what I want to do.

Will Richard better my planes? Zero chance. Does he know more about planemaking or plane design than I do? No. Does he know more about two dozen other things? Probably. But each of those, probably someone has gone as far into the weeds as I have with planes - it would be nice if they really enjoy it, spend a couple of hours and just turn the phone on and record it and share it for all to see without pay. It's nearly zero effort and you're unlikely to become a hero to the throngs of people who just want to be entertained by seeing someone work.

Personally, I'd rather see Larry Williams show me how to make a side escapement plane. I'd rather see a professional trade carver tell me something about carving, etc. that kind of thing. I'd rather see a list of those separate things than have one person selling me their brand or telling me "the way".

However, folks who want to try to make a living in woodworking often find their way to teaching people and selling content for one reason - it's easier than making a living doing something else in woodworking.

(no comment on the journalism other than that i think all of us could stand to consume less of it - both professionally produced and amateur produced)
 
The pay for content seems ever growing with the 'maker' crowd, in short term good for them - make extra money for doing something they like, long term is bad - Loose regular followers because any interesting content is pay per view and locked away..

Hopefully it's a fad.

I would apologise for bad spelling and grammar but I'm not getting paid for this dung :lol:
 
glad to see his blog is back, long time waiting

I wrote a lengthy response to above and decided against
all I will say is he seems a genuine down to earth woodworker and after meeting him,,,what a nice bloke

Steve
 
No skills":3ufsn86i said:
The pay for content seems ever growing with the 'maker' crowd, in short term good for them - make extra money for doing something they like, long term is bad - Loose regular followers because any interesting content is pay per view and locked away..

Hopefully it's a fad.

I would apologise for bad spelling and grammar but I'm not getting paid for this dung :lol:
This is where RM has been getting it right. He puts up a lot of highly informative information for free and there are individual, in depth and specific subscription topics (so far four). I've subscribed to two of them, benefitted from them greatly and think they are genuinely good value for money. There's also the fact that he's highly entertaining and seems to have no edge on him whatsoever i.e. he's as down to earth and straightforward as you could want.
 
agreed, and the other not so obvious benefit is that you are getting (paying for) a consistent and structured approach.

I do understand the value and desire to sustain the generous sharing of information for free (after all it is exactly that inclination that results in forums like this) but I don't see paid content as a threat to it - there is room for both.

I believe/hope that topics as broad as woodworking where people often find it hard to get past the initial learning challenges will have enough potential customers to sustain RM and the like.
 
there you go - having finished my impassioned defence of paid content, RM has just released a new video series and its free! D_W you may be interested to know it is about making a laminated wooden plane (you can read his brief intro for why he did this rather than the trad approach). cheers

http://www.theenglishwoodworker.com/plane-build-video/
 
I took a glance at RM's site and in particular the side table project that Nabs is currently working on.

It really is first class and worth every penny. A well designed contemporary piece of furniture that would find space in most homes, it delivers a solid grounding in some key cabinet making techniques, RM is very clear about the timber requirements, it's a flexible design that could be easily resized, it includes instructions for an excellent and fashionable finish, and it details a really ingenious and simple to make little jig.
 
nabs":168mnm12 said:
I am all for the free sharing of information, but I also recognise that good, well presented info takes a lot of effort to create.
It takes some effort, especially in the planning side... but not too much, especially once you've found your own rhythm and style. You don't need fancy editing, or anything and often not even top end camera kit. I'm sure Paul Sellers plans his videos, although it's basically just real-time footage of him working, which somehow remains entertaining and engaging for 40+ minutes each time!

I think the key aspect in videos is being able to show what you're explaining - It's kinda the point of video after all, right?
For me, that requires a reasonable resolution camera (even my phone is 1080p, which is good enough) and someone behind it who knows how to show both wide view and the close-up details the presenter is talking about. One of my favourite YouTubers (Mike Vapes) does this perfectly well with just a reasonable quality webcam and a decent, honest personality.

nabs":168mnm12 said:
Of course, how you pay is a different question - personally I would rather subscribe and pay for decent content directly rather than having the authors depend on tailoring their stuff to attract advertisers in order to earn a crust.
Can you not simply monetise your vid and get random ads slotted in, or would that not pay enough?

I know some YouTubers specialise in subjects and/or want advertisers who will also sponsor them directly, often going so far as to plug products directly and openly, like Linus TechTips or CarThrottle with their 20-second schpiel on "Our sponsors of this video", which I don't actually object to if it's relevant to their subject and/or they actually use these products themselves. It's like Victor Kiam advertising Remington because he owns the company (for those old enough to remember) and he's standing behind his brand, or Peter Strauss plugging MiracleGro products because he actually uses them a lot on his business farms.
I object to actors selling out and just advertising perfumes or clothing lines because they're paid to, though.

nabs":168mnm12 said:
I think the dilemma for Maquire, Sellers and co is how to differentiate themselves from the morass of free, and the answer is what you say above DW - much of it is rubbish and not worth watching for free, let alone paying for! If anything can make it work in the long-term it has to be an insistence on high quality, authoritative and well presented info.
I think the big part of it is just personality, really.
Richard has quite a quirky, 'Northern country lad' thing going with a few choice phrases and nuances that make him pretty memorable. In fact, it took me two or three videos to get where he was coming from, but I found myself really liking his style.
Sellers is proper Old School, as in this is how they taught your Dad, and his Dad before him, and his Dad before him - He's the kind of teacher many of us wish we'd grown up with.
Cosman is very skilled, but it seems you can only be that good if you buy his tools and his videos and his books and, and, and.... I dunno. Maybe that's how it works in Canada?

The one thing I take from all of these three, and anyone else I watch, is how they do it "their way".
They may or may not present it as The Way, or they might just say "it's the way *I* was taught", which I prefer as it doesn't preclude the audience finding other/better/more preferable ways.
But it does let me see how they do it and then decide if I like it for myself or not.

No skills":168mnm12 said:
The pay for content seems ever growing with the 'maker' crowd, in short term good for them - make extra money for doing something they like, long term is bad - Loose regular followers because any interesting content is pay per view and locked away.
The trick is to give sufficient free content that people like and respect you enough to pay for the really long and in-depth stuff. For example, Richard did a video on clinching nails - Never seen that anywhere else so far, noticed it done badly in some seriously overpriced Etsy products and always felt it looked naff.... Now I know why it was used, how to use it, how not to use it... and now feel much more qualified to reiterate that those Etsy items really were badly done!!
But having seen that clinching video, it gives me confidence that I'll be getting some great information from Richard's paid content, rather than a 3 hour sales pitch for Maguire Merchandise. Heck, I'm even considering his Workbench one, purely out of interest even though I might never actually make one!

nabs":168mnm12 said:
I do understand the value and desire to sustain the generous sharing of information for free (after all it is exactly that inclination that results in forums like this) but I don't see paid content as a threat to it - there is room for both.
The trouble I have, and the trepidation I initially had upon seeing RM was offering paid content, is that those I've known previously do the same were all about selling their brand - Even if they're awesome at woodworking and teaching, the continual ads and reminders cheapen things, IMO.

It's just another gimmick and sales technique, relying on the idea that anything free isn't worth anything - You can watch the free Tasky™ videos, where I'll make dovetails using the Tasky saw and cover the basics of the Tasky™ Technique that is taught in my Tasky™ DVD, but in the Tasky™ Paid Content we go fully in depth and teach the Tasky™ Advanced™ Technique™, along with Tasky™ Tips on sharpening, Tasky™ Tools™, how Tasky™ can enlarge your penis/breasts/bank account, how Tasky™ stands at the Workbench™, plus two dozen other methods ripped from old textbooks and slightly reworded to appear like Tasky's™ own invention.

Sounds like nadgers?
Possibly... But is it worth chancing the money to find out?

By contrast, the Sellers method of "Here's the swanky expensive kit what I use right now, alongside some old £3 eBay thing about a hundred years old that I still use more often, but if you like you can even make your own for 50p with a bit of junk wood and some sandpaper"... That same mentality of valuing the free stuff has me thinking, "Wow, if this is the free information, how good must that paid content be, eh!!".
 
I agree entirely about the importance of personality and free content to establish an audience, and actually I have a lot of time for free content too. My point about it is that it varies in quality signficantly, and this is understandable when you think that it is funded largely by online advertising which depends on 'clicks' and not quality. As we all know, popular does not always equal good/right!

Consequently, some of the best free content is from enthusiastic amateurs who do not depend on it to pay their mortgages. Admittedly I am not intimately familiar with his finances :), but I think Peter Parfitt is an example of this (mind you he may be sponsored by Festool, for all I know!) and a great example of how personality makes such a difference. Even though I have no intention of making any of the things he does I would watch his stuff just because he is a natural. Having said that, I am pretty sure it takes him a bit more to create his vids than just standing in front of a camera for 40 minutes :wink:

Training video series like those produced by RM are in a different league still - e.g the Side Table series mentioned above, which is a relatively simple project, has 5 hours of video and 2 design docs + all the work that goes into establishing and running the online business. I wouldn't have a clue about how to try and accurately estimate what kind of hours went in to it, but it must be weeks...
 
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