Getting Focused

by | Jul 1, 2016 | 16 comments

Getting ready for a new project

We’re getting a lot of questions about what’s coming when, so here’s how it’s looking:

Next Premium VideoPre-launching Next Week
The Hand Plane BuildComing Next Month
Mystery ProjectEnd Of The Year (hopefully)
Book(s)Completed Next Year (possibly!)

Building Your Own Hand Plane Video

We promised you a hand plane build, and this is one of the things we’re getting asked the most, with many people saying they’re looking forward to buying it. I just want to clarify that it will be given for free, and it’s definitely coming.

We’ve had an incredible amount of growth on this website since launching the Spoon Rack Series last year. Initially our Premium videos were considered as a fundraiser for the site, but then sales grew in to the thousands, and we realised we needed to start to think of this as a proper business.

This moved us to stop in our tracks for a while, so we could re-organise ourselves and re-focus onto our woodworking videos and teaching. And along with this will be a new, more organised direction for the stuff we provide here as a free resource.

Getting ready for the next video series

Getting ready for our next woodworking video series.

Focusing On Quality

Creating our Premium Videos has never been a case of sticking the cameras on, uploading what we get, and sticking a price tag on it.

We consider them much more as a good old fashioned book. Digitised and in motion, but book-like all the same.

All good books start with a well conceived idea, a deep understanding of the subject, a purpose, a direction and a destination. The information is vast, and the book isn’t complete until that expanse of words is condensed down in to everything you need to know and feel, without anything unnecessary.
And another great thing about a good book – it’s one person’s perspective, concise & complete without contradiction.

We believe video has the best potential for teaching a skill over a distance. If a picture says a thousand words, then we’re saying many thousands of words every second on camera, and that’s before Richard opens his mouth.

We’re working hard to maximise that potential, through treating each Video Series as a well written book.

If we do our job right, then you’ll be cutting joints and flattening boards better than Richard. We’re making his woodworking knowledge accessible and digestible, so you’ll have a huge head start.

Back to the hand plane build.

We have big ideas for our videos, and this all takes time to do right.
The hand plane build is one of many planned free videos that we’re making for two reasons; to keep us practiced at this video making thing, and to give you a taster of what we do.

The video is pretty much done, but we’re holding it off a little longer while we get prepared for our new schedule. Basically we’ll be bringing it along with a surge of other builds.
Barn in need of work

Why so quiet?

We also get many questions about why we’ve been on the quiet side of late.
We’ve had to do lots of planning, filming, building etc.
And on top of that there’s always a barn, or part of a barn that requires lots of planning, building etc.

A present focus is the impending doom of this roof, (it’s not all that clear in the photo, but the general state of the rest of it should give you a good idea.)

Instagram

We’ve decided to start using Instagram as an updater in between our longer posts – so if you ever find yourself wondering, you can pop over to our Instagram account, and chances are you’ll see that we’re just up to something weird and wonderful as normal. Find us on Instagram here.

And yep, I did say that we’ll be pre-launching our next video series next week. Don’t forget to check back for all of the details.

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About Helen Fisher

About Helen Fisher

Helen seeks to explore ways to live with greater joy & sustainability for both ourselves & the planet. Concepts which have led to the launch of her second business We Are Carbon. As the producer of our videos, Helen brings a unique perspective & injects life to our education ensuring it is both a pleasure to watch & easy to follow & learn from. Learn More About Helen & The English Woodworker.

16 Comments

  1. Ken Haygarth

    I’m just about done with all these social media sites guys. When you get sorted, will be more than happy to subscribe to a project, but not Interested in jumping from site to site to keep up.

    HaHa at the present I’m so disorganised my self, and it’s not getting any better me thinks.

    Ok very best, take care

    Reply
    • Helen

      Hi Ken,
      I know it’s a lot if you jump back and forth between everything, so I just wanted to clarify that there’s really no need to check it all. We just try to keep on top of all the different platforms so you can pick what works for you.

      The website here will have all long posts as normal.
      Instagram content will be quick photos and in between snippets which will also go on to Facebook, so you really only need one or the other social media site.

      The good thing with Facebook is that it informs you when a new blog post has been added as well. The bad thing about Facebook is that it doesn’t always let you know.
      And RSS or email subscriptions are good if you only want to see the longer blog content.

      Not sure if that makes it clearer or more confusing 😉

      Reply
      • Ken Haygarth

        Thanks Helen 😉

        Reply
  2. Michael

    Hi Helen,

    thanks a lot for letting us know where this all is going. I am very much looking forward to the plane build video, and I for one would gladly have paid for it. Not that I’m complaining. ;o)

    Best regards, Michael

    Reply
  3. Jasper

    *positive thinking* Well, the individual bricks in that building look fine!
    I see you’re not only fighting ivy, but nettles also. Will there be a video of the Weed Burning Fest?
    But seriously, you are doing a lot of work. Good luck with that, and don’t forget to take a rest.

    Reply
  4. cas sedgwick

    Helen,
    I’ve never used Instagram before, but curiosity got the better of me so I went and signed up. I have to say, really great pictures. You have a great eye for composition.

    Reply
  5. Ben Ice

    By the way, don’t forget about the milk paint recipes. Anxious to see those.

    Thanks.

    Reply
  6. Steve Harper

    Thanks for the update, Helen – much appreciated. By the way; “cutting joints and flattening boards better than Richard” – yeah, right!!

    Reply
  7. John Gibson

    Great to hear that you have seen lots of orders for the paid content. It seems to me that you two have fought through lots of adversity. May your business and personal endeavours thrive!

    Reply
  8. Len A

    Helen

    Really great to hear from you and Richard again. I don’t know what your next premium video is on but I will subscribe for sure. To follow that up with the Plane Build series is very exciting – I have had the plane irons for quite some time now and the wood has been set aside for a couple of months now so really looking to get started.

    You certainly have your work cut out with the barn. Good luck with that and stay safe.

    Len

    Reply
  9. david o'sullivan

    i was getting worried about you lot.great to have ye back .i really enjoy richards methods and teaching style.

    Reply
  10. Paul Sacra

    Everywhere I look these days on the Internet I see your faces. If you aren’t careful you will be getting a fan club and have to go on a world wide tour 😉
    Thank you Helen for the update. As soon as the Premium Video goes live I’m having it. I have watched the other two vids so many times now I’m in need of some new viewing.
    As for your book(s)… Any chance of buying a signed copy through your website when it is available? (If you don’t ask, you don’t get).
    Keep up the good work.

    Regards

    Paul S

    Reply
  11. Steve Tripp

    Been following you for a while on instagram. Wonderful pictures.

    Reply
  12. rene.

    You do write about video shoots as same a project as writing an book: peak information, get structure, make it injoyable to read – and to last for a long time.
    That is, in my opinion, an approach well-worthy to support: As present time shows, watching woodworkers (and other working men as well) of the past is so fascinating to people today. And we all would wish to see more of these insights in crafts – and we all wish, the filmmakers of the past would have act more carefully…
    So, well then: you both, take your time.

    Reply
  13. Duncan

    Thanks for the update. Good to hear what you say about quality. I think all of us out here put particular value on quality and communication and these are the things you excel at all round. Keep it up.
    All the best.

    Reply
  14. James B

    Not sure if anyone will read this after so long, but after just finding this excellent site, and Richard on YouTube, I’ve been digging through the treasure trove, and the teaser videos about the hand plane build have me well and truly hooked, so forgive me if you do see this and it’s just another punter moaning, but… are the actual hand plane build videos done yet????

    Reply

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