What's a good woodworking magazine for beginner / intermediate woodworker?

[Greg L. Brown]

Hi all,
What's a good woodworking magazine to get a subscription too? I want something geared towards novices / hobbyists? I had a one year subscription to "Popular Woodworking" but wasn't that impressed. Although, I didn't have anything to compare it to. Fine Woodworking seemed really good, but it was over my head.

Any recommendations?

Thanks,
Greg

[Rusty Elam]

I would think Wood would be your best bet. ( did you like how I got 3 woods in there)

[Denny Rice]

I agree Wood is a very good magazine. I also think "ShopNotes" is a very good woodworking magazine for the novice woodworker. I think I liked shopnotes when I was started because the magazine tackles things like setting up a shop, taking care of woodworking tools and machines, things that are hard to find in other magazines. It tackles more than just woodworking projects.

[Tom Veatch]

Another vote for ShopNotes along with its sister publication "Woodsmith". If I could subscribe to only two magazines, those would be the two.

[Gary Breckenridge]

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck without WOOD ?

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,

ShopNotes has been my staple fare for the last 2 years - the length of time I've been @ this now.

They cover the basics via getting your feet wet by setting up the shop, fixtures & jigs.

[Joe Chritz]

Third or fourth for shopnotes. Wood has lots of good projects as well and usually detailed plans.

Advanced projects are good. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger and all that.

I would say that WOOD, would be a good magazine but if I did would a woodchuck still be able to chuck WOOD as a magazine if you took all the WOOD available or could he use wood from a tree? (slightly run on but I got 8!)

Joe

[ROY DICK]

Wood and Shop Notes.

Roy

[Rick Bengel]

Shopnotes and Woodsmith are my mainstays. I've had subscriptions to others, but always fall back on these two. Very detailed project plans, with clear instructions. Great for a novice all the way to expert!

[Rusty Elam]

I like Shopnotes too, but how many times can you get it in one sentence?

[Steve Griffin]

I like Sawmillcreek.org.

Don't need no paper magazine full of advertising delivered by horse and buggy!

I do like to spend the money saved on mags on the occasional book purchase:

"The complete book of wood joinery"
"The bandsaw handbook"
"Spray finishing"
"The fine art of cabinetry"
A number of James Kernov books
"Kitchen Idea Book"

Just to name a few off the top of my head..

-Steve

[Dave Verstraete]

As a novice, I like Shopnotes and Woodsmith. I have also built numerous projects from the WOOD magazine and some of the easier projects from FWW.

When I walked in the shop, I noted that the Shopnotes magazine was lying on the floor with the rest of the shop's notes. 3 TIMES

[Todd Crawford]

While I don't subscribe to Shopnotes I just ordered a free sample issue of Shopnotes that I hope will arrive before I complete my shop, note that I do not read a lot outside of the internet but I do keep a lot of shop notes on stuff that I build and maybe one day I will send it all in to Shopnotes.

Okay, I know that is a run-on unlike any other that I have ever written, but i got it in there 5 times...

[Jim Becker]

I would also recommend WOOD Magazine for the needs you state. It's a good, all around magazine with very approachable projects and good how-to articles. And when your needs and skills change, you always have the option to move to something like Fine Woodworking which typically explores techniques and projects that require higher level skills, although in all honestly, that's mitigated a little due to "market pressure" over time.

[Stephen Edwards]

I've always enjoyed Popular Woodworking because it has a range of projects for people of all skill levels. Also seems to have honest tool reviews and useful technique tips for many applications.

My Two Cents Worth