Best Woodworking Magazine ?

[Dewey Torres]

Ken,
This is all about taste but I find 2 things odd:

1) American woodworker got no votes

2) You didn't include Wood which might be among the most popular.

I subscribe to all of the above plus a few that are not on the list and I like them all otherwise I wouldn't subscribe.

There are quite a few threads on this same subject some which even have polls.

[Ken Milhinch]

Dewey,
I didn't include Wood because I didn't know of its existence. That having been said, magazines listed under "other" have only received 7 votes. I did try a search to find previous polls of this type, but came up empty. Sorry if I am going over old ground. My question is quite specific though. If you had to choose only one, which one would it be.

[Dewey Torres]

Ken,
I didn't mean it that way. I am not accusing you of covering old ground. I like your thread. It is sometimes hard to tell over a computer what folks really mean when they write.

I failed to write it but my pic would be FWW if I could only have one.

Here are some of the threads I remember reading:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...light=magazine

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...light=magazine

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...light=magazine

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...light=magazine

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...light=magazine

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...king+magazines

I can't remember (or could not find) the one with the poll. They are very interesting to read.

[Ken Milhinch]

Dewey,
That's ok, no offence taken (or intended). Thanks for the links to previous threads. Seems like Shopnotes and Woodsmith were very popular in those threads, but I've tried them both and frankly found them pretty ordinary, particularly Shopnotes. Perhaps I am just hard to please.

[Dewey Torres]

Dewey,
... Perhaps I am just hard to please.

Hey Ken,
A few questions if I may...

Are the Australian woodworking tools and work methods normally in Metric?

Do you ever find it challenging to read plans in English measurements?

Did that influence your decisions about any of the magazines?

You should check out Wood Magazine off a newsstand if you can find it. I would easily put it in the top 3.

[Bob Genovesi]

I like WoodSmith and WoodWorkers Journal. Both seem to cover quite a lot of my interests without the exotic flair...

[Mark Buchanan]

One more vote for Wood magazine and I subscribe to all on the poll.

[Ken Milhinch]

Hey Ken,
A few questions if I may...

Are the Australian woodworking tools and work methods normally in Metric?

Do you ever find it challenging to read plans in English measurements?

Did that influence your decisions about any of the magazines?

You should check out Wood Magazine off a newsstand if you can find it. I would easily put it in the top 3.

Dewey,

Most tools sold in Australia are metric, but I buy most of mine from USA suppliers, so I work with both metric and imperial.
I grew up with imperial measurements so I can work in either - sometimes both. (Australia officially switched to metric in 1970)
So that has nothing to do with my assessments of the magazines.
It's not available here, but I have asked the publisher about an overseas subscription.

[Rick Thom]

I have to say FWW for me because of the wide scope and quality of the projects. I like Woodworking magazine very much too because of the no-nonsense information and the instructive method used to develop and build useful skills.

[Thomas Bennett]

Woodshop News gets my vote in "other". Woodwork is #2. I received FWW(and FHB) for the first 15 years. Enough is enough! I now read it at the public library a couple of times a year.

[Larry Edgerton]

I agree. I used to think that I was just getting too busy to enjoy FWW anymore, but a look back at old issues makes me think, just like everything else, it's being dumbed down to appeal to a wider audience. I will not renew, but people keep giving it as a gift.

I agree about the dumbing down. I dropped my subscription when they did a box article by some Judy somebody or other and it was so basic that it was obvious that it was only to appeal to women woodworkers. I wrote a letter to the editor that they should start another magazine that is called "Truely Fine Woodworking" for those of us that have been at it for more than six months. They didn't print it.

I pull out some of the black and white editions, and there were some projects and articles back in those days that are still a challange to me today.

I haven't subscribed for many years, and I have not seen a magazine since that is not just a source of ads. I dropped Fine Homebuilding when it became a how to for homeowners, and featured how to articles for framing technics that are the reasons that houses built today are by and large a bunch of horse manure.

[Fred Hargis]

Wood magazine remains my favorite...though I've lost a lot of interest in their website.

[Craig McCormick]

Woodwork gets my vote followed by FWW, and then Wood.

Woodwork magazine was recently sold. I hope they maintain.

I usually go to the book store up the street and look through several. I walk away with one or two.

AZCRAIG

[Dave Verstraete]

Is it possible to live with only one? I guess so. I subscribe to and rate in this order FWW, Wood, Woodsmith, Shopnotes, Woodworkers Journal.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

I agree about the dumbing down. I dropped my subscription when they did a box article by some Judy somebody or other and it was so basic that it was obvious that it was only to appeal to women woodworkers. I wrote a letter to the editor that they should start another magazine that is called "Truely Fine Woodworking" for those of us that have been at it for more than six months. They didn't print it.

I pull out some of the black and white editions, and there were some projects and articles back in those days that are still a challange to me today.

I haven't subscribed for many years, and I have not seen a magazine since that is not just a source of ads. I dropped Fine Homebuilding when it became a how to for homeowners, and featured how to articles for framing technics that are the reasons that houses built today are by and large a bunch of horse manure.

I know the story you are talking about, and I couldn't agree more! They do have some good stuff every now and then though. Steve Latta is generally great, really like the stringing story, as is most of the Master Class stuff. Wait, Steve Latta was telling us how to use a dado set in the last issue if my memory serves me...