My July Fine Woodworking Magazine came today . . . ..

[lowell holmes]

and the cover has a photo and in bold print "How to make a table top float".

My first thought was to throw it into the swimming pool.

[Jim Koepke]

My brother recently sent me a stack of old FWW magazines starting with Volume 1 Number 1. Kind of fun looking at the old content from 40+ years ago. He picked them up at an estate sale. One of these days the duplicates in my accumulation will have to be weeded out.

jtk

[Josko Catipovic]

I get a sense those guys are really trying. Yeah, it's the umpteenth article on floating tabletops, but I did find the pierced carving article interesting, and it did nudge me a bit in that general direction. They're trying to bring new folks into what we do, and some of them might have missed the article a hundred issues back.

[Edwin Santos]

Just received my issue, and yes, I'll join the shout-out for their effort.
I thought the idea of a floating table top is not new, but the approach the author took was kind of unique. I recognized that author as David Welter, a long time staff member with James Krenov at College of the Redwoods.
I also thought the pierced panel article by the young author was very new to me and incredibly cool.

Did anyone else enjoy Mike Pekovich's dovetail jig with the toggle clamps?

People compare YouTube videos to FWW magazine, promoting the former because they're free. I think both media are great, but one thing you get in FWW is some editorial quality control and the perspective illustrations, which are a big help if you set about building the project showcased in the article. Again, each are great sources of inspiration with their own advantages.
I guess it all depends on what types of projects interest you. I have had FWW issues that did nothing for me, but the current one is a keeper.

[Dave Cav]

I got that issue a week or so ago. There is also an article on setting up hand planes. The author demonstrates how to ruin your plane iron by putting a HUGE back bevel on it.

[mike holden]

My initial thought was: Start with 5 gallons of ice cream....

[lowell holmes]

I got that issue a week or so ago. There is also an article on setting up hand planes. The author demonstrates how to ruin your plane iron by putting a HUGE back bevel on it.

I saw that and immediately dismissed it as balderdash. Like I say, when my subscription is over, I will not renew.

[Kev Williams]

Does that issue have an April 1, 2002 date on it?

[Jim Koepke]

The author demonstrates how to ruin your plane iron by putting a HUGE back bevel on it.

One of my shop managers, more of an Englishman than an American, said of such, "it seems to be the American way of thinking, if a little bit is good, then a whole lot more must be a whole lot better."

He loved telling us about how he was a boat captain in the Army. Also about how his Army mates would ask him what he did before the war and how they would react when he told them he worked with a machine drilling square holes.

He did some interesting innovations creating useful equipment in a silkscreen printing shop.

jtk

[Thomas McCurnin]

I read the article and it advocated putting a slight back bevel on a plane iron of 5-10 degrees. There was nothing in the article about destroying a plane, simply switching out an iron with a back bevel to tame wild wood grain when one does not have a bevel up plane.

Perhaps I am misunderstanding your point.

I found the article well written, concise and interesting. The author is a legendary woodworker. I didn’t find too much new information in the issue but then again We’re dealing with a hobby and woodworking techniques that have been around for 50-100 years, so I really doubt anyone with 10-20 years experience would get any huge value from any specific issue.

That said, I like to support the magazine as it is nearly the last of what used to be a dozen or more woodworking print magazines. The cost is nominal for me, and I’ll get a tip or two out of each issue.

If the articles are so bad and below your standards, perhaps you should consider writing an article and submitting it for publication. I’d be eager to see some posters here submit their work for scrutiny.

[Ole Anderson]

When I saw the title, I was prepared to see comments as to releasing the July issue in April. Currently I only subscribe to Wood.

[Edwin Santos]

I got that issue a week or so ago. There is also an article on setting up hand planes. The author demonstrates how to ruin your plane iron by putting a HUGE back bevel on it.

I saw that and immediately dismissed it as balderdash. Like I say, when my subscription is over, I will not renew.

Surprising to hear this. The article you're talking about was written by Gary Rogowski, who has an extensive reputation as an instructor and author. The subject had to do with taming difficult grain, and one of his suggestions was to change out the plane frog for a higher angle one. But he points out that not everyone will see fit to invest in a separate high angle frog to keep on hand.
So as Plan B, he demonstrates how to put a 5-10 degree back bevel on an iron to accomplish the same thing, in other words, changing the effective cutting angle. He recommends honing the back bevel by hand. And he infers that this would be a secondary iron for the user to keep on hand and install when dealing with difficult figured woods. IIRC Plan C was to use a card scraper.

So exactly what about Gary's advice is balderdash, and how will it ruin the plane iron to back bevel it if you're going to keep it in your tool kit for high angle planing? Is there some other way to raise the effective cutting angle of a bevel down plane?

[lowell holmes]

I am bored with these magazines. I am going let the subscriptions run out and will not renew.

[Jim Koepke]

I am bored with these magazines. I am going let the subscriptions run out and will not renew.

You might try making regular visits to the local Goodwill and other charity shops. They occasionally get collections of old magazines from people cleaning out a garage.

Some of the older magazines have interesting projects and ways of doing various tasks such as making threads in wood.

jtk

[Edwin Santos]

I am bored with these magazines. I am going let the subscriptions run out and will not renew.

You might try making regular visits to the local Goodwill and other charity shops. They occasionally get collections of old magazines from people cleaning out a garage.

Some of the older magazines have interesting projects and ways of doing various tasks such as making threads in wood.

jtk

Lowell,
Jim's reply made me think that you might like the Deltagram magazines Delta put out between 1932 and 1972.
If the newer magazines don't do it for you, maybe the old school ones will do the trick. I think there are archives of them online also. I have read a few and they do contain some very interesting techniques and projects.

I just did a quick look on Ebay and there are quite a few available there for not much money, if you're interested.