Best Woodworking Magazine?

[Derek Arita]

I quit all the woodworking magazines a few years ago, but now that I'm back to making sawdust, I'm looking for the best magazine to subscribe to. I like good plans, tool reviews, etc. as I recall, Fine Woodworking was a really nice magazine, but most of the time, it was more lofty than my own skills. I also don't want a magazine that is merely an ad front for a retailer, if you know what I mean.
What is your favorite, all around woodworking magazine?

[Roy Harding]

"Best" is subjective, to say the least. It all depends upon what you're looking for.

I used to subscribe to many magazines, but a few years ago, I cut back to just two:

Shop Notes; and
Woodsmith.

They are both put out by the same people (August Home Publishing). Both publish six issues a year.

Shop Notes is geared more towards shop jigs and methods of work, and Woodsmith is geared more toward finished projects. Although I no longer make a lot of what is featured in these particular magazines, I find that both of them give me enough ideas and new perspectives that they are worth my while. As far as the ads go, neither of these mags carry any advertising - so although I have no idea what is going on behind the scenes, they at least APPEAR to be unbiased.

I dropped all my other subscriptions (including FWW) because I just couldn't justify the expense, compared to what I got out of them. If there is a good article or project, I occasionally buy single issues of those others - but that is fairly rare now. It's also worth noting that there are MANY online sites which include much of the magazine content (FWW comes to mind immediately).

As I said earlier - it all depends upon what you are looking for in a magazine. If there were only one "best", that's the one everybody would subscribe to, and the rest would be out of business.

[dennis thompson]

I have subscribed to many, I now just get Woodsmith and Wood. Woodsmith is my favorite, I have made many projects from their plans.

[Jerry Thompson]

I get about all of them. I am going to let all subscriptions expire except Wood Smith. I have enough old mags. in trunks that looking at them again will spark a project and provide almost new reading.

[Frederick Skelly]

I subscribe to Wood, but I pickup a copy of FWW when I see one on the rack. Definitely more lofty than me too, but gives me something to aspire to. Been thinking about getting Woodsmith too.
Fred

[Mac McQuinn]

When it was all said and done, the old 'Popular Woodworking" was my magazine of choice. That said, I feel most of the current selections are getting a little stale and there's plenty of room for a new option. Perhaps something dialed in for the real woodworking hobbyist out in the garage who's more interested in safety, basic & intermediate skills and using, maintaining and improving hand tools and affordable power tools.
Mac

[Stephen Cherry]

fine woodworking, in the 90's and earlier.

[Joe Shinall]

Wood, Woodsmith, and Shopnotes are my fav. I'm not a big fan of FWW or Popular Woodworking. I subscribed to all of them about 2 years ago and once I had to renew just stuck with my first 3 listed.

[Peter Aeschliman]

Obviously it's all opinion.... Fine Woodworking is by far my favorite. The publication quality is fantastic, and the mix of hand tools and machinery keeps me interested. I learn something every time I read it, even if the projects are above my skill level.

Wood, Woodsmith, etc seem like the same thing over and over. Adirondack chair plans, nicknacks, and obscure shop tips.

I've never built a project usign somebody else's plans- I personally find that boring, although I certainly wouldn't argue with others who find it fun. I always skip the plans and instead like reading about techniques- things I can learn from.

Again, just a matter of opinion.

[Gordon Eyre]

I have subscribed to Woodsmith for many years and have built a number of projects from its pages. I like the fact that they do not have any advertisements.

[HANK METZ]

It’s no secret among the top publishers that they basically rerun their projects after about 5 years or so, with just a little updating. In the industry it’s called “revisiting”, in our world it’s called repeating, but if one is new to the craft then it’s all new stuff to them. If you can find someone who wants to sell back issue collections for cheap, that’s a good way to build up a library.



- Beachside Hank
Improvise, adapt, overcome; the essence of true craftsmanship.

[Rick Thom]

Some might prefer on-line to hard copy. I don't know if one is better or worse than the others as far as their 'deal' is concerned or how they present their content on-line.

[John Conklin]

Over the years I gotten just about all of them. I have all FWW going back to about #12 I think. Currently I receive FWW and Wood. Occasionally I pick up one of the others off the newsstand.

[Brian Tymchak]

I currently hold FWW and PWW as my favorites as they are doing some of the more advanced projects compared to the other mags. FWW also showcases some works from professionals and I enjoy seeing the "state of the art" so-to-speak. Even though I'm just a hobbyist wooodworker ( and lately not even time for that.. :() those kinds of projects have more interest for me than reading about building adirondack chairs for it seems like the 100th time. I also like ShopSmith because it is oriented at working in the shop and I get a good idea from there occasionally.

[bob cohen]

I've gotten them all the years. When I started out, Wood and Shopnotes were my favorites. They have doable projects for the beginner and lots of general tips. As my work as progressed, I find less value in them, although they and others of that ilk have good tool reviews from time to time. I currently only subscribe to FWW and PWW. I think they are both excellent and would not consider giving up either. PWW, especially, has really improved over the best several years.

[Len Henkel]

I second Roy Harding's well written response. Woodsmith publishes more plans that are of interest to me than the others. But I do subscribe to PWW because I am a fan of Glenn Huey and having visited their headquarters several times for open house and shows. Unfortunately FWW is waaaay over my head. I have built a few projects from Woodcraft's magazine.

[John Piwaron]

I sub to FWW, FHB & Popular Woodworking. I subbed to a Taunton pub called "Home Furniture" while they offered it, but that was ended long ago. Same with a publication named "Woodwork." That one had some pretty lofty articles in it. Beyond the stuff in FWW.

I started with Woodsmith. I haven't even looked at it for years. It's good, but in my opinion they were publishing stories and plans for a knickknack kinds of things. Not the sort of things I want to make. Otherwise it's a great publication to start with if one is starting out and needs to learn the basics.

[John Piwaron]

I see the phrase "way over my head" mentioned again.

How's this for "over your head?" http://www.jeffgreefwoodworking.com/pnc/vitrine/index.html

If not for the glass part of this project I might give something like this a shot. Just for the fun of it.

[Jerry Olexa]

Depends on your interests..I subscribed to them all in past and there is some repetition.. Currently I like PW, Woodsmith altho i get 3 or 4 others....

[Shawn Pixley]

I like FWW and Woodworker West. There was an english publication that I found which I might have subscribed. I loaned the issues out and it never came back.

[Joe Cowan]

I get FWW, Woodsmith, Shopnotes, and Popular Woodworking. I have gotten more projects out of Popular Woodworking through the years than any the others.

[Chris Friesen]

Popular Woodworking. While it's not quite the magazine it once was (right after the merge with Woodworking), it's still pretty good. And the level of advertising is not obnoxious. I'm still sad they couldn't keep Woodworking magazine going...

[Ken Fitzgerald]

As the first responder stated...it's subjective. "Best" is a matter of personal opinion/preference.

I take FWW and Woodsmith.

[Mike Wilkins]

Very subjective subject. I have subscribed to many over the years, but stick with FWW, PWW, FHB, Woodshop News, and a couple of motorcycling mags. I love the English magazine called Furniture and Cabinetmaking, but it is hard to find at the booksellers. All these subscriptions get pricey after a while.

[Gus Dundon]

I think Fine wood working is the best.

[Ed Baggett]

As a novice, I like ShopNotes and Wood

[Alan Schaffter]

The payout for one published shop tip covers a year or more worth of subscriptions to all 6 - 7 major ww mags. As soon as I stop submitting them or they stop publishing them, I'll cut back to one or two.

[joseph dake]

I like wood, but I am a little bias as my high school shop teacher did and still does test tools for them. I had the chance to be pictured in one of the mags while in high school. I do feel like some of there plans are very easy and they maybe should do a few hard projects every year. They also seem to re run every two years or so. I pick up others mags as they trip my fancy, no particular brand or anything. Right now I am wanting to get into the intermediate to advanced plans and wood just doesn't do it for me.

[Myk Rian]

As the first responder stated...it's subjective. "Best" is a matter of personal opinion/preference.

Just like all the articles are, "Ultimate this". "Ultimate that ".
Getting pretty stupid lately. There are at least 12 "Ultimate table saw jigs" in the last couple years.

I've cut down to Popular Woodworking, and Shop Notes.

[Ole Anderson]

I have had a number of them over the years and have quite a stash of old copies, dropped all of them except for "Wood". I did recently buy an online subscription to Woodworker's Guild so I could view the premium videos. Also have George's first DVD, dug it out while in a campground with no internet or cable or over the air TV. Should have viewed it before I started my kitchen cabinets, although interesting and well done, it wouldn't have changed how I did my cabs. I have done 4 magazine projects. A router table, a shop cabinet, a wall shelf and an outfeed table.