So, don’t sign up.

You are so obviously vitriolic that this thing isn’t about woodworking at all, but a personal issue. Fine — why is what Shannon doing bothering you at all? You can just continue to create your pieces worth of the world-wide fame you so richly deserve, take only the very best on as apprentices, and someday your name will go down alongside the Phyfes and Maloofs and Stickleys (insert your favorite “Master” here.)

Shannon helps guys who are trying to relax from a tough day at work, not people who are aspiring to be like you, clearly the “I Chi” of woodworking. To that end, no one at all can fault him. I’ve known him for many years, and frankly, unlike you, I think he’s a great guy, an accomplished woodworker, and a clever businessman.

What I’ve had to say is only to make myself feel better about your disparaging a friend of mine. None of us who have responded to your post really needed to say a word, for there is no one in the world who would be dissuaded from signing up from Shannon’s school directly because of your arrogant recommendation not to.

I might point out as well that woodworking at any level ought not to be a religion. Sorry you feel that way.

James, I see sites like Shannon’s and Marc’s as entry points into woodworking. The internet makes woodworking accessible to people who might not have tried it otherwise. Strange result of technology isn’t it?
Compared to any community college, weekend workshops, or week long outings in wonderful craft focused schools, their services are a bargain. Yes, there is no comparison to having your instructor over your shoulder advising you. But, there is a need for this modern and novel type of education. In the US, with deteriorating public school systems, we have limited exposure to woodworking beyond a few TV shows. But like someone else mentioned above, TV shows are difficult to learn from. People can actually learn and practice their skills alongside Marc and Shannon.

To me, they are not being disingenuous by charging money to see their content. It enables them to produce more content thus further encouraging more people to enter our wonderful world of woodworking.

Having had lots of REAL APPRENTICES over the years, I can tell you all people do not learn things in exactly the same fashion. Having alternative answers to questions is nearly always a good thing. This way people can learn and reach their goals in the way that makes the most sense to them. I spent a lot of years teaching multiple methods of work to a variety of apprentices.

I guess if I was to follow my traditional training, I’d join right in and tell you two upstarts to pack your bags and get out of town now. The one thing I’ve discovered in the last few years of exposure to this end of the woodworking business (meaning not the furniture marketing and production end) is, as Marc says, it’s about being positive. No one would benefit from them leaving the market while many certainly benefit from their presence. Read the other comments here and you’ll discover that, if nothing else, they have inspired others to learn. To me, the story of the man and his 14yo tells it all.

BTW, thanks again for the nice review Larry. Sorry to hijack your sever bandwidth with all this banter.

As Tom mentioned above, no one has forced me or anyone to sign up. Now I’m speaking from personal experience here, since I am a HTS member and first off, I have to say that Shannon has impacted my woodworking knowledge and growth in the craft more than anyone. I’m a hobbyist woodworker. This isn’t what pays the bills, and I don’t have the time or money to take a class. If it weren’t for these online programs, I wouldn’t be involved in the craft today. I am without a doubt a better overall woodworker (not just Hand Tool user) because of the Hand Tool School. In fact because of it, I have to say that I’m much more enthusiastic about the craft. From what I understand, the craft is not experiencing the growth it once did and could even be in decline. If we pinned our hopes solely on all woodworkers learning from so called “masters”, how is the craft supposed to grow?

Because I have some personal knowledge on the subject, though in a different field entirely, I recognize that Shannon is a “teacher” vs. just an “instructor”. An instructor is someone who puts forth knowledge in a coherent manner, but doesn’t necessarily know or care if the person is understanding the information and can put it into practice. A “teacher” in the purest sense is someone who not only instructs, but ensures that their students have a true understanding of what they’re learning and goes above and beyond. If you were a member of the HTS you would know that Shannon falls into the “teacher” category. I couldn’t care less whether someone has dubbed him “master” or not. I, and I’m guessing many others, learn a great deal from him. At the end of the day, that’s all I care about. I’m a better woodworker, I’m continuing in the craft, and undoubtedly I will share what I’ve learned with future generations of woodworkers and perpetuate the future of this craft. What have you done for the craft that allows you to pontificate about Shannon and the Hand Tool School?