Review: You Tube Channel – Treebangham

[Andy Kev.]

An American chap who calls himself “Treebangham” has an excellent hand tool woodworking site on Youtube. His approach involves demonstrating the making of various objects, all of which have a practical use for the woodworker. At the time of this review the titles on offer are:

Saw Till
Saw Bench
Tool Chest
Japanese Tool Box
Chest of Drawers (intended to serve as a base for the Japanese tool box).

Each project is covered in episodes (“shows”) which usually last between 20 – 30 mins. The number of episodes varies with the complexity of the project e.g. the saw till has twelve.

Treebangham’s approach is crystal clear, straightforward and highly instructive in terms of the amount of good, practical information delivered. The pace of delivery is excellent and there is no danger of the viewer becoming overwhelmed with ill-explained technical detail. Each step is clearly demonstrated. There is also much to be gleaned in an incidental way e.g. his various techniques for clamping wood to the bench, which he usually does not specifically discuss. His manner is easygoing and he wears his learning and expertise lightly. As a learning resource for beginners Treebangham is highly recommended.

Pick a project and have a look.

 

[transatlantic]

I've been watching him for a while now. Great stuff. Especially that Saw Bench glue-up video!

He's like Paul Sellers for me, could watch for hours.

 

[AndyT]

Thanks for that Andy - a new one to me which I had not come across before. I've sampled one and will watch some more.

I've added a new Online Video section to the Reviews sticky and a link to this thread. So if anyone wants to post reviews of other hand tool video producers, please start a new thread for your review and I'll put a link to it in the list. I think it would be helpful to link to providers/channels as Andy Kev has done, rather than individual videos, which could soon become overwhelming.

Here the link to Treebangham's channel:

https://www.youtube.com/user/treebangham

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Interesting that he considers his end vice basically wasted effort. I've never seen the attraction for the average user.
Easy to watch - most of the yanks are too far up their own arrses.

 

[D_W]

I didn't watch any of the videos, but does the guy dimension a lot of his wood by hand? I find a vise on the end of the bench quite useful. It's not a necessity, but it's nice to have.

 

[DoctorWibble]

Interesting that he considers his end vice basically wasted effort. I've never seen the attraction for the average user.
Easy to watch - most of the yanks are too far up their own arrses.

if he's the guy I'm thinking of he uses holdfasts and stops which are surely a lot less faff. All that furious spinning only to make your board impossible to just pick up and have a good looksee at. Even Richard Maguire when he sold things couldn't help himself tell his customers they weren't really necessary.

 

[D_W]

Interesting that he considers his end vice basically wasted effort. I've never seen the attraction for the average user.
Easy to watch - most of the yanks are too far up their own arrses.

if he's the guy I'm thinking of he uses holdfasts and stops which are surely a lot less faff. All that furious spinning only to make your board impossible to just pick up and have a good looksee at. Even Richard Maguire when he sold things couldn't help himself tell his customers they weren't really necessary.

they do make quick release vises these days. They're quite handy stuck on the end of a bench, and when you're not using them, they're not sticking up anywhere.

 

[Trafalgar]

Titebond LHG certainly takes a lot of the pressure off during glue-up. It cures glass hard though and short-gluing pieces doesn't do much for expansion and contraction, though with those narrow workpieces it's not a big deal. Where it is is a big deal, use Elmer's white glue (NOT the school glue) which will flex a little. He has tons of time with that glue and ought to let himself relax.

Gorgeous, precise, and crisp woodworking. Reminds me of a Derek Cohen job.

 

[ED65]

Thanks for the headsup Andy, I'll check him out.

Interesting that he considers his end vice basically wasted effort.

I think it's a horses for courses type of thing but if you have one you should make an effort to use it because it's there, and you'll get used to working with it through using it and hence find its value. Clearly though you don't need to have one to have an effective bench (the same could be said for all vices).

they do make quick release vises these days.

Uh huh, for about 150 years now :mrgreen:

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I'm sure there are many things I could find value in if I got used to using them.