The New Yankee Workshop

When reading the Declaration of Independence, no doubt some of our founding fathers would have chosen to sit in a favorite "lolling" chair. This kind of chair, with an upholstered seat and back, was popular then and has come down to us today as a classic form still much used and much loved. Antiques expert Gary Sullivan helps Norm with his research, and a professional shows him what's involved in the upholstery.

In the beginning of The New Yankee Workshop there was the Adirondack Chair (Season 2), a classic design updated by Norm. It became one of the most popular projects he ever did. Later, Norm added an Adirondack Love Seat (Season 14) to his collection, using improved methods and materials. Now, in celebration of the show's twentieth anniversary, Norm builds a chair, a table, and a footrest to complete the set. To add to the fun, Norm invites a friend to build one of these classic chairs alongside the master.

Norm remodels Russell Morash's kitchen. Here he constructs the wet bar.

Norm remodels Russell Morash's kitchen. Here builds the "kitchen office".

Norm remodels Russell Morash's kitchen. Here he explains the basics of the "wet wall".

Norm remodels Russell Morash's kitchen. Here he gives the basics of kitchen cabinets. This is part 2 of 2.

Prowling antiques stores for a suitable project for his own living room, Norm encounters Matt Buckley, an appraiser and antiques expert, who shows him an interesting Nest of Tables. Unlike anything else he has built on the show, Norm is intrigued by these three small mahogany tables that store into one another to form a "nest". The example that Matt shows Norm are likely to be English circa 1920 and are derived from the "Chippendale" style. Norm decides to build his own versions from walnut and mahogany and he reproduces the fine inlay details of the original.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is a treasure house of the first order that boasts remarkable collections of early American furniture, including some incomparable pieces by Goddard and Townsend, the famous Colonial-era Rhode Island furniture makers. Norm is drawn to a simple chest that is undergoing laboratory investigation at the museum. Known as the Taunton Chest, the piece was named for the Massachusetts town where Robert Crosman (1710-1799) built it nearly three hundred years ago. This highly decorated small chest is one of only a handful of Crosman originals that remain intact today. One like it was offered by Christie's Auction House not long ago and went for the amazing sum of close to three million. Norm builds his version out of poplar and calls on decorative artist Natalie Gardner to precisely copy the paintwork of the original design.

As with his previous programs dedicated to a single tool, Norm takes viewers on a special two-part program that explores the usefulness of the table saw. He begins by showing various table saws and what they can do and goes on to describe and demonstrate adjustments to make them more accurate. In the first program, he concentrates on the most common task a table saw will be asked to do - ripping. Norm discusses how to do it safely and accurately. He demonstrates his technique for cutting large panels and shows a safe way to handle narrow stock. He completes show number one by building an ingenious "out feed" table -- so clever every saw owner will want one. This is part 1 of 2.

Wyoming antiques dealer Terry Winchell wants everybody to know about the remarkable work of furniture designer Thomas Molesworth. In the 1930s, from his base in Cody, Wyoming, Molesworth created "Cowboy"-style furnishings made from peeled Douglas fir logs, stretched red leather, and routed out images of Indian teepees, animal tracks, and shooting irons. Dwight Eisenhower was a fan of this particularly distinctive dude ranch furniture, as was Thomas Yawkey (once the owner of Norm's beloved Red Sox). Today, Molesworth is very collectible, as Norm finds out when he visits Winchell at his operation in Jackson Hole. The ultimate New England craftsman brings a little bit of Western sensibility into his Yankee workshop when he decides to take on a Molesworth-style sideboard for his own collection.

To see Martha Washington's bedroom, you'll have to talk to the Ladies of Mount Vernon, who look after the first President's mansion near the Potomac River. Although not officially on the tour of Mount Vernon, the Ladies agree to take Norm to parts of the old house that the public rarely sees. In one such room, the third floor bedroom that Martha took after George died, Norm comes across a handsome candlestand that sits near the bed. Upon further inspection, he discovers that it is a diminutive, wellcrafted stand complete with a wooden "birdcage" element that allows the tabletop to rotate and flip up for storage. Before he leaves Mount Vernon, Norm works with a sawyer of historic wood, William Jewell, to obtain some cherry (what else?) harvested from one of the estate's fallen trees.

It would be hard to think of a more important element of a home's appeal than its entranceway. But all too often, modern doors are an unremarkable (yet necessary) feature quickly forgotten by those who pass through them. Not so with this custom-made, mahogany beauty that Norm creates in The New Yankee Workshop. He designs and builds it from scratch for an old house that cries out for a new door. Along the way, he is able to find a pair of antique looking "Bulls Eye" glass inserts and a handsome brass knob and lock to set off this masterpiece.

Corner chairs go way back in the history of furniture. Some say their early popularity had to do with the convenience of those wearing swords who could sit on such a chair comfortably. During a visit to Historic New England, a preservation society, Norm is shown a number of variations on this classic form. Norm decides to build his chair out of cherry.

Taking his cue from a pool house he finds on Nantucket, Norm creates a relatively simple, multipurpose structure so coveted by today's homeowners. It could be a garden shed, a place to store the outdoor furniture for the winter, a pool house, or a home for the family bicycles and yard machines. This 96-square foot building is the perfect size for many backyards and "features" low-maintenance materials that are expected to hold paint and resist weather. Best of all, it is attractive to look at and relatively easy to build.

This project involves some considerable effort. At the suggestion of a friend who, with his colleagues, is trying to restore a historic river, Norm agrees to paddle a canoe over some rapids in search of some unusual white oak that's been submerged there for nearly 150 years. The oak Norm wants was used as a dam on Virginia's mighty Rappahannock River. Today it sits as a pile of salvage on the river's edge just hoping a woodworker floats by to rescue some of it for furniture projects. Norm engages Bill Jewell, a local sawyer of historical trees, to prepare this timber for the purpose of making a drop-leaved corner table, which Norm finds at nearby Kenmore House, a noted Fredericksburg mansion that was once owned by George Washington's sister. After Norm gets the wood to his shop, he spends considerable effort turning it into suitable pieces to make a copy of the original table - including the challenging turned legs that add so much style to this particular piece.

A continuation of a series of tool-specific episodes that provide instruction and techniques for using a particular shop tool, this time, the router. This is part 1 of 2.

Poker is the game to be playing right now and Norm has a special project in mind for its legions of fans when he sets out to find and build the ideal table. To find out what the locals are using, Norm interrupts a neighborhood poker game for a look at their table and comes away unimpressed. Although the one he finds supports eight players, their chips, their drinks, and the cards, it is profoundly ugly and shaky. Norm decides to build an improved version. Norm creates his eight-sided table of mahogany and mahogany veneer plywood and places it on a sturdy pedestal. Rethinking the traditional felt covering typically used on these tables, Norm chooses a state-of-the-art synthetic fabric that offers a much-improved covering. He even finds brass cup holders, which are recessed into the top for holding beverages. The finished table is a winner.

If you've priced plantation shutters lately, you know how expensive they can be, costing several hundred dollars per opening. Not surprisingly, Yankee ingenuity and thrift get the better of Norm and he creates some stunning shutters in the workshop. As his admirers have come to expect, he first builds a collection of jigs, which are necessary to drill holes, set staples, and mortise hinges. Then he shapes the individual bass wood slats, mounts them on a control rod, and positions the whole assembly into a frame of poplar that then gets spray-painted. You'll be impressed at how well these interior shutters look and operate when he installs them in a room he's been working on for some time.

Norm makes carved wooden signs.

Never in the history of The New Yankee Workshop has there been a more challenging project. This bonnet-topped Queen Anne-legged tiger maple highboy is a classic in every sense of the word. Even the reproduction hardware is rare. Joining Norm in the search for a suitable highboy that Norm can reproduce are Leigh and Leslie Keno, much respected furniture experts from the PBS show "FIND." They take Norm to Leigh's gallery in New York City and show him a glorious original they believe was built in Wethersfield, Connecticut in the early 19th century. It takes Norm two programs to complete the magnificent project and those who have seen it say it is well worth his time and effort. This is part 2 of 2.

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.

Lathe 101 is the first in a series of programs featuring the skills required to master a single shop tool. In this first installment, Norm tackles the wood lathe and shows the basic techniques necessary to learn spindle turning, showing several examples of lathes and the tools required to achieve professional results. A self-taught turner himself, Norm then turns a regulation sized baseball bat and even gets a member of the current Red Sox baseball team to try it out in Fenway Park. You'll see the results and you'll learn how to improve your lathe skills on this long awaited program.

Bermudans call themselves "Onions" perhaps because of those succulent pungent bulbs they have grown for hundreds of years. But onions also appear as wooden buns, or feet, to keep their blanket chests off the damp floors of that seaside nation. Norm, on his trip to Bermuda, finds a historic example in the form of a well-proportioned solid mahogany chest which he is able to reproduce faithfully back at the shop.

Every time Norm does an outside project it is an instant hit. This will be no exception. It's a useful all-weather convertible bench/table. He found it in an old house in Saint Georges, Bermuda and thought it would be perfect for a New Yankee Workshop project. Made of rot-resistant cypress, this will only get more beautiful with age.

Prowling through an arts and crafts shop of highly collectable Stickley and other Mission style period furniture, Norm discovers a wonderful oak desk he hopes to use for a small computer. It is an original 1910 Oak Knee Hole Desk made by L&JG Stickley. Made of oak and finished in the appropriate color and glaze, Norm will be using this sturdy desk for his own home.

A pier table is a small table that is meant to be located between two windows. Norm finds a beautiful example of one at GKS Bush Antiques on Nantucket, Massachusetts. Made of poplar and beautifully painted with classic designs and a faux marble top, the original is stunning. Norm builds a copy and has it painted to match the original.

The Lancaster County "Fan Back" Windsor chair is perhaps the most challenging woodworking project of the 16th season. Norm pays a visit to chair makers Bill and Sally Wallick in Wrightsville, Pennsylvania for some invaluable help in building his "Fan Back". Bill teaches Norm how to start with carving a seat, then turning the legs, then fitting the steam bent maple "crest" rail, and adding the delicate, but strong spindles. Then Sally Wallick takes over to show how she is able to add instant age to their new chairs, giving them a realistic patina of antiquity that will fool even an expert. This is part 2 of 2.

Pennsylvania Dutch is an endearing style created by early furniture makers. Many pieces of this delightful furniture, painted with a colorful primitive design, can be found at the Winterthur estate, in Delaware, Henry DuPont's fabulous treasure house of American antiques. With curator Greg Landry, Norm tours the collection and finds an interesting dower chest dating back to 1840. Norm builds his own of tulip poplar and calls on a decorative painter to recreate typical Pennsylvania Dutch artwork.

This bookcase will surprise many fans because it is unlike most Shaker designs. Elder Green built the original unusual cupboard in 1898 to contain a particular selection of documents in the Shaker Community library in Sabbathday Lake, Maine. Green built his bookcase of butternut and walnut and included a complicated cornice, built of several mouldings. Norm revised the original, making it somewhat shorter and narrower and built his of cherry.

The folding room screen is an attractive alternative to divide a room or to seal off an unwanted view of a computer, a TV set, or perhaps a heating radiator. This handsome three-fold hinged screen is built of traditional raised panels. Norm uses mahogany, which is stained to enhance the beautiful wood grain and then sealed with hard-wearing polyurethane.

Norm finds a handsome dark wood French side table in a private collection on Nantucket. Made of dark hardwood, probably walnut, this single drawer original is straightforward to make; even the curved legs are easily managed in a well-equipped shop. Best of all, its elegant style and good proportions will fit nicely in any room of your home and suit many purposes.

In lieu of a great bedstead, sometimes all you need is a headboard. On this program Norm builds a beauty out of mahogany that will lend substance and elegance to a simple metal frame with a mattress and box spring. Again with help from Leonard's Antiques and Jeff Jenkins, Norm finds some interesting variations on this popular alternative to a full bed frame. Norm builds this headboard, sized for a king-sized bed, from top grade mahogany veneer plywood and uses solid mahogany to form the posts and mouldings.

Organizing today's electronics is a challenge with ever-larger televisions, DVD's, amplifiers, speakers, CD collections and all sorts of other paraphernalia. Finding useable storage for everything can be difficult. Norm is inspired by a beautiful antique cupboard his friend Jeff Jenkins of Leonard's Antiques shows him. In this special two-part program he builds a large media cupboard made of maple and outfits it with swing-away doors, adjustable shelves, and four roomy drawers below that should answer just about every need for a home media center. The project includes finishing steps using aniline dyes and polyurethane to protect and enhance the beauty of the piece. This is part 2 of 2.

This jewel of a display cupboard will provide attractive storage for any bathroom. The top of the cabinet, with its beveled glass panels and adjustable shelves, is a perfect place to display attractive objects in a protected space. The display top sits on a closed cabinet for more useful storage accessed by means of a flat paneled door. Painted a glistening white and conveniently sized for limited space, this project is a winner.

Norm happened to mention to a reporter that he had never made an upholstered piece of furniture. This led to an invitation to partner with Lee Industries of Newton, North Carolina, one of America's most highly regarded furniture makers. In the first of a special two-part program, Norm visits the Lee Industries factory to understand how upholstered chairs and sofas are made. He gets a tour with Norman Coley whose family has been making furniture in North Carolina for 40 years. Coley suggests Norm try making a "cigar" chair, which can be made without sewing and stitching. Back at the shop Norm starts by building the hard maple frame, the skeleton underneath this handsome chair. This is part 1 of 2.

How about a coffee table that once served as a portable platform to shear the wool from sheep? We're not sure how well it worked at that task, but Norm reinvents it as a handsome platform for books, plants, puzzles, canapes, and all the other things that clutter today's coffee tables. This is definitely a conversation piece. Made of recycled pine, this unusual table is easy to make and comes with a good story.

It used to be when you cruised the ocean on a liner you would be offered a comfortable place to read and relax on a sun deck. A deckhand would show you to your wooden lounge chair, often made of teak, fitted with brass and combined with a footrest. Today you can enjoy the same comfort with Norm?s version, made of plantation grown teak and specialized brass hardware designed to withstand the elements.

Norm makes wooden bowls.

Norm visits an antique shop and spots a small round pedestal table that the dealer tells him may have originated in Indonesia. Maybe that's why it was built from teak, a popular wood in that region. Norm likes the choice of the wood, for it means that the table can be used either inside or out. The tricky part of making a pedestal table is connecting the legs to the pedestal. After the pedestal is turned, and while it is still in the lathe, Norm uses a clever technique with a jig and a router to accurately cut the mortises.

While visiting Palm Beach, Florida, Norm discovers an attractive maple shaving stand in the Flagler Museum. Norm recreates this unique piece of Americana using cherry to form the mirror surround, the drawer, and to form the gracefully cut legs. At first glance, you might wonder why Norm (with his full beard) would ever need a piece of furniture like this, but he will be ready in case fashions change.

One of the all-time most popular projects ever built in The New Yankee Workshop was the Adirondack chair Norm built years ago. Now, with this Adirondack loveseat, Norm has the chance to revisit his original design and make improvements not possible when the original was built. For example, a new generation of weather proof adhesives are now available to secure the various parts to one another. Elsewhere Norm makes refinements in joining the various elements with all weather screws and conceals them with plugs. What results from these improvements, the Adirondack loveseat, is an extremely comfortable double seated version of our all-time favorite project.

A well-equipped workshop will need a bench for a miter saw. In this two part project, Norm builds a useful model with extensions on both sides of the saw, an adjustable stop block, an auxiliary guide for use with an adjacent radial saw table, and much more. The bench base is fully equipped with pull-out drawers sized to house Norm's most-used power tools and accessories. One of those, the "dedicated" mortiser, has its own pull-out shelf with a bench-top fixture that secures the tool and provides extension to support and stabilize longer stock. This will be a popular project to anyone who wants to build useful organized storage in the workshop. This is part 2 of 2.

Norm puts down his fork long enough to appreciate the craftsmanship of the handcrafted monastery table upon which he dines in one of Tuscany, Italy's, finest inns. Rescued from an ancient monastery, the table features all of the characteristics that one would expect to find in a piece of furniture that has endured years of hard use by the brothers. To replicate its charm, Norm spends some time hunting for the right timber and discovers a cache of Southern yellow pine still dripping with resin. Back at The New Yankee Workshop he fashions his version of this piece using a lathe and table saw.

Like most of us, Norm has a mailbox he purchased from a local home center that now shows all the wear and tear of harsh New England winters. Determined to do something about its sorry state, he designs and builds a beautiful replacement complete with ornamental finial, chamfered post, and even a newspaper slot. It promises to signal to passersby, "a craftsman lives here."

Norm visits the fabulous Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. Built in 1880 by George Washington Vanderbilt, the 250-room French Renaissance-inspired chateau boasts a stunning collection of fine furniture including original Sheraton and Chippendale. Among the collection, Norm discovers a sophisticated mahogany dressing table with a foldaway mirror and graceful turned legs that he decides to replicate in The New Yankee Workshop. In the second of two episodes devoted to the making of an heirloom-quality dressing table found among the famed Biltmore Estate's collection, viewers find Norm in a national forest in North Carolina. There he learns how the U.S. Forest Service regulates the flow of timber to end users. Afterwards he goes behind-the-scenes at a plywood mill in nearby Asheville to see how high-quality plywood is made. This is part 1 of 2.

When Norm felt it time to remodel The New Yankee Workshop, he seized the opportunity to build an ingenuous workshop hutch that promises to be a must-have for every home woodworker. It features a backbench with a system of adjustable shelves that offers endless options for organizing the tools and materials every woodworker needs to have at his fingertips. The hutch also has a renewable bench top complete with electrical outlets, and roomy pullout drawers to store and keep a serious collection of power tools dust-free.

Norm's CD storage case promises to fool the casual observer with its handsome looks, and capacity to store and display over 200 titles. Resembling an old-fashioned library card catalogue, it features six drawers with antique brass drawer pulls and labels to identify the contents. Crafted out of recycled "heart" pine, the drawers come with full extension slides, making it possible to find the right CD easily. This well-proportioned, modular piece can fit easily on a desktop or bookcase and can be added to-to house a growing collection of CD titles.

Norm celebrates the 13th season of The New Yankee Workshop with jigs. Proclaiming them "as important for the workshop as any power tool," Norm devotes the new season to building a variety of these useful devices, which will allow home woodworkers everywhere to build their projects with greater efficiency and accuracy. In part one, he shows how to create a panel cutting jig for cutting wide panels on the table saw, a tapering jig useful for tapering table legs, a circle cutting jig for the band saw, and a feather board for safely holding stock in place at the saw or at the router. Part two includes a jig which accurately guides a plunge router for making adjustable shelf pin holes, an ingenuous jig for mortising louvered doors and shutters, a circle cutting jig for a router, a hinge mortising jig, and a simple device for making box joints. This is part 2 of 2.

Norm shops for a perfect gift for a loved one, discovers an exquisite jewelry case, and decides to replicate it back in The New Yankee Workshop. He improves upon its original design and makes it even more useful when he adds flip-up mirror and secret compartment to store treasures. But viewers will just have to tune in to see this secret revealed.

Norm wanders into a country European antique shop and walks out with a treasure, a low English server, also commonly known as a sideboard. Simple in its design, the long antique pine boards are what give this piece its stunning character. Norm crafts his version of this piece out of some surprising distressed antique boards and proves that its natural beauty could earn it a place in any room of the house. The result will leave viewers hard-pressed to tell which is the antique and which is the reproduction.

After looking through the offerings of a country store, Norm finds the inspiration to build a small lock-and-key style writing desk which was popular 200 hundred years ago. Any viewer who has ever struggled with box joints or dovetails won't want to miss this program. These fine woodworking details are what give this simple piece its elegant character. Norm crafts two versions of this piece-one out of antique chestnut and one out of cherry-to ensure that viewers at home will be able to master these woodworking techniques.

Bowing to numerous requests from fans, Norm designs and builds a complex of clever spaces for the home office that will accommodate the family computer and all its peripherals.

Following a trip to Newport, Rhode Island to learn the finer points of the game, Norm builds his own special croquet mallet and a bench in which to store all the equipment. Sad to say his game is not good.

If only I had a workshop like Norm's, I could build anything. Norm puts an end to this common viewer lament when he shows how to turn an average garage bay into a great home workshop. Using common building materials and hardware, he builds all the elements needed to make a workshop functional cabinetry, storage units, and a portable chop station. The genius of Norm's original design, however is that each element can be put away to make room for the family car when not in use or easily transported to any space a woodworker decides to set up shop. At the conclusion of this ambitious two-part project, Norm gives his list of must-have bench top power tools to ensure that every home craftsman will be able to utilize the workshop to its fullest. This is part 2 of 2.

True gourmets will appreciate Norm's more sophisticated butcher block-topped chef's table which has both great style and utilitarian value. Featuring a poplar base with graceful tapered legs, it includes a built-in knife rack, towel racks, and pull-through drawers which can be accessed whether working at the stove or by the sink, as well as a large shelf for storing stock pots. Watch and learn: how to prepare rough-cut lumber, making blanks to create tapered legs, mortise and tenon joinery techniques, finger joint construction.

Host Norm Abram shows how to build a sink base.

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.

This is a Norm original, inspired by his need to sort his bright plaids, pastel plaids, and even a few white shirts for the laundry. Entirely constructed of durable, easy-to-clean white melamine, Norm designed this laundry center to work as both a sorting station and as a place to fold clothes and hold laundry supplies. It's a large scale project, that employs a number of basic, cabinetry-making skills. Watch and learn: constructing with and joining together the man-made material melamine, edge-band detailing, heat-sensitive bonding techniques, installing pivot hinges and full slides.

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 moulding. Watch and learn how to: make glass cabinet doors, construct dovetail drawers, select and apply appropriate mouldings and vintage hardware.

Meant to meet the demand for more storage space, Norm's custom designed kitchen pantry promises to be valued even more as a decorative showpiece and as an example of his superb craftsmanship. Built out of antique chestnut with punched copper double doors, its geometric detailing and traditional beauty are illuminated by interior accent lighting. Inside, six melamine storage shelves can store a shop full of pantry items. Watch and learn how to work with recycled wood, fabricate melamine shelves, create punched-copper door panels, and install accent lighting.

Norm visits the Old Schwamb Mill in Arlington, Massachusetts. Built in 1860, the mill was purchased in 1864 by German immigrant woodworkers, Charles and Frederick Schwamb. The brothers did a brisk business crafting the oval picture frames which, at the time, were in demand to display photographs of Civil War soldiers. In the Schwamb Brother's old office, Norm spies a handsome, quarter-sawn oak roll top desk, which inspires him to build his version of this American classic. This is part 1 of 2.

On a recent 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.

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.

In Arizona, Norm goes on a search for Arts and Crafts-style furniture in Tucson's Historic Arts District. Responding to the many viewer requests he receives each season to build more of the ever-popular Arts and Crafts-style projects, Norm ventures into the F.L. Wright Furniture Gallery where he finds a virtuoso example of the era-a classic, reclining Morris chair. Norm recreates this vintage design out of quarter-sawn white oak and in the process, shares his secrets for mastering the techniques required to build the chair's reclining back.

Though a gardener friend uses his handsome antique library ladder to display a collection of vintage watering cans, Norm vows that it can also be used for more utilitarian purposes. He builds this intermediate woodworking project out of recycled, long leaf Southern yellow pine and in the process, demonstrates how to craft its defining feature - splayed legs joined by a hinged crossbar.

Norm asks, "Have you ever noticed that most armoires and linen presses are too big to fit in today's rooms and look just right?" However, in a private collection in Savannah, Georgia, he finds a beautiful antique linen press whose three-foot by six-foot size make it versatile enough to fit in almost any room. Featuring streamlined, raised-panel double doors with detail beading, its simple design seems almost modern. Back in The New Yankee Workshop, Norm recreates this piece out of recycled pine to give it a vintage look.

He may be America's favorite master carpenter, but Norm readily admits that he's a "brown thumb," when it comes to gardening. This greenhouse is the perfect project for the serious backyard gardener (or someone who knows one) who is "workshop bound" for the winter. Norm fabricates this design out of redwood and polycarbonate panels. Built to withstand even the toughest weather conditions, this greenhouse provides enough insulation and light to sustain plants during the long winter months. This is part 2 of 2.

Norm introduces viewers to the seventeenth-century craft of wood steaming when he creates this charming hat rack out of oak. To learn the proper techniques, Norm pays a visit to craftsman Mike Dunbar, a well-known Windsor chair builder and teacher.

It's a great family gathering table and perfect for playing games with the kids, Norm claimed when he discovered the original in a private collection in Savannah. The ingenious design of this table features a lazy Susan centerpiece which can easily be removed for more formal gatherings. While building this piece out of salvaged pine, Norm shares his secrets for creating the spindle centerpiece with minimal hardware.

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.

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.

While touring Savannah, Norm found the inspiration for this unique piece in Marty Johnson's antique collection. Though its name remains a mystery, there's no question that its graceful three-leaf-clover design makes it an attractive and practical accent table. Norm brings a little bit of Georgia back to the New Yankee Workshop when he creates the table out of Southern heart pine.

Here is a practical project that harks back to the first half of the season: the design for this nest of drawers is based on an antique found in a Nantucket shop. A 10-drawer storage unit built of recycled pine, this versatile piece will be equally coveted by the handy person, who will want it for the workshop, and the decorator, who will want to display it on a table or hang it on a wall. The compartments are perfect for storing odds and ends like stamps, hardware or craft supplies.

Norm builds a handsome and practical storage shed outside The New Yankee Workshop. The 12-by-8-foot shed with an attached recycling and rubbish center has plenty of room for the lawn mower, snow blower and other lawn and garden tools. Four windows let in the light, and a large door welcomes over-sized equipment. The recycling center has enough covered space for sorting and for holding rubbish barrels. The building is finished with Western red cedar clapboards, shingles and galvanized hardware to resist the elements. This is part 1 of 2.

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.

Another piece found in a private collection in wine country, this elegantly simple desk has an expansive surface, a single center pencil drawer and nicely turned legs. The original was made of pine, but for his version, Norm uses a harder chestnut that is better for writing surfaces. As straight forward and unpretentious as the best American antiques - or wines this desk can easily double as a table.

Norm finds the quintessential gathering table - it's 10 feet long - in the wine tasting room at the Myacamas Vineyards in Napa Valley. He fully demonstrates his master craftsmanship by reproducing this impressive piece of furniture, destined to become a family heirloom. To add to the integrity and value of this piece, he uses two different types of recycled pine that are peppered with interesting wood knots, buckshot and other natural irregularities.

Built of recycled chestnut barn timber, this generously sized coffee table is a reproduction pine table displayed at the Grace Family Vineyards in St. Helena. Featuring large turned legs and a natural oil finish, this table is as individual as the limited edition Cabernet Grace the vineyard is famous for.

Norm returns to Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Massachusetts to research the colonial custom of using blanket frames or racks. What results are stylish displays for prized quilts as Norm reinterprets these pieces in both Victorian and Shaker styles. While the mahogany Victorian rack features a curved top and turned legs, its simple pine counterpart boasts flat braces and a trestle foot.

Norm begins work on one of the most ambitious projects ever attempted at The New Yankee Workshop. Brilliantly conceived and executed, Norm's intimate octagonal, screened gazebo reflects several popular Victorian styles and features a cedar deck, clever, collar-tied rafters, and a unusual tapered, cedar-shingled roof, the project's most challenging element. Norm offers useful tips on how to build screens as he creates the screen door and panels for his gazebo. The final decorative touches are applied as the Victorian latticework is assembled and mounted and the copper finial takes its place atop this storybook garden pavilion. This is part 1 of 2.

A visit to the Center for Wooden Boats in Seattle, Washington launches this challenging and exciting project which is modeled after a "class boat" known as the "Clancy." Back at the workshop, Norm builds the lightweight boat from scratch using 3' x 10' lengths of marine veneer mahogany plywood and an epoxy and fiberglass system to make the craft watertight. With the final coat of epoxy sanded and the last strokes of paint and waterproof finish applied, host Norm puts the SS New Yankee 1 and 2 to the test! Norm and This Old House host, Steve Thomas, take the workshop-built Clancy boats for a sail. This is part 1 of 2.

Norm finds his inspiration for this piece in the garden furniture designed by renowned English architect Sir Edwin Lutyens. Constructed entirely of teak, this faithful reproduction is built to last and age gracefully.

It's been next to impossible to find an outdoor side or coffee table - until now. Norm builds a low round, slat-topped model out of durable teak that fits the bill perfectly.

What better way to enjoy a hot summer day than from the shade of a graceful arbor? A perfect complement to any garden or deck, Norm's elegant pergola will look great draped in wisteria and is constructed of durable pressure-treated southern yellow pine.

Norm's blockbuster project for the sixth season is a playhouse that boys and girls alike will love. He begins work by building the floor platform and prefabricating the walls, then assembling the frame in the backyard. Perfect for tea parties and secret meetings, this playhouse is also a handsome addition to any yard. Norm continues work on his playhouse, concentrating on the wood shingle roof and the many details that he refers to as "goodies," from the window box to the Dutch door. This is the project that Norm's younger viewers are likely to be clamoring for loudest of all. This is part 1 of 2.

Norm builds an "Alphabet" wagon.

Norm builds this project for the "A" student in the house - a desk inspired by the memory of his own version from high school. The durable laminate panels provide a smooth desktop surface for writing that will still look great after years of use. Norm demonstrates how to apply high-pressure laminates and uses mortise and tenon joinery for the stylish oak frames. The oak is sealed with polyurethane for durability.

Norm considers a historic example of the classic marble roll, as well as a huge mechanical version located at Boston's Museum of Science. His own design emphasizes safety, proportioned for marbles too large for a child to swallow, while the entire unit is small enough to be portable. It is a relatively simple project, made primary on the table saw, that can often be constructed from workshop scraps.

Norm visits Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Massachusetts for the inspiration behind this Early American hooded cradle, one of the most commonly requested projects on The New Yankee Workshop. The construction includes finger joints and a sliding dovetail for the rocker. Norm's choice of durable cherry is rendered particularly rich with a Danish oil finish. With its distinctive hood and graceful lines, this piece is destined to become an heirloom.

Adult viewers may be as excited about this doll house as the children it is intended for when Norm creates a true-to-scale replica of his now-famous workshop. Norm gets some ideas from a late-Victorian example located in the Barrett House in New Hampshire, but his final design is less gender-specific, with the familiar great room that is the home of The New Yankee Workshop as well as two stories of smaller rooms and a garage - all features never before seen on camera. With some custom accessorizing, this doll house can easily be rendered appropriate for boys or girls or both. The project involves extensive work with the table saw and router.

Norm builds a secretary writing desk out of pine. Viewers can learn how to craft breadboard corners for this English country favorite, the most elegant and elaborate project of the season, with its four drawers, pigeonholes and stepped interior.

Norm's version of the indispensable kitchen staple, the butcher block, features a hard endgrain maple top instead of the usual parallel grain. The base of this English country piece is sturdy poplar. Norm demonstrates how to cut the endgrain carefully, thus avoiding excess sanding of this tough wood.

After searching London's renowned King's Road, Norm uncovers this unusual piece. He then teaches viewers how to make a curved door from flat boards using a table saw and biscuit joinery for this bow-front hanging corner cupboard. The four-shelf piece, inspired by an 18th-century original, is built from hard sinker pine but has a plywood carcass to bolster stability.

This simple, versatile English country pantry table needn't be confined to the pantry: it can serve as a bedside table, writing desk and more. Norm uses a table saw to craft this piece and explains how to taper its legs and form the delicate bead detail around the drawer front. Norm adds a breadboard edge to this classic's top - for extra stability.

Americans are mad for coffee tables! Norm's version of this feature of modern life is inspired by the English country look (there's no such thing as an English country coffee table) and by the rugged appeal of an antique workbench. Norm instructs viewers how to use a v-groove to give the table's top a thick plank-like look.

This tall English country plant stand is perfect for a temperamental fern. The trick to this relatively-simple project is tapering its long thin legs. Norm demonstrates how to make a jig to do just that. This straight-grained sugar pine stand protects ferns, ivies or other delicate plants that resent touching.

Norm builds a dovecote modeled after an elaborate one found in Colonial Williamsburg. Smaller than the original, it measures 60" high x 54" wide x 42" deep.

Norm's umbrella stand is built from light Oak and features a mirror and clay pot holders to catch the water from umbrellas. He achieves the "burnt" effect by fuming the piece in an airtight chamber he fashioned for this purpose. The stand measures 80 1/2" high x 35" wide x 11 1/8" deep.

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.

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.

Norm uses recycled pallet wood to build a unique and rustic coffee table. He demonstrates how to prepare the slats by planing them. The table dimensions are 16 1/4" high x 19" wide x 40" long.

Norm fashions an outdoor lidded bench from Cypress. The bench measurements are 55 1/4" high x 36" wide x 18 1/4" deep.

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.

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.

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.

Norm builds a sandbox modeled after one built for his sister and him by their father. He uses Cedar and pressure-treated lumber to construct it and adds an awning made from weather-resistant cloth. The sandbox measures 55" high x 49 1/2" wide x 49 1/2" deep.

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.

Norm builds a basic sawhorse crafted Spruce and Plywood and a one-piece picnic table. The sawhorse dimensions are 26" high x 20 1/2" wide x 36" long and the picnic table dimensions are 29 3/4" high x 68" wide x 71" long.

Norm leaves his trademark plaid shirt and jeans at home and dons a stylish suit and derby when he visits London for a look at an authentic English garden bench. Norm constructs his version from teak. The bench is assembled entirely with mortise and tenon joinery and pegs to ensure its strength and durability. Norm shows how to shape the bench's many curved pieces on the band saw, demonstrates how to create tenons with a tenoning jig mounted on the table saw, and reveals a trick for cutting angled mortises on the drill press.

In a change of pace, Norm shows how to build picture and mirror frames, emphasizing tools and clamps designed specifically for this purpose. Norm uses a mitre box and a table saw outfitted with a jig to cut frames and demonstrates a variety of techniques to fasten corners.

Norm constructs a kitchen table that functions equally well as a dining table or a worktable. Built of pine, the table features tapered legs and storage drawers, with a center rail joining the pairs of legs. Norm employs a specially made tapering jig to fashion the legs and uses mortise-and-tenon joints to put the table together.

Norm visits the Shelbourne Museum in Burlington, Vermont to examine an antique pencil-post bed with a rope support system and a hay-filled mattress. Norm then adapts this design to accommodate a standard full-size mattress and box spring, and builds his pencil-post bed of poplar featuring mortise and tenon joints in the construction. The bedposts are tapered on the two inner sides, then beveled on all four corners to produce eight-sided, asymmetrically tapered posts.

After a look at an early 18th-century kitchen cupboard at Old Sturbridge Village, a "living history" museum in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, Norm constructs his own version from pine featuring open shelves above a base cabinet whose door sports an antique-style hinge. He shows a pattern to draw the curved outline of the side pieces, then uses a hand-held saber saw to make the cut, saving the cut-out portions to make shelves. Using a molding head cutter on his table saw, Norm demonstrates how to add a decorative bead to the shelves.

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

Norm builds a writing desk with a slanted top that is constructed mostly of maple. The desk features a shallow drawer, a nest of small drawers, and a open bins in the top. The dimensions are 42" high x 36" wide x 20" deep. Made mostly of maple, this desk is one of the more complicated projects ever tackled by Norm.

Norm travels to the Hancock Shaker Village in western Massachusetts to gather ideas for his own design for a candle stand. Returning to his workshop, Norm shows home woodworkers how to build an exact replica using power tools, including a lathe, router and band saw.

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.

Norm demonstrates how to build a bathroom vanity with dovetailed joints. He uses oak and a laminate top with double doors and a flat panel outside and raised panel inside mimicking the Shaker style. The vanity dimensions are 34" high x 38" wide x 23" deep. Inspired by a dry sink he found at a 1790 Shaker house in Harvard, Norm's oak unit features dovetailed joints and a high-pressure laminate top.

Norm travels to the island of Nantucket off the Massachusetts coast to look at a handmade blanket chest in a sea captain's house dating from 1790. Incorporating elements of this antique in his own design, Norm builds a blanket chest of pine, lined with aromatic cedar panels.

A good workshop begins with a well-equipped workbench, and master woodworker Norm uses one from his own shop as a model for the conveniently-sized and affordable workbench he builds in this episode. After a look at a workbench used 100 years ago by the craftsmen at Hancock Shaker Village in western Massachusetts, Norm builds a workbench featuring an oak-edged hardwood top, a bench vice, a recessed tool storage area on top and a shelf beneath.