Woodworking magazines

[Jon Endres]

I am dredging up an old topic that I did a search on, and cannot seem to find any discussions less than 3-5 years old. I think this is relevant again.

On hand are hundreds of woodworking and some other magazines, dating back probably 15-20 years. I am not sure what to do with them all, especially considering the proliferation of information on the internet. With all of the Youtube videos, blogs, discussion forums like this one, Google Images and other resources I probably haven't even seen yet, I begin to question whether it's worth hanging on to them. Except for FWW Tools and Shops special issues, and the very infrequent cover article that catches my eye, it's rare for me to re-read any of these. I would guess that an issue might have one article or tip that I may use at some point during my life, and it seems to have gotten to the point where there's nothing "new" other than tool reviews. I find myself more and more getting away from print and going to digital media for research and reading material.

So as of mid-2016 - what would you guys do? I have considered going through each and every issue and scanning pages that might be of interest to me some day, but the time required to do such a thing is enormous. Another idea I saw is to cut the bindings off each one (effectively destroying the magazine) and then using a color duplexing scanner to scan the entire magazine to PDF. I probably can't sell them for anything, and recycling seems to be the most likely candidate. I've considered craigslist or eBay but the shipping cost is usually a deterrent to the purchase, even media mail.

[Steve Beadle]

I have quite a sizable collection of WW magazines and articles, which has grown to the point where storage is a problem. Although I do enjoy pulling out an old magazine and re-reading it now and then, I mainly keep this library for all the project plans and woodworking tips, which I have cataloged by topic on my computer. That way I can search this database for whatever I'm looking for, then go to the physical file and retrieve the article. Although I personally place considerable value on this library, when I am dead and gone it will likely be go to the landfill. I am no longer adding to my collection, because most everything has already been written about woodworking, and not much that is new to me appears in current publications. I still peruse woodworking mags on the newsstand or in the bookstore, but it rarely leads to a purchase. I have decided NOT to subscribe to any WW magazines, both because I already have an extensive library and because I can usually find it on the Internet.

[Tom Hyde]

I just started going through so of my old ones and cutting out the articles I want as reference/ideas and putting them in clear plastic pages in a three ring binder. Most of the ones I keep are from FWW. It's basically my idea and reference book sitting on my desk. For me, that's easier than scanning and trying to find the article on my computer (assuming I can even remember having it). I flip through the binder (soon to be more than one) every once in a while, or when I use it for reference articles. I also print out photos of ideas I find on the Internet and throw them in my binder as well. I just like having a physical reference. Everything else is an Internet search. And I just cleared up a bunch of shelf space for more quality books.

[Peter Kuhlman]

I am in the same boat. Recently purchased FineWoodworking on DVD when on sale and tried to sell my FWW magazines on Craigslist but got no bites at all even with a giveaway price. Would like to replace my Woodsmith and Shop Notes magazines with DVDs also but they want $200 for the pair. Won't pay that. Guess I will cull through them and just keep issues or tear out parts with future value. Only magazine I still subscribe to is Woodsmith and will probably stop that at renewal time. My collection takes up too much space and weighs a "ton"!!!

[Brian Tymchak]

There have actually been a couple very recent threads on this topic, but I could only find this one (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?243245-Woodworking-is-not-dead-and-uses-for-old-WW-mags).

The other one I was thinking of was just in the last few weeks, and it had several responses. But darned if I can find it, etiher by visual or google search...


Edit: found the other post (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?243013-Old-magazines) - was right next to the first one... doh!

[Frederick Skelly]

Tough problem. I have both - 20 years of back issues of one mag I bought for $20. They take 2 full shelves. My general approach though is to buy the DVD collections. At Christmas, I bought the FWW DVD and the Woodwork DVD and read them on my tablet.

But.... I just subscribed to FWW in hardcopy, so go figure.
FS

[Ben Rivel]

Its a topic I have been researching for a bit myself. Personally I have no interest in hard copies as storing them safely is too much of a space waster and pain. So I will only consider magazines that offer digital (PDF) versions that I can save on my computer. That said IMO the best deal is the collections most sell on DVDs that give you sometimes decades of issues in one shot for one flat price. You can even pick these up used sometimes on eBay and forums for a very good deal.

[Keith Pitman]

I was running out of space and recently dumped all my American Woodworker magazines after cutting out the useful articles. Freed up 18-24" of welcome shelf space. I'm keeping my Fine Woodworking magazines (back to issue #1), but the DVD compilation is tempting. I'll face that after dumping some of the other lesser titles.

[Andrew Hughes]

What is this thing called Magazine.After 15 or 20 years the battery's are probably dead.:)

[mark mcfarlane]

FWIW, I bought a Fujitsu SnapScan scanner about 5 years ago and have been scanning and burning everything made of paper in my house, including photos. The scanner was around $500 but it can hold 50 sheets at a time, of various sizes. It scans both sides, and it can create searchable PDFs. Now I can find any bit of paperwork (that used to be stored in multiple file cabinets) in about 5 seconds. New receipts/important documents go in a pile and get scanned every few weeks.

There are much cheaper scanners, but if you decide to go paperless, this is a great one. The hardest part of scanning was taking out the staples.

[Lee Schierer]

A number of years ago I had a small collection of magazines for projects I might do in the future. One day I sat down and realized that I hadn't opened any of them in several years, so I took the whole pile to the recycle center. I found other uses for the space that they had occupied. I don't regret the decision.

[Jon Endres]

FWIW, I bought a Fujitsu SnapScan scanner about 5 years ago and have been scanning and burning everything made of paper in my house, including photos. The scanner was around $500 but it can hold 50 sheets at a time, of various sizes. It scans both sides, and it can create searchable PDFs. Now I can find any bit of paperwork (that used to be stored in multiple file cabinets) in about 5 seconds. New receipts/important documents go in a pile and get scanned every few weeks.

There are much cheaper scanners, but if you decide to go paperless, this is a great one. The hardest part of scanning was taking out the staples.

I think this ^^^^ is probably going to be my solution. I have a lot of other stuff I could use that scanner for.

[Ben Rivel]

FWIW, I bought a Fujitsu SnapScan scanner about 5 years ago and have been scanning and burning everything made of paper in my house, including photos. The scanner was around $500 but it can hold 50 sheets at a time, of various sizes. It scans both sides, and it can create searchable PDFs. Now I can find any bit of paperwork (that used to be stored in multiple file cabinets) in about 5 seconds. New receipts/important documents go in a pile and get scanned every few weeks.

There are much cheaper scanners, but if you decide to go paperless, this is a great one. The hardest part of scanning was taking out the staples.
Best personal/consumer scanners on the market. I've an S1500 for years and LOVED it!

[Val Kosmider]

Cut out the articles which you think you might use some day and file them accordingly.

I gave the rest to the guys who run the maintenance shop in a local community. Maybe they used some of the articles/tips, and maybe they became bathroom reading. Either way, they were happy. And I have had ZERO days where I regretted dumping everything, except for a few select articles, which was more than five years old.

The reason you see complete collections of magazines (like FWW) offered for nothing is that is just about what they are worth. There are more people looking to dump them all than there are people looking to buy...or even take them for free. You can Google just about any topic and see the relevant issues/articles.

[Roger Feeley]

We are downsizing and I got rid of all my hard copy magazines. My wife ordered me DVD archives for every WW magazine she could find on the condition that I toss the hard copies. It's much more convenient for me to search the electronic versions.

I love my wife. She even ordered me an archive for Fine HomeBuilding that I had never subscribed to. I am a lucky man.

I still subscribe to Fine WoodWorking but in a few years, I will replace the archive and purge the hard copies. I just like holding the magazine in my hands the first time around.

[mark mcfarlane]

One of the problems I have had with the DVD archives is the quality of the scans isn't always very good. For example, I have the 2010 edition of the FWW archive and the earlier years articles are poorly scanned, some of the advertisements are not even readable. Anyone else have this problem? Have the publishers rescanned the old magazines?

[James Gunning]

Mark,

I too have been disappointed with the quality of the scans of the FWW back issues. However, the printing quality will affect the scan outcome as well. I bought another DVD of a (non-WW) magazine dating back to the 1940's and the older issue scans are simply not good quality. One reason is they were letterpress printed and especially the halftones (photos) don't reproduce well. My impression is they gave the old issues to an intern and had them done on a flatbed scanner. It would be a tedious job, and I wish it had been done to a higher standard. Going forward we can likely expect better quality since the files are all digital and not scanned from old paper magazines.

[Wayne Jolly]

I too had shelves sagging badly under the weight of magazines. I have scanned them all into pdf files, and even went so far as to make individual pdfs of the plans that I might consider making some day. Then recycled all of the paper editions. I have found that the shelves don't sag at all under the weight of a thumb drive or two.

Wayne

[Robert Parent]

Last winter I scanned everything of interest into PDF files and dumped the paper. I have plans to move within the coming year and everything not absolutely worth saving is soon to be gone. Finding article in stacks of paper was almost impossible, that problem has been solved. Generally not a fan of reading articles on-line but most magazine articles are short so it has not been a big problem.

Robert

[johnny means]

You know what to do.:D

[ken carroll]

I have FWW from #1 to around #220, I prefer the hardcopies and will keep them. My AWW (also back to very early although not a complete set), Shopnotes, PRactical WW etc etc I think I will toss. The first 100 or so FWW are for sure keepers! From the 150s on it's pretty much disposable.

[Simon MacGowen]

I have FWW from #1 to around #220, I prefer the hardcopies and will keep them.

The first 100 or so FWW are for sure keepers! From the 150s on it's pretty much disposable.

I, too, have the complete collection, in print and in digital format. I enjoy reading the hardcopy more, but for searching, I prefer the digital version. I find most issues useful in one way or another, but of course, not every article or column is worth my time or interest. No woodworking magazine exists in the world that makes a reader happy with everything found in it.

Issues #150 and beyond are of equal value to me as all prior issues. I pulled out -- randomly -- #179 and found the article on Sam Maloof about Design. I recalled using the techniques of making clasps featured in that issue by Christian Becksvoort. And, the "cut matching curves" method on P. 69 is the one that I will be using in a table project soon. The point is that depending on what one builds or is interested in, most issues of FWW are of good value. It simply isn't true that older magazines are better; there may be duplication, but the (color) photographs, the details and the treatments can all be different and sometimes, better. The readers gallery is hugely better, in my opinion, in newer issues than the one found in the first 50 issues.

I have designed, built and showcased more projects than any typical, active amateur woodworker or subscriber and I must say, I would rather keep every issue of the FWW and throw away all my other collections of woodworking magazines which include Woodworker, American Woodworker and Popular Woodworking -- if space became an issue.

FWW (#1 to #255) gives me inspiration or contrast at the design stage, alternative methods of work to ponder, and awareness of what fine craftsmen come up with in their shops.

Simon

[Johanna Johanson]

I keep all the FWW. I am now going through all the others I have accumulated and tearing out articles to keep. I may eventually part with the FWW issues since I have the DVD loaded onto my computer.

[Dave Lehnert]

In the last year I dropped all my hard copy subscriptions and started subscribing to digital editions through my Amazon Kindle Fire. The new issue is delivered to my Kindle automatically. My back issues are all stored on the cloud if I need them in the future.
Yes, I do like the hard copy but like not having old magazines sitting around better.
I wish Woodworking Magazines would do what TIME Magazine does. With an active subscription all past issues are available to read on the Kindle. The other day I was able to pull up an issue I was interested in that was 18 years old. I think this alone would up their subscribers.

[Robby Tacheny]

Here is something to consider:

CD/DVD's are slowly on the way out. Many/most laptops don't come with them any more. Unless you copy them to a reputable cloud storage provider (dropbox, google docs, microsoft, amazon) you may find yourself without an easy way to access digital versions.

CD/DVD's are easily lost.

I would recommend you consider how easy it will be to access the older stuff in 10 years. Just make sure you come up with a method that is "future proof" with multiple methods to access or make backups.

Robby

[Josh Molaver]

On the scanning front, you could also consider a service - I've used Bound Book Scanning http://boundbookscanning.com/ successfully for scanning my car's service manuals and it's worked quite well. They periodically have sales/discounts. May be worth checking out.

[Curt Harms]

Here is something to consider:

CD/DVD's are slowly on the way out. Many/most laptops don't come with them any more. Unless you copy them to a reputable cloud storage provider (dropbox, google docs, microsoft, amazon) you may find yourself without an easy way to access digital versions.

CD/DVD's are easily lost.

I would recommend you consider how easy it will be to access the older stuff in 10 years. Just make sure you come up with a method that is "future proof" with multiple methods to access or make backups.

Robby

There are these things called USB optical drives :). Modern devices - phones, ultrabooks, tablets etc. make built-in optical drives impractical. It makes perfect sense to keep short term data on lighter faster shorter term storage - flash drives, hard drives - and longer term archives on longer term media. For long term archiving it's hard to beat M-Disc (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-DISC). Even factoring in marketing claims they should last at least a couple hundred years. Archival DVDs (http://www.mediasupply.com/mam-gold-dvd.html) (no association with the company) will probably last as long as we do. I have a couple Windows 2000 CDs - probably 15 years old - on store brand CD-R media. I was curious about longevity so installed on a spare hard drive. It read perfectly. As long as writeable optical media is stored properly i.e. not in a car, no extreme heat & humidity it seems fairly durable. From what I've read, flash storage and hard drives should be rewritten every 5-10 years to ensure data integrity. Even if optical drives were extinct, it apparently wouldn't be that hard to build a laser scanner to read optical drives as long as the particulars of the physical layout and encoding are documented - and they are.

I'm more concerned about file formats than I am about physical media. PDF/A (pdf archive)seems like the best bet today. Adobe is not the sole source for PDF readers and writers so that helps.

[Jon Endres]

Well, I got a Fujitsu ScanSnap iX500 today at work. Going to use it to scan the 15 file drawers full of crap I have in my office. If I like what I see, I'll most likely buy one for home use, or use the one at the office on breaks and after-hours. This will probably be the best way to deal with all the magazines.

To anyone who has a full digital archive of one of the woodworking magazines (the ones you can buy commercially) - how much space does it take up on the disk? I am trying to decide if I want an external hard drive for the storage, or if a smaller flash drive will be enough.

[mark mcfarlane]

...
To anyone who has a full digital archive of one of the woodworking magazines (the ones you can buy commercially) - how much space does it take up on the disk? I am trying to decide if I want an external hard drive for the storage, or if a smaller flash drive will be enough.

The content on the 2010 FWW archive is 3GB.