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The New Yankee Workshop

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The New Yankee Workshop is a woodworking program produced by WGBH Boston, which aired on PBS. Created in 1989 by Russell Morash, the program is hosted by Norm Abram, a regular fixture on Morash's This Old House. The series aired for 21 seasons before broadcasting its final episode on June 27, 2009.

Jan 7, 198921 seasons286 episodesEndedEN

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Norm Abram

Host

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Seasons

Season 1

13 episodes

Premiered Jan 7, 1989

Season 2

13 episodes

Premiered Jan 6, 1990

Season 3

13 episodes

Premiered Jan 5, 1991

Season 4

13 episodes

Premiered Jan 4, 1992

Season 5

13 episodes

Premiered Jan 2, 1993

Season 6

13 episodes

Premiered Jan 1, 1994

Season 7

13 episodes

Premiered Jan 7, 1995

Season 8

13 episodes

Premiered Jan 6, 1996

Season 9

13 episodes

Premiered Jan 4, 1997

Season 10

13 episodes

Premiered Jan 3, 1998

Season 11

13 episodes

Premiered Jan 2, 1999

Season 12

13 episodes

Premiered Jan 1, 2000

Season 13

13 episodes

Premiered Jan 6, 2001

Season 14

13 episodes

Premiered Jan 5, 2002

Season 15

13 episodes

Premiered Jan 4, 2003

Season 16

13 episodes

Premiered Jan 3, 2004

Season 17

13 episodes

Premiered Jan 1, 2005

Season 18

13 episodes

Premiered Jan 7, 2006

Season 19

13 episodes

Premiered Jan 6, 2007

Season 20

13 episodes

Premiered Jan 5, 2008

Season 21

26 episodes

Premiered Jan 3, 2009

Episodes

1–6 of 13

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Ep 1

Medicine Cabinet

Jan 7, 1989

30m

After a tour of The New Yankee Workshop to preview the collection of furniture he will build in the first season, Norm visits a "retiring room" at the Hancock Shaker Village in western Massachusetts to find a model for a handcrafted medicine cabinet. Drawing inspiration from a looking glass and cabinet, Norm uses durable red oak and oak plywood to construct a medicine chest of his own design featuring box-joint joinery

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Ep 2

Workbench

Jan 14, 1989

30m

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.

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Ep 3

Drop Leaf Table

Jan 21, 1989

30m

Norm uses ash, a durable hardwood, to fashion a drop-leaf table featuring turned legs, a top and leaves made from glued up stock. Norm shows how to turn the table legs on a duplicating lathe and reveals a few tricks for making mortise and tenons joints. Using a router and two special bits, he shows how the drop-leaf joint is made.

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Ep 4

Blanket Chest

Jan 28, 1989

30m

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.

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Ep 5

Bedside Table

Feb 4, 1989

30m

Norm constructs a bedside table inspired by one found at the Hancock Shaker Village in western Massachusetts. Norm's design, made from pine, features a shallow drawer, table legs tapered on the inner sides and a table top with a breadboard design (glued boards edged with wood on two ends).

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Ep 6

Oak Bathroom Vanity

Feb 11, 1989

30m

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.

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