Another year of PWW December to Remember, another year of absolutely no information..

[William Chain]

I look forward to the December giveaways at PWW, and to the summer shop giveaway thing. It has usually been fun to jump in, see what the sponsors are giving away, and throw in your email address for a shot at it. I like free stuff, don't we all? However, this year and last year, it seems no one got verification of their entry, last year information trickled out weeks after the fact, and this year it seems there is absolutely zero information at all on who won what... It was the same over the summer. I like free stuff, and I am grateful that the sponsors keep doing this (though its getting thinner and thinner every cycle...) but my email gets sold off, I get spammed, and then we see nothing from PWW on who won what. Ok, I didn't win. Did anyone?

I'm kinda getting ready to let my PWW subscription lapse anyway. It's gone from very informative articles and nice plans to nearly all ads at this point, and now they've even started featuring instagrammers that (as I've ranted before) are just ad machines for free crap for their "shops".

I've spent money on books from some of their talented contributors, and that's great information and bang for the buck.

Are the sponsors killing the mags?

[Van Huskey]

Are the sponsors killing the mags?

You are currently staring at what killed the magazines.

[Frederick Skelly]

You are currently staring at what killed the magazines.

Yup. And it's happening across the board. Many magazines and newspapers are a shadow of their former selves.

[glenn bradley]

I read books on Kindle but, am of an era where sitting in a chair and holding a good book while reading is enjoyable. I do not have the same affinity for magazines. Magazines are informational and reference based in my world. Online publications allow powerful search and indexing tools that speed my use of this type of media. It may, of course, just be the magazines I choose to read. Some others may have articles that are so well written I would return again and again to enjoy the prose. In the area of woodworking I have found this to be the case rarely enough that a quick return to the article on the computer works better for me.

[Bill Dufour]

Pww? ???????????????

[Matt Day]

Popular Wood Working.

[John Goodin]

My subscriptions have expired. I can get better info here than any woodworking magazine on any topic by asking a question and the amount of info that comes across this board in a day could fill a magazine.

[chase standifer]

The through dovetails article on their website this morning in conjunction with the last two print issues are enough to make me let my upcoming renewal lapse. The dovetail article recommends cutting 1/32" short of your scribe lines and then paring to the line. Does the author really believe someone learning this skill is going to be able to pare a square shoulder/pin/tail or that shortcuts/tricks like this are more appropriate than proper technique? Perhaps a reputable publication should provide instructions on learning correct techniques such on how to saw to a line etc. Their much touted "redesign" is really nothing but a loss in quality brought on by the exodus of talented woodworkers that also happened to be journalists. I'm only speculating but I would say their parent publication started pushing them away from "anachronistic" hand tools, to something more "accessible" so now we get spoon fed articles more appropriate for a middle school shop class.

[William Chain]

Sadly, their featured piece of furniture in the latest issue has one of the instagram/youtube sponsor sellouts at the helm. Great.


The through dovetails article on their website this morning in conjunction with the last two print issues are enough to make me let my upcoming renewal lapse. The dovetail article recommends cutting 1/32" short of your scribe lines and then paring to the line. Does the author really believe someone learning this skill is going to be able to pare a square shoulder/pin/tail or that shortcuts/tricks like this are more appropriate than proper technique? Perhaps a reputable publication should provide instructions on learning correct techniques such on how to saw to a line etc. Their much touted "redesign" is really nothing but a loss in quality brought on by the exodus of talented woodworkers that also happened to be journalists. I'm only speculating but I would say their parent publication started pushing them away from "anachronistic" hand tools, to something more "accessible" so now we get spoon fed articles more appropriate for a middle school shop class.