I've narrowed it down to one of these two magazines. Your choice?

[Jim O'Dell]

If you have a preference for one of the above over the other, please vote and let me know why. I really consider myself a beginning + woodworker. So Fine Woodworking is a little beyond me right now, and stand alone furniture in general is not really where my interests reside. I like ShopNotes, but it's too much about jigs to me.
As a side note, let me know if you purchase magazines from the publisher direct, or if you use a discount house (and which one) on the internet to save a couple dollars, and even if they have worked well for you, or cost you time and money because they don't deliver. TIA!!! Jim.

[Van Huskey]

For me I would have a hard time between the two and thus didn't vote. The two mags I wouldn't do without are the two you didn't want. I think FWW is the best (not perfect) but it is the one I learn from and it inspires me. Shop Notes is maybe my favorite it has saved me more TIME than any other magazine.

Since we are talking magazines I think the FWW DVD with all the magazines on one DVD is an EXCELLENT resource and although pricey at $150 but I use mine all the time and my wife loves it... no magazine clutter!

[Cary Falk]

I personally like Woodsmith better. I think it is a little more advanced than Wood.

[Stuart Gardner]

I've never even seen Woodsmith. But I've gotten Wood Magazine for many years now and still have almost every issue. I also get This Old House and Fine Woodworking. It's not as snobby or advanced as you might think from the name. I also used to get Popular Woodworking and American Woodworker but I've let those lapse. Way too many piles laying around.

So - I'd recommend Wood or Woodsmith and Fine Woodworking.

[Steve Schoene]

My impression is that Woodsmith by and large has more attractive projects. Wood offers a lot of pretty tacky little projects that I wouldn't have in my house. But I never make projects from magazines. Mostly they have been too dumbed down.

[Justin Bukoski]

If you have a preference for one of the above over the other, please vote and let me know why. I really consider myself a beginning + woodworker. So Fine Woodworking is a little beyond me right now, and stand alone furniture in general is not really where my interests reside. I like ShopNotes, but it's too much about jigs to me.
As a side note, let me know if you purchase magazines from the publisher direct, or if you use a discount house (and which one) on the internet to save a couple dollars, and even if they have worked well for you, or cost you time and money because they don't deliver. TIA!!! Jim.

Jim, I doubt Fine Woodworking is beyond your level - its my favorite magazine. My second fav is Woodsmith.

[Dave Lehnert]

For beginning woodworking I would go with WOOD. It is a magazine that seems to hit most subjects in woodworking as well as tool reviews.

[Steven Green]

I subscribe to Woodsmith and I'm subscribed to FWW online Jim. They both are very good. I also buy Popular Woodworking from time to time. For what it's worth I like FWW online the best because of all the archived info.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I'm subscribed to Wood.
Last year my grandson had some magazine subscription thingie going on and Wood was the only one offered that I had an interest in.
It's ok I guess.
It does have a lot of little projects that I can't ever see myself making...
However..
I do gain something out of the techniques used to create those little projects, so, I guess there's some value there.


Wood offers a lot of pretty tacky little projects that I wouldn't have in my house
LOL!
Unlike Shop Notes - which offers a lot of pretty tacky little projects which I would have in my shop!

Shop Notes rocks.

[Will Overton]

Jim,
It depends what you are looking for. WoodSmith is pretty much all about projects. A great feature is that if they use a particular joint or technique, they usually have a separate 'how to' article on how too accomplish it. There is no advertising and is conveniently designed to store in a binder. Without all the ads, they don't take up so much room.

Wood has a wider range of projects, some real simple and some a little more complex. What I used to like about Wood was learning what new tools and accessories were about to hit the market. They still put a lot of ink to paper on those subjects, but with the internet, it's usually old news by the time they publish. As for tool reviews, I don't know if they are biased by advertising or not, but my experience with tools they review is often very different than what they write.

If I had to pick one, and was primarily looking to learn woodworking, it would be WoodSmith. But, I do read both.

From Wood

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd75/Bill_de/JewelBoxes.jpg


From Woodsmith

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd75/Bill_de/Step-Stool.jpg

[Curt Harms]

Of the magazines i get, I like Popular Woodworking the best and you can find some pretty attractive deals on subscriptions. Wood magazine might hold more interest for beginners but I found it to grow stale rather quickly. Only thing with Pop Woodworking is they spend time & ink on hand tools. That may be to your liking or not. Of your two choices I'd go with Woodsmith.

[Al Weber]

Why not consider Popular Woodworking. Kind of a cross between FWW and Woodsmith. But of your two, I'd go with Woodsmith. It is a teaching journal.

[Tom Rash]

I actually get both of them, and FWW. I am a beginner too, but I prefer FWW out of all them even though much of it is beyond my skill level. Of the two you listed I can't really decide. I get alot of my magazines from the link below. This will search many of the low price magazine websites. I have listed it with FWW as I got a subscription for 18 dollars which is about 50% less than any other place I could find. They don't have woodsmith, but they do have a wood subscription for two years for $20 dollars.

Good luck with the decision.

http://www.magazinepricesearch.com/detail/finewoodworking.html?terms=fine%20woodworking

[Troy Turner]

I like Woodsmith. When I started out, I went with Wood cause it was the only one I could find. Then I picked up a copy of Woodsmith. I like it cause there's fewer advertisements and more woodworking. Most of the time, what they're selling is out of my price range anyway....Whether it's how to's or the actual projects, I like the way their plans are drawn up. But that's just me :)

[Paul Johnstone]

I subscribe to Wood, although I like Woodsmith too.

Wood is trying something new, starting this month. They are trying to get readers to submit their ideas to publish. Like this month, they had a bread tray with bowls on it.. Now I probably won't make that project, but it's nice that they are making an effort to freshen things up a little bit.

Just about every month, Wood will have a "basic tool" project, which is kind of designed for the guy with only a circular saw, router, and a few clamps.. I don't particularly like those articles, but it's good for very beginners.

[Prashun Patel]

I get WOOD (oops did I say that?!).

I like that they make their issues available online weeks b4 they hit the stands (November is already out).

However, some issues are disappointing. I like the variety of skill levels.

I tend to tire of any magazine after 2-3 years. Just my nature.

[Kevin Gregoire]

i chose Wood magazine because it has a lot more articles and pictures along with plans.
where Woodsmith has only plans, but they are more detailed.

[Jeff Gunter]

I think I had a gift subscription to Wood about a decade ago. I never found any content worth reading, and I don't think I ever found any of their projects interesting enough to build. For example: if Wood ran an article on making Adirondack chairs with lots of screws and butt joints it inspired me to go online and look for Adirondack chair plans that I would be interested in building with better joinery.

Currently I don't have any subscriptions -- were I to subscribe I would probably go with Woodsmith and get a back catalog CD of FWW. I've subscribed to both in the past. Woodsmith is practical though generally not inspiring; old FWW was inspiring but often not practical. New FWW is, IMO, been dumbed down to much in order to appeal to a larger audience. I would summarize old FWW as "thinking about furniture as art and craft" instead of "here's a shop plan, here's a tool review, ..." Personally, I don't really get the point of articles on shops -- do your own work, figure out how to optimize your space to meet your needs for the way you work! The high point of modern FWW is generally the one or two page blurb on finishing. I guess it depends on where you are on the learning curve -- are you looking for recipes to follow or are you looking for influences on your own designs?

Another point: even if your skills are not at the level of high end furniture, it doesn't mean you can't learn something from the articles about making it.

[Rod Sheridan]

FWW is the last publication I subscribe to, although as others have said they've "Dumbed it down" somewhat in the last few years.

I find FWW more inspiring than the other publications, higher end work, something for me to strive towards, as opposed to more articles on building shop stuff, construction etc.

Regards, Rod.

[David Helm]

I get FWW and have for many years. Periodically I pick up Shopnotes and Woodsmith. I also get Finehomebuilding, Journal of Light Construction and Deckbuilder.

This is my magazine shelf in my office158970

My favorite magazine was a quarterly that I haven't seen in a while. Here it is.158971

[Ben Franz]

I used to get Woodsmith but let it lapse - no issues with the quality - I just wasn't doing much at the time and pared down subscriptions. I always thought the projects were interesting and challenging. I started Wood when they offered 3 years for 1 as a trial. I'm almost 2 years in and they have been bombarding me with renewal requests already. All magazines seem to do this but I find it irritating anyway. I don't plan to renew Wood - the content is a little "gee-whiz" for my taste and I've not found it to be very interesting. My $0.02 - YMMV.

[Jerome Hanby]

If I could only get one of the two, it would be Woodsmith. But what I have actually done is add Shopnotes to the list and get all three. Each of the three will sometimes go several issues with nothing of more than passing interest to me, but each always hits home at least a few times a year and sometimes later on some past issue will become relevant to me. I'm not a big FWW fan, but having the DVD and the yearly updates (one of which I won here, thanks SMC) is sure handy. I'm saving my nickles towards buying the Wood magazine archive too.

[Myk Rian]

Too many ads in Wood.
I've been with them for many years but recently decided to stop.
When a magazine starts charging $5 for a simple .pdf plan to download, that's too much.

[Jim Rimmer]

I didn't vote because i don't take either one. I watch the Woodsmith show on PBS and check their website regularly and as a result, of the two I would go with Woodsmith.

As for FWW, I got a gift subscription and enjoyed it but $36 for 6 issues seems a little steep to me. I still get emails from them with some free stuff which is helpful but I get a little peeved that they lead you for a little ways and then if you want to know more, you have to ante up. Either give it away or don't tease me with it. JMHO

[Prashun Patel]

The thing I like about FWW is that if you get the online subscrip, you have access (albeit online) to the issue from the website

[Don Bullock]

Hi Jim,
I've cancelled my subscriptions to both. My project list is already so long I'll never get to the end of it. I've been so busy with home improvement/home fix it projects my shop is still in total disarray and I'm hoping to actually start getting it organized some time in the next three months. Once everything is finally organized I can get back to woodworking.

[Greg Urwiller]

I've got boxes of magazines in the basement and several notebook binders with Shopnotes/Woodsmith in them. I don't now, but have had subscriptions to all in the past. It's just that some issues I'll spend a couple hrs looking at and reading, but in others I'll finish in 20 min. All the mags have very good/helpful tips or hints, but some issues have absolutely nothing I'm interested in otherwise. So instead of buying a subscription, I have to admit to going to the bookstore every week and looking through the mags to see if anything interests me. Even tho a subscription is cheaper in the long run, I'd still rather buy something that has some useful (to me!) information in it. I'd rather not pay for a complete subscription if I only find something useful in 1/4-1/3 of the mags. Greg

[Bud Millis]

Of the two listed, I choose Woodsmith. Years ago I got a sub to Wood. That seems to be for the wanna bees, harry homeowner, etc. I also had a script to Woodsmith about the same time. I though Woodsmith was more geared to a woodworker.

With that said, my two picks are Pop Wood and FWW. FWW comes and goes with me every now and then - sometimes they have articles that are less than favorable to me.

[Cody Colston]

I subscribe to WOOD primarily because that's the one I liked most as a beginning woodworker. The projects in it are pretty basic but they are usually good ones.

I also subscribe to FWW, both the magazine and online. I don't think that FWW has "dumbed down" their content but they have broadened it to include some more basic projects in addition to very fine ones. The reader's gallery by itself is worth the cost of the subscription to me.

The online subscription is, IMHO, the most valuable source of woodworking information that I know of...including this site. I can do a search of just about any topic and find an article or a "how to" about it, with the accompanying pictures and details.

I don't spend much time on KNOTS forum because, like any forum, there are opinions and misinformation mixed in with the facts. For example, there are replies to this thread from people that always seem to know all the answers but never post a picture of their work to support their "knowledge." That bothers me and I tend not to trust advice from those who "know" but never (apparently) "do".

[Myk Rian]

The thing I like about FWW is that if you get the online subscrip, you have access (albeit online) to the issue from the website
Wood just started that also. I still don't like the rag though.

[Jim O'Dell]

I thought getting a copy of each would make it easier....it didn't. Got a free copy of Wood in the mail a couple days ago from the routerbits dot com offer, and didn't think it had as much useful information as a previous copy I had purchased. Got a copy of Woodsmith today, and it's good, but not markedly better than Wood. I did notice that I can get Wood for under 21 dollars for 2 years from a discount online spot that I have used before. I might go with it for now, and get the Woodsmith at Christmas time, so I have them staggered slightly, or maybe the otherway around.:o
Thanks for the info.
Myk, one more question, does the online version of Wood give you access to older issues? Is it something that comes automatically with the paper version, or something you subscribe to separately? Jim.

[Ted Wong]

I use to work at August Home Publications (Woodsmith, Shopnotes) so this is a biased response.
The magazines are great and have no advertiser influence because there is no ad content. But that is not the only reason I think they are great publications.
The material in the magazines are truly quality content everything from the projects, photography, illustrations and editorial are designed and executed to make woodworking a pleasurable experience for the reader. In fact their publications have one numerous journal awards for their design and clarity of content.
While I personally feel the projects are kept to an intermediate level for broad market appeal the tips and techniques employed in the construction of those projects have far reaching potential for more advanced skill levels.
And for the money it is one of the best values out there in the woodworking publications.

[mike talbot]

I've subscribed to wood for years, Recently, I've started to read fine wood working. I was going to let my wood subscription run out but, I received the latest wood mag yesterday and found some stuff that was interesting. I think I'll keep them both for a while.

[Dick Brown]

I have one more issue of Wood coming and it had better be a hummdinger or that is it for them. Any mag with a cover price of $6.99 should have a lot more than a bunch of tweaky stuff as far as I'm concerned. Find reading the ads to see what new is offered takes longer than the articles.
Dick

[Keith Albertson]

Jim,

I'm a mediocre woodworker who has been getting both mags for years. I used to get FWW, American Woodworker, Wood, Woodsmith, Popular Woodworking, Woodworker's Journal, and just about everything else with "wood" in the titile. I loved looking through them all. But after a while I noticed they started to mimic each other. One mag would run a plan for a garden bench, and two months later two other mags would have garden bench plans. So I've cut way back.

If I was just starting out, I'd invest in a CD version of the FWW back issues. I'd buy one now, except I've got 95% of the issues cluttering up my basement. I know it's expensive, but for learning I don't think it can be beat.

I like Wood. I think it has a good mix of easy and more challenging projects, and is a great way to get ideas for Christmas presents and the like. I wouldn't discount the ads, sometimes they are invaluable to find materials and supplies.

My favorite is American Woodworker. Good projects, not too challenging for my limited skill set, and helpful tool reviews.

I'm lucky. As a physician I can get mags at "professional rates." I put them in my waiting room for a few days, then take them home. That's the only way I can afford more than one mag!!

[Larry Nall]

File this in your 'for what it's worth' category.

I subscribe to most of the WW magazines, WOOD, Fine WW, Popular, American, WWJournal, I often pick up Shopnotes and Woodsmith off the shelf at the building supply store.

For the Past year a small mountain has been growing by my bedside. SWMBO just put her foot down and said " clean this $%!# up", so today I've been sorting and putting them in the appropriate file box.

Over the past year as I read, I've been tearing out those annoying business reply postcards and using them as bookmarks for articles on some technique, tool review, jig, shop furniture or project I think I might want to come back to in the near future. I've just finished up the new shop so I'm probably biased toward the jigs and shop furniture.

So, to get to the point, I counted up the numbers of page markers and came up with the following:

Wood 1
FWW 2
PopWW 0
WW J 0
AmWW 1
SN 3
SSm 0

I can't say that this is definitive, but interestingly I had far more page markers in the special issues, Best Workshops, Tools & Shops, Jigs & Tips ...

So if anything, maybe the moral is don't subscribe to anything, just buy the special issues of interest when you see them on the news stand.

[Jeff Mackay]

David, I believe the reason you haven't seen Woodwork magazine is that it was acquired by Popular Woodworking. They "combined" the two magazines. When they did that, I decided to subscribe to Popular Woodworking. It feels more "woodworking as art and craft" than even the old Fine Woodworking did.

[Bryan Morgan]

Just get them both. What are they, like 10 bucks a year now? Most magazines are dirt cheap these days having to compete with the internet. ;)

[Anthony Whitesell]

I originally subscribed to Wood then added Woodsmith and ShopNotes. I have dropped Woodsmith as it is too similar to ShopNotes, lots of jigs and how-to's that overlap between the two magazines. I find that Wood has a wide variety of projects from month to month. Sometimes they are all about the shop, sometimes outside, and other times indoor funiture, or kids stuff. Their reviews seem pretty worth while as well. I just wish they did them on a regular basis and redid some of the older ones as the models, features, and construction may have changed since the last review.