I just received my first copy of a new subscription

[Dave Lehnert]

What always got me about Popular Woodworking was they seemed to run the digital magazine and the hard copy as two different things.
I use to get the hard copy. I subscribed to the digital through Amazon and dropped the hard copy. I would get letter after letter saying they missed me and wanted me back etc... And I was already a customer/ reader via digital.

I have been to the Popular Woodworking shop many times for events. Sad that Chris and Megan are gone. I do believe they were trying hard to put out a good magazine.

[Simon MacGowen]

It probably will contribute to the demise of some of these publications in the long run. Don't know whether that will be a significant loss or not overall. It would be to me.

Magazines that will die will die, but not because people resell their archives. If that were true, there is a simple solution: stop producing the archives.

FW charges $99.99 for its 2018 archive; the owner of the 2019 archive would save a lot when he sells his 2018 archive, say, for $40. He might not be buying the 2019 USB if there were a no resell condition that kept him from making $40. That would be a bigger loss to FW. FW has also probably included in its USB price the factor some people will resell their USBs.

In the old days, people resold their brand new DVDs after watching them. That would represent a certain % of loss of DVD sales. No one, including the DVD producers, seemed to have complained. I also resell my pricey Festool tools now and then, but the impact on Festool would be inconsequential, just like those reselling their archives.

Simon

[lowell holmes]

I have the Feb 2019 issue . IMO, it is a complete washout. It is really sad how the magazine has fallen.

[Jacob Reverb]

I can't remember the name of the magazine, but I somehow ended up with a free subscription to some magazine – I think it might have been Popular Woodworking – but it had a regular column that I think was called "Design Matters" that was written by the same columnist every month; I think the writer's name was George Walker. Here's an example:

https://www.popularwoodworking.com/j...by-proportion/

Anyway, I thought it was the best thing I've seen in any woodworking magazine in many years. He really focussed on the age-old fundamentals of elegant design, and I really looked forward to his column every month. The rest of the magazine was the usual "How to Tune Up Your Table Saw" stuff that we've seen in every issue of every other magazine for the past few millennia, but I thought that design column alone was worth the price of admission.

So many of these magazines focus on the latest gadget, or obsess over fairly minor minutia, while negecting the fundamentals of good design, that it was really refreshing to see. Seems like all you see anymore in WW mags are projects that have beautiful finishes, beautiful joints, and use all the latest gadgets and technologies in their construction – yet have no sense of proportion or elegant design and are as ugly as a mud fence. I end up saying to myself, "Did anybody actually DRAW this monstrosity first to see what it would look like???" This fellow George Walker seemed to be a lone voice of sanity in the wilderness on the issue...

[Frederick Skelly]

I can't remember the name of the magazine, but I somehow ended up with a free subscription to some magazine – I think it might have been Popular Woodworking – but it had a regular column that I think was called "Design Matters" that was written by the same columnist every month; I think the writer's name was George Walker. Here's an example:

https://www.popularwoodworking.com/j...by-proportion/

Anyway, I thought it was the best thing I've seen in any woodworking magazine in many years. He really focussed on the age-old fundamentals of elegant design, and I really looked forward to his column every month. The rest of the magazine was the usual "How to Tune Up Your Table Saw" stuff that we've seen in every issue of every other magazine for the past few millennia, but I thought that design column alone was worth the price of admission.

So many of these magazines focus on the latest gadget, or obsess over fairly minor minutia, while negecting the fundamentals of good design, that it was really refreshing to see. Seems like all you see anymore in WW mags are projects that have beautiful finishes, beautiful joints, and use all the latest gadgets and technologies in their construction – yet have no sense of proportion or elegant design and are as ugly as a mud fence. I end up saying to myself, "Did anybody actually DRAW this monstrosity first to see what it would look like???" This fellow George Walker seemed to be a lone voice of sanity in the wilderness on the issue...

Hi Jacob,
Walker and Jim Tolpin have 2 or 3 books out together now on design. You might enjoy them. Walker also has a blog/website called: www dot byhandandeye dot com.
Fred

[Ben Zara]

FWW is still good, if anything they keep adding new sections to the print version.

FWW greatest advantage is the photography and the diagrams, it blows everyone else away. Their website has some great content but the layout and search functions suck. But getting access to the Phil Lowe build videos are worth it alone.

I quit reading popwood after a few articles that looked like a five year old shot them. In particular there was an article on making a wagon vise that was literally shot in a basement that seemed like it had one yellow incandescent light bulb lighting the whole windowless shop. And worse, they put a picture of his cat in the magazine. Bad enough when it's Krenov, do we really need cat pics in a woodworking magazine? Nope.

[William Chain]

Sadly, I agree that PWW and WWJ have been far less informative lately. Aren’t both of them festooned with nearly identical router bit cover articles this month? More ads than content, furniture builds featuring social media people trying to wedge into their photos every piece of sponsor provided overpriced crap they can, and then you find yourself trapped in a Red Ryder sales pitch every other page. There are a few mags of British origin I see on the shelf at the local bookstores that are of higher quality. Pricey but usually (not always if I’m honest) a good treat every now and again.

[Frederick Skelly]

Yup. Most magazines stink now. Just another reason that a $6 contribution to SMC is such a great value!

[Jacob Reverb]

Else failing, there's always Woodsmith and Shop Notes.

[Ron Citerone]

Yup. Most magazines stink now. Just another reason that a $6 contribution to SMC is such a great value!

I think with Forums, Internet and Utube, magazines are doomed and have become glorified catalogs as an attempt to survive. I've seen the same type of thing happen to some fishing forums I frequent once they are bought out by companies that stalk their posters pushing anything that they googled recently.

Totally agree the SMC is a great value for the small fee! Plus the fact that you can ask and rephrase questions opens up a whole new concept IMO.

[Simon MacGowen]

Seems like all you see anymore in WW mags are projects that have beautiful finishes, beautiful joints, and use all the latest gadgets and technologies in their construction – yet have no sense of proportion or elegant design and are as ugly as a mud fence. I end up saying to myself, "Did anybody actually DRAW this monstrosity first to see what it would look like???" This fellow George Walker seemed to be a lone voice of sanity in the wilderness on the issue...

True that the end result is more than joinery and finish, but equally design alone does not cut it, at least not for those of us who are woodworkers. A great design with lousy execution is a pity (or shame).

As for drawing, it depends on who you talk to. Michael Pevovich (sp?) in his new book mentions about the importance of drawing (formulas, ratios), but in the end, he believes the eye is the most important tool, which I agree. I have built pieces that don't conform to the golden ratio but they turned out surprisingly better to the eye than if I had followed the mock-ups.

Simon

[Simon MacGowen]

FWW is still good, if anything they keep adding new sections to the print version.

FWW greatest advantage is the photography and the diagrams, it blows everyone else away.

Other magazines can do great photographs and diagrams like FW if they really want to, but there is something that they can't copy FW: the unmatched source of contributors in the hundreds that they can draw on. The skilled woodworkers are attracted to FW's stable because of its reputation, while others have to attract contributors to their pools.

You can improve the ink, paper, photographs, etc., but they are the hardware. FW's success lies in its software. FW is the Ivy League (with its own weaknesses, of course).

Simon

[Simon MacGowen]

Else failing, there's always Woodsmith and Shop Notes.

ShopNotes?

I think it no longer exists as a separate entity.

Simon

[Simon MacGowen]

furniture builds featuring social media people trying to wedge into their photos every piece of sponsor provided overpriced crap they can, and then you find yourself trapped in a Red Ryder sales pitch every other page. There are a few mags of British origin I see on the shelf at the local bookstores that are of higher quality. Pricey but usually (not always if I’m honest) a good treat every now and again.

I may be wrong, but I think the culprit of filling some pages of each issue with social media people is the WOOD magazine. WOOD started profiling social media people (I have seen the term "woodworking socialites" used to described those people) four or five years ago, and others found it a good money-saving idea to fill their content...with little cost or effort. The socialites of course are happy to get the free promo. Those social pages are as good as the pills ads to me. If FW follows them, that is the day we know FW is running out of good content, too.

Simon

[Ron Kellison]

Something a lot of folks don't realize about these on-line subscriptions (which is the wave of the future) is that they can be cancelled at anytime. In my case, I subscribed in Nov. and will probably unsubscribe in March when I get busy with spring and summer activities. Then will re-subscribe next fall when I feel the need.

Jim

I was a subscriber from FWW #2 to around #125 but gave it up for all the usual reasons. I now take the online subscription, find all the new articles that interest me and save them as PDFs. Then I unsubscribe for another year. Rinse, repeat as necessary.