Paul Sellers

[David Weaver]

It sounds like they couldn't retrieve them from email, as opposed to being unable to open them. Who knows what format they were in? I know if I were working for a magazine and didn't care about my job that much, and if I had to wait to get the pictures, I'd just pick the best of what I already had on hand for the month and fill the article obligation.

If george's wife sent 5 or 10 megabyte pictures, 10 or 15 years ago, and they were not on something like business cable, I don't see what's so inconceivable.

[george wilson]

They were probably too large to conveinently download. I sent some of the same pictures to Leonard Lee. As said,he said they took forever to download,but he did .

My pictures would have fit in with the special "Tools made by readers" magazine they started sending out.

[Pat Barry]

George,
I think it would be worth trying again. Here is guidance from their website.
Start with a proposal

If you'd like to write an article for Fine Woodworking, start by sending us a proposal. Summarize your topic and point of view in a few paragraphs that outline the material you plan to cover in the article. Include a paragraph about yourself and your woodworking background. The better the quality of the visual information you can supply -- both photographs and drawings of work in progress -- the better we will be able to appreciate your ideas. But don't worry if the images are not publishable quality; they will be re-shot or re-drawn professionally if we decide to publish your article. Finally, please include a self-addressed stamped envelope large enough to hold all the materials you send. We'll take good care of everything, and we'll return it all at the appropriate time.
Once we've received your proposal, we'll send you a letter to acknowledge its arrival. You'll hear from us again within a month or two, with a decision about whether we want you to go ahead with the article. If we do, a staff editor will be assigned to work with you, and this editor will be your primary contact with the magazine. You and the editor will discuss and agree on an outline for the article, as well as a deadline for a first draft. Remember, though, that final acceptance of your article depends on whether we can use your manuscript.

[David Weaver]

George can rebut, but I can't imagine it's worth his time any longer. They know who he is, and have him in videos on their web page (FWW does) where he discusses plane making (I think). Getting published in the magazine doesn't have the same prestige it used to, either.

[dan sherman]

My take:

I follow Sellers on YouTube, and i can take him or leave him. I really like some of his stuff, and other stuff annoys the crap out of me.

His comments on bench height for example, are at best overly simplistic. You can't base bench height purely on your height, as several things are actually more important.

1. What type of tools you use - Someone who uses woodies will probably like a lower bench than someone who uses metal planes, as woodies are much higher.
2. Type of work - Someone who uses the bench to prepare stock will most likely want a different height than someone who only uses the bench while working on joinery.
2. Your body proportions - Two people of the exact same height can have drastically different arm & leg lengths and that effects how high the bench should be.
3. personal preference - Some people Simply prefer a bench that is higher or lower for any number of reasons that can't be easily quantified.

[Simon MacGowen]

Speaking of benches, few could match Paul Sellers' creativity with small things or techniques such as his latest blog on adding notches or V-channels to the benches. This opinionated British teacher is liked as well as hated (or disliked, if hate is too strong a word) by a lot of people for a good reason.

Simon

[lowell holmes]

My take:

I follow Sellers on YouTube, and i can take him or leave him. I really like some of his stuff, and other stuff annoys the crap out of me.

His comments on bench height for example, are at best overly simplistic. You can't base bench height purely on your height, as several things are actually more important.

1. What type of tools you use - Someone who uses woodies will probably like a lower bench than someone who uses metal planes, as woodies are much higher.
2. Type of work - Someone who uses the bench to prepare stock will most likely want a different height than someone who only uses the bench while working on joinery.
2. Your body proportions - Two people of the exact same height can have drastically different arm & leg lengths and that effects how high the bench should be.
3. personal preference - Some people Simply prefer a bench that is higher or lower for any number of reasons that can't be easily quantified.

That's why the old standard I follow is to stand at the bench, arms at your side, and make your bench knuckle high. It will save your back.

[Daniel Rode]

IMO, there is no right answer; no single universal bench height formula. The proper bench height has much to do with what type of work you intend to do at the bench and even which tools. If one want to optimize bench height for planing, it's going to be pretty low for sawing and chisel work and vice versa. If you use wooden planes, an even lower height would be ideal but now makes it less well suited for saw and chisel work. Some height in the middle might seem like a good compromise or it might seem poorly suited to all tasks.

Since I do much of the tedious rough dimensioning with machines, I've set my bench on the tall side to favor joinery type tasks. I built a moxon vice but I rarely use it except for dovetails and even then, only if they are too wide for my face vice.

That's why the old standard I follow is to stand at the bench, arms at your side, and make your bench knuckle high. It will save your back.

[Pat Barry]

IMO, there is no right answer; no single universal bench height formula. The proper bench height has much to do with what type of work you intend to do at the bench and even which tools. If one want to optimize bench height for planing, it's going to be pretty low for sawing and chisel work and vice versa. If you use wooden planes, an even lower height would be ideal but now makes it less well suited for saw and chisel work. Some height in the middle might seem like a good compromise or it might seem poorly suited to all tasks.

Since I do much of the tedious rough dimensioning with machines, I've set my bench on the tall side to favor joinery type tasks. I built a moxon vice but I rarely use it except for dovetails and even then, only if they are too wide for my face vice.

The ideal bench would be like the benches at work that have height adjustment. Make them comfortable for whatever task you need them for. Hydraulic would be very nice. Maybe someone like Winton could rig up something like the kids use to bounce their cars up and down.

[Matthew N. Masail]

I recall rob cosmon showing how he has a board hinged to his legs the he can easily use to make his bench higher.

[Matthew N. Masail]

The ideal bench would be like the benches at work that have height adjustment. Make them comfortable for whatever task you need them for. Hydraulic would be very nice. Maybe someone like Winton could rig up something like the kids use to bounce their cars up and down.

If someone acually made a hydraulic adjustable WOODWORKING bench I'd probably call it a sad day to woodworking history. this because I find, at least for my self, that the more down to earth I get in the shop the more "real" my woodworking gets.

[Tony Zaffuto]

Fact of the matter is, there exists no "cookie cutter" bench that will serve all aspects perfectly. Height of the bench is determined by our own height, plus the tasks we are doing. There are "appliances" we can use to make a single bench better (auxiliary Moxon vise for cutting dovetails, free-standing sawbench built a knee height easier knockdown sawing) and so forth.

Build you bench and start using it. If you're having workholding issues, buy Robert Wearing's book on woodworking devices - plenty of simple items shown that will make any bench a better bench. Can't find a Wearing book? I believe Lee Valley offers many commercial items that will do the same.

[Mel Fulks]

Pat, I have an old post that covers the two constant bench concerns: top thickness and bench height. 24 inch thick brazillian rosewood top mounted on old car lift. Because of the extreme thickness it is sometime necessary to stand in the grease pit.

[george wilson]

Knuckle high is how high you want your anvil to be.For me that is about 34"

[Greg Portland]

The ideal bench would be like the benches at work that have height adjustment. Make them comfortable for whatever task you need them for. Hydraulic would be very nice. Maybe someone like Winton could rig up something like the kids use to bounce their cars up and down.

I've seen DIY benches that use linear actuators for height adjustment (clamps were used to lock it in place). The thinking was that they could use the optimal bench height for each operation.