Get Ready for Roy!

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So…those of you who last week asked if we might have something up our collective sleeve? Well…I’ll admit it now. You were right. I’m delighted to announce that Popular Woodworking has negotiated an exclusive deal to bring back all the episodes from the first 28 seasons of “The Woodwright’s Shop.” We plan to bring out each season on a multi-disc DVD set and broadcast individual episodes on a special “Roy Underhill Channel” at ShopClass On Demand.

We’re starting off with the first three years and Season 20 of  “The Woodwright’s Shop” (Roy says Season 20 is among his favorites). Later in the year and into next year, we’ll be releasing more chunks of Roy (as it were) for your viewing pleasure and traditional hand-tool edification.

I don’t have much else to report at this point – but I can promise you that the DVD sets and the Roy ShopClass channel will be reasonably priced (the only gouges you’ll encounter are those Roy uses at his lathe).

So hang in there – vintage Roy is on the way. And below, please enjoy this short clip from the first episode of “The Woodwright’s Shop” – an amuse-bouche, if you will, for everything to come.


— Megan Fitzpatrick

About Megan Fitzpatrick

Megan is the editor of Popular Woodworking Magazine. She prefers using hand tools because they rarely make loud noises. Unless they fall off the bench.

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  2. Fifteeen years ago or so, I wrote UNC to ask about prices. They were selling the videos back then. I had to pass, and I’ve regretted it ever since. THANK you for bringing these back. It’s not often one can make amends for past regrets. I’ll gladly forego Father’s Day, birthday, anniversary, and Christmas gifts for the next two years if that’s what it takes to get copies of these old shows.

    Did I already say THANK you? Thank you.

  6. Are these videos going to be available to current ShopClass subscribers (been one since the beginning!) or is this new “channel” going to be an additional/separate fee? Just curious, it wasn’t really clear from the description. Perhaps that’s still to be decided.

  8. Whem I was growing up our TV only picked up about three channels, PBS being one of them. One Saturday when I was about 12 or so (around 1983) for something to watch and came across Roy hacking on something. I was entranced by what he was doing. Thinking about it this morning, that was a life changing moment for me. It led me to a craft I truely love. It will be great to be able to see the old shows again!

  10. You have made my day. Great work. Thank you so much for this. Preserving and making this TV series is such a valuable thing. BTW, I am glad that Roy has shortened the opening sequence by at least half, but he still seems rushed by the 1/2 hour time constraint.

  11. What a fabulous announcement. I can’t wait. Thought it looked like a great walk, I am glad he found a shorter way to work as he aged.

  13. You could not have started my day any better than by this announcement. The preservation of these episodes and the making of the availability to the public is not only furthering the appreciation of traditional woodworking, but an act of history preservation in and of itself. Thank you so much!

  16. Boy, Roy’s shop looks so big, so open, so organized, so uncluttered. I know the DVDs will not be cheap so I am going to get a second job and get ready to buy 30 years of knowledge. I want my grandchildren to understand why Grandpa is nuts about his tools and woodworking.

  19. Megan, that is fantastic! (Both Roy and the video preview) One thing really struck me. While Roy certainly does look young, and the cars certainly do look old, the tools and our craft look comfortingly familiar through time. I think that thread of continuity is something a lot of us are re-discovering thanks to Roy, Chris and many others. Very cool.

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