Fine Woodworking back issue offer - worth $149?

[scott vroom]

I just received an email offer from Fine Woodworking to purchase all 208 back issues of their magazine, dating back to 1975, for $149 on DVD. Has anyone purhased this? Is it worth it? How helpful is their search feature? I'm fairly new to woodworking and was thinking there might be lots of useful info/articles.

[Scott Hildenbrand]

What is that, like 408 issues? That breaks down to 37 cents per issue.

I don't doubt there would be tons of stuff in there to read up on. Some of which could be easily adapted to modern methods. Plans, articles, etc etc..

Should email them and see if they'll send you a old sample issue off the set so you can check the quality.. ;)

[Russ Kay]

It's a DVD, not the paper issues. I bought the set when it was first offered, about four years ago. I've looked into it maybe twice. I was not impressed with the search function, but they may have improved it since.

[Josh Reet]

It's a DVD, not the paper issues. I bought the set when it was first offered, about four years ago. I've looked into it maybe twice. I was not impressed with the search function, but they may have improved it since.

The search and index functions of these things are always the main problems with this stuff. Unless you are the kind of guy who likes to read issue by issue on the computer, you are more likely to use it as a reference set. And if you are using it that way, a good search or index is essential.

I keep thinking about buying the Wood magazine set but keep coming back to the same problem, would I be able to make use of it? I really wish I had a buddy close by who wanted to split the cost of the Wood set as it's not likely to be the kind of thing one would need every day.

[Scott Hildenbrand]

It's a DVD, not the paper issues.

Exactly.. But chances are each individual issue is simply a PDF file.. One reason why searching through all that is so difficult.

Also, I was wrong.. It's only 200 and some issues.. Forgot it was a six month run and not twelve issues.

[Jerome Hanby]

I have it and I use google to look for information on whatever subject and when i see a reference to an FWW issue, bang I have it.

Not sure if FWW has anything like Shopnotes or Woodsmith online, but for those two I wrote a perl script to grab all the tables of contents and turn them into web pages on my PC with links to the issues that I have scanned.

[Scott Hildenbrand]

Google Desktop, I'm assuming? That would be fine, so long as the PDF's they supply are not image based PDFs and actually have a textual format..

But then, that all depends on what's actually on the DVD.

[Jerome Hanby]

No, actually google. Just something like "fww workbench". One of the links mentions the new-fangled workbench from 1999 and I zero in from there.

Works better for Shopnotes and Woodsmith since their TOCs are on the www.

Google Desktop, I'm assuming? That would be fine, so long as the PDF's they supply are not image based PDFs and actually have a textual format..

But then, that all depends on what's actually on the DVD.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

I personally love the old paper issues, but just can't get into pdf mags. Those old FWW issues have some great info! I guess I like to browse to get ideas and I think thats easier with the non linear potential of an actual magazine.

[Jerome Hanby]

Good point. I'm not dragging a computer into the "reading room". But i like them on the PC for reference material

[Jeff Monson]

Scott, I have that dvd, it was a recent release that I'm aware of, it has a really good search function and overall layout, I like it alot, but with any magazine its alot of regurgitated information. I throw in it my laptop and sit in front of the tube and page through alot of issues. Takes up a lot less space also.

[Andrew Schlosser]

The wife likes not having paper magazines laying around, but I really enjoy the paper mags much more than the digital edition. I actually read the old ads, some of the ancient reviews; the digital copy, I just click through until I see something that catches my attention. I enjoy seeping in the old copy.

[J. Greg Jones]

If you are already a FWW subscriber, you can add a FWW online subscription for another $15. That gives you access to all the FWW content online in downloadable PDFs. I don't know if the online articles date all the way back to 1975, and searching can take some time to find what you are looking for, but it's a pretty good resource. I find it a much better deal than paying $150 for a DVD that won't have any new content added.

[Rob Fisher]

I will second the online subscription. I have it and I love it. I do believe that it covers all of the articles back to the beginning as well I do not find it hard to search for what I am looking for. :D

Rob

[Danny Thompson]

Get the online subscription for $30-$40/year (or less if you also have a print subscription), which includes access to every old article I have ever looked for. The search function there works very well. You get access to the new issues. And you get access to the online-only content.

[Dan Karachio]

+1 on the online subscription, but unlike ther magazine neither the online version or the DVD solve the issue of providing quality bathroom reading material.

[Michael Schapansky]

That's what I use my Tablet PC for!

[Mike Heidrick]

I have most of a full paper subscription of FWW and I believe all but three of a FHB subscription. What are they worth? Anyone interested in four 70lb boxes worth of mags?

[Jerome Hanby]

Hang on to them for a few years. Once the memory starts slipping, you'll have all new reading material :D.


Get the online subscription for $30-$40/year (or less if you also have a print subscription), which includes access to every old article I have ever looked for. The search function there works very well. You get access to the new issues. And you get access to the online-only content.

[Pat Germain]

Last Spring I helped a friend clean out a garage for a widow he knew. Her husband had done some woodworking. I bought some things from the widow which included boxes of woodworking magazines. I was pleased to find FWW issues going back to the late 1970's. They are even properly sorted and stored inside the FWW boxes for each year of issues.

Now I just need to build some bookshelves to store all the magazines. :rolleyes:

[John Townsend]

I have used a friend's earlier release of this DVD (thru #201) a while back and the search function was so lame. Also I could see that the DVD only had selected articles and not each and every issue complete. It is my understanding that the new release has every issue through #208, 99.5% of the content including the back and front covers, adverts, minutiae, etc. with a decent search function...you can "thumb" through issues the same way you can the hard copies. However I going to wait until I can get the facts on this before I spend $150.00 on it, given my experience with the old one.

On the other hand if this proves to be true about the new one, that's one heck of a lot of woodworking knowledge packed into a very small package. Nice!

I already have the complete ShopNotes (thru end of 2009) and Woodsmith (thru end of 2009) DVDs and I love them. With these, you can "thumb" through every doggone page of them! Front and back covers, everything! And while some don't like sitting at the computer and reading the PDF versions, I don't want to store five hundred of the original magazines if you count every ShopNotes, Woodsmith and FWW. That's like nine or ten boxes weighing 60-70 lbs. apiece! Believe me, I had all of the ShopNotes and a great many Woodsmith and FWW...but I sold a ton of them, because they weighed a ton!