July 17, 201114 yr  I keep getting offers to subscribe to many different woodworking magazines and I'd like to know which ones you get and why.The main one I have gotten for several years is "Wood ". This one has given me many ideas and projects to work on.I keep getting offers for others and i wonder If they're worth the $$ ?HARRYBULLDOG WOODWORKING.MONTANA
July 17, 201114 yr Harry, I have always been partial to Fine Woodworking and Popular Woodworking. Fine Woodworking has some great articles and kind of caters to the more experienced woodworkers, not to say they don't have some good beginning tutorials. They are made by Taunton Press and their layouts and photos are tops. I also like the larger physical size of the mag with the large images, I also love the project section in the rear submitted by readers.Popular Woodworking has that small hometown feel for me, it caters to a wider array of woodworkers, they feature schematic type drawings and they have a really nice down to earth group who write and blog for the magazine. This latest issue has a really good write up about hand tools and the way we tend to complicate hand tools as opposed to just simply enjoying them. I love their writing. Those are the two I have patronized for years. I used to get American Woodworker, and WOOD, but I always find myself gravitating back to Fine Woodworking and Popular Woodworking. Hope this helps you narrow it all down a little, or it might just confuse you even more!John MorrisThe Patriot Woodworker
July 17, 201114 yr I have subscribed to "Wood Magazine" for a number of years but have never actually made any of the projects in them. I have a few that I wouldn't mind making and have some of them in my "to do" file down the road, but for me they just never "scratched my itch" with something that was a "must make" project at that point and time. I have found their tool reviews to be well done and very useful and have based a number of my tool purchases on the reviews. I have also enjoyed some of the articles as well. I also have enjoyed a number of their "tips" and have implemented some of them in my work. I have always felt that "Wood Magazine" was the best all around wood working magazine geared much more towards the up and coming "Hobbiest" wood worker as opposed to some of the others that focus on more advanced wood workers to move them towards being more of a "Journeyman" to make fine furniture. Yes, I am painting with a rather broad brush, but just my personal take on the matter.I have never suscribed to another wood working magazine. In fact I haven't subscribed to another magazine since the early 1990's. Today I will regularly stop into my local Barnes & Noble Book Store and will browse through the magazine section looking at the various wood working magazines as well as home type magazines and will come across something that tickles my fancy and I will buy it. I tend to lean towards Arts & Crafts style magazines as that is the particular furniture style that I like."Arts & Crafts Home", and "American Bungalow" are 2 that I enjoy and get good ideas from. These are both quarterlys and I don't get each one, but I have a few of them in my magazine files. These are also very advertiser heavy with businesses that deal in materials and furnishings geared specifically to the A&C/Craftsman/Bungalow/Mission style which you won't easily find even in internet searches as they fill a niche market. I have not bought any of their items (except for once) but have used them to get ideas and designs.More than the magazines I find that the wood working forums that I frequent offer me much more than any magazine ever has and I have grown more from the interaction and shared stories about both successes and failures in the process of making projects then I have flipping through the pages of a magazie. Magazines are not printed to necessarily help people but to provide content that people will buy and advertisers will support. Magazines are a business first and foremost. You have folks at the magazines who are genuinely passionate about woodworking and desire to help others learn and grow in their hobby, but they are also there to collect a pay check so at the end of the day it is stil about the bottom line. As a consumer I want to get information that benefits me as opposed to putting money in someone else's pocket. If I find something worthwile to me, then I have no problem paying for it as the old saying goes "you get what you pay for".
July 17, 201114 yr It seems that it's an individual decision about which ones are best. The best are the ones that interest you and provide you with tips and ideas at or above your skill level.Presently, my only subscriptions are to Wood, Woodsmith and Shopnotes. But, if I see an interesting article while browsing the mags at a retail store, I'll pick it up. I was a charter subscriber to FWW and have every issue up till 2000, when I let it lapse. They still provide much inspiration and information. Someone gave me several years of WWer's Journals. I never really got into their style of woodworking. I'll often go to our little public library and wheedle them out of some of their old WW magazines. Â
July 17, 201114 yr I always liked Woodsmith Magazine because it didn't have a lot of advertising. Lately, I've noticed they are "sneaking in" more and more endorsements for specific manufacturers. I don't get, but sometimes read, Popular Woodworking. I have the same opinion as John, about the magazine.
July 17, 201114 yr A feller could bankrupt the budget on mags he he wanted to. I took Fine Woodworking for a number of years but also let it lapse because my son takes it. Currently , i am subscribing to Woodsmith, Woodcraft and Wood. Five years ago my favorite was Wood and my least favorite was Woodsmith. Now I like Woodsmith the best. I've yet to find errors in their plans. Ron DudelstonAbove and Beyond WoodWorks
July 18, 201114 yr I probably fall into the same category as the others here. I currently subscribe to FWW. Like the others I like the content in the magazine. I also like the detail of their projects. I have subscribed for a while to Wood and enjoy much of it. I have built a few items from the magazine and found it to be a good plan. I tried Woodworkes Journal and it was okay, but I didn't renew it. I like the projects in Woodsmith and I have built some projects from their magazine. Plans were very easy to follow and I didn't find any errors in the ones I built. I also like to just browse the magazine rack and see what is there. If I like something I pick it up. John MoodyJohn Moody Woodworkshttp://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com
July 20, 201114 yr HarryI subscribe to WOOD also and really love it.Woodworkers Journal is pretty good, nice article and thoughts for projects. It covers from beginner to experienced.Woodcraft Magazine has lots of great projects and ideas and tips.Popular Woodworking is all out a great magazine, I just subscribed to it but have been buying off the shelf for quite a while.I don't get Fine Woodworking, but I did buy their 2010 dvd of all back issues. The price was right and no extra paper laying around. Would recommend this this in a heart beat.Hope this helps. Wayne MahlerGod bless and protect our troops that serve so we can be free.
July 20, 201114 yr Author Thanks for all the in-put.I love to read so this helps.Right now I get Wood amd renewed Pop Woodworking.I keep working on things to improve my skills, but some of it is still way beyond my skills.I'll keep making my "yard art" as they are getting better but until this eye heals (cataract), it's hard to see what I'm doing.Thanks again and I'll keep looking on the magazine rack and see if something hits me as having to come home with me.HARRYBULLDOG WOODWORKING.MONTANA
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