Replies

1. 
   roy.unit8c | Jan 22, 2022 12:26pm | #1

   Premier woodworkers? Is that a new level? I believe the contributing editors, ambassadors, and writers who write the articles are high quality and write articles that help all levels of woodworkers. Even experienced woodworkers appreciate new ideas that may be thought of (incorrectly) as beginner woodworking. My 2 cents worth.

2. 
   _mj_ | Jan 22, 2022 12:29pm | #2

   I am always learning and relearning. I'm halfway through a full re-visit of BVD's sharpening series right now.

3. 
   gulfstar | Jan 22, 2022 12:36pm | #3

   Yesterday I was revisiting the first black and white issues of the late 70's and early 80's in search of what inspired me to build my workbench and they were as inspiring as the newer issues.

1. 
   roy.unit8c | Jan 22, 2022 01:28pm | #4

   I was just reading this one today: How to Make a Molding Plane
   Sticking with an 18th-century tool
   By Norman L. Vandal #37–Nov/Dec 1982 Issue
   He must have written other earlier articles, but I couldn't find them even after searching under his name.

1. 
   john_c2 | Jan 22, 2022 05:09pm | #8

   Norm Vandal wrote a fantastic book for FWW, titled Queen Anne Furniture.

2. 
   john_c2 | Jan 22, 2022 01:36pm | #5

   I love looking at old issues. Old ads, too. Some things have really changed. Others, not so much.

   I still scratch my head at the shop built wooden jointer. MDF base and butcher block indeed and outfeed tables.

4. 
   EdWeber | Jan 22, 2022 02:01pm | #6

   Tines change and the Magazine contents change with them.
   While I'm not a fan of many of the new gadgets and everything being a trick or a hack, along with many of the other pet peeves the OP mentioned, it is what it is and FWW is still better than most.

5. 
   user-1118538293 | Jan 22, 2022 03:08pm | #7

   I haven't been reading the magazine since the very beginning, but I've been a subscriber for about 20 years, and it's interesting to see how much not just the magazine has changed in that time but the furniture marketplace, too. I appreciate the degree that the magazine has tried to stay relevant. I think a big challenge that independent pros face is that many/most work alone, and the workshop tips and technical articles can be helpful to those folks, too, if they are open to incorporating new methods of work. Many of the pros featured in the magazine share that they are on a constant quest for ruthless efficiency, and those gains can come from a lot of places. They're especially needed now--there is more furniture for sale than ever, and there are so many semi-pro and hobby makers who build as a side hustle (myself included) that it puts downward pressure on prices.
   On another note, I think it's super important that pros and hobbyists understand how interdependent they are. The explosion of better quality tools that we enjoy today is a result of the amateur market, and the inspiration provided by talented pros is essential to keeping that market alive. I suppose the OP's point is that while both markets are valuable, maybe they don't need to read the same magazine. I like finding both in one place, but it is almost always the case that there is at least one article in each issue that's of very little interest to me, and I'm OK with that. I save them--maybe someday I will be into whatever those articles are about!

6. 
   EdWeber | Jan 22, 2022 06:15pm | #9

   I think the OP is talking more about what he see's as frivolous articles of which he indicated.
   I can certainly agree to a point, If I ever see another article on how to organize my fasteners or the best workbench, it'll be too soon.
   Now, showing how and/or why a certain joint is used in one situation and not another is different story. How to properly size and cut joinery (anything other than dovetails). Why a particular wood is used and so on.
   The types of information that can be an asset to your skills and help you improve your craftsmanship and knowledge in every project you endeavor into.

   Too much of what we see in most woodworking publications are either rudimentary projects like cutting boards or just common sense shop practices, to which everyone has their own preferred method. There is a general lack of depth to these types of articles.

   JMHO

7. 
   user-1118538293 | Jan 22, 2022 09:42pm | #10

   I will say that I do find the cutting board thing funny--there have been 2 cutting board articles in the past couple of years, and I specifically remember that there was some heat about the first one (the newer one just came out recently and I don't think that there's been time for the blowback to appear yet). I think the idea was not "here's how to make a cutting board" but in each case was "here's an interesting new way to laminate/join wood" with the assumption that people would take the basic method and make who-knows-what with it. Which strikes me as the ultimate expression of a pro-level article.

8. 
   rob_ss | Jan 23, 2022 02:17am | #11

   Good question.

   It's a challenge I think creating a magazine that deserves the name, but is going to sell enough subscriptions to be a viable business.
   It depends I suppose, on how you define 'fine' woodworking.

   Is it to showcase the very best makers and their work? Well, I think the magazine definitely does that. We certainly see beautiful furniture made by experts.
   Is it to promote the work of the up and coming? Recently it's been better at that - I've been very happy to see improvements in the quality and diversity of contributors lately.
   Is it to help people improve, so that they too can do 'finer' woodworking? - the magazine certainly provides projects which will challenge wood workers of moderate skill and above. Have you tried making any of the projects? Many pose a deceptive challenge. Even those which seem to be simple often require considerable technical proficiency to execute well.

   Even if things are simple, that does not mean they are not 'fine' - Michael Cullen's bandsawn boxes are not complex at all but I have never seen finer work.

   Overall I think the magazine provides a great benchmark. I should be very proud to have a piece featured therein, and for me, I think that is the key. If you would not turn down the opportunity to be featured, then the magazine is certainly doing it's job.

9. 
   DRBWWing | Jan 23, 2022 07:36am | #12

   For a newbie, FWW has a video series on fundamentals.

   There are lots of articles accessible with the digital subscription.

   I don’t read the magazine much.

10. 
    stantheman | Jan 23, 2022 10:32am | #13

    If the targeted market of premier woodworkers was big enough to support a separate magazine, they'd already be doing it. I think its been tried by others and failed.

11. 
    Badger1805 | Jan 23, 2022 01:12pm | #14

    I am a long-time subscriber and have all issues dating back to #1. It's obvious that the magazine has changed a lot over the years; for some perhaps it's more to their liking, but for some (like me) it's absolutely not. The old black and white issues have much more interesting content, and even the covers are almost like works of art. Over time, the magazine just kept getting weaker. (A few years ago I bought a second copy of the first 13 B&W issues in perfect condition from someone for $20 in total so that I could frame them all for display in my shop - the entire magazine, I didn't remove the cover so as not to destroy them).

    Back in the day, there was no competing internet with youtube, social media, etc. FWW was the one and only really good source of such information. I still think it the best source, but only by default since the other magazines are really poor. In addition to some of the subject matter in FWW (as, for example, the above-mentioned cutting board projects), I really don't like how the format has become basically a lot of photos with captions. Most of the text, what little there is, is simply a repeat of the captions. Contrast this with the much more detailed, small font articles having almost no photos in the early years. Each issue was jam-packed with info, and it took hours to pore over each one. Now I'm lucky if it takes me an hour to review each issue. I'm sure that the magazine publishing business is being severely challenged, and I'm sure it's much easier to simply shoot some snapshots and write some captions. Maybe the majority of people just don't have the discipline anymore to read an article without all the visuals anyway.

    I also think that there's really only so much to say about the subject, and therefore the early years are very informative, and over time there became a need to repeat the subject matter. Also, as new people join the market segment, this subject matter is new to them. Maybe it's just that when one gets older and more experienced, there isn't a lot of new information to digest. However, I don't think many people who compare the early years with the last ten years would argue that things have improved.

    IDEA: I wonder if FWW could successfully republish the early years - there may be a market for it.

12. 
    thebardowl | Jan 23, 2022 09:15pm | #15

    If I were to place myself in the rankings of FWW subscribers, I’d probably be around the 30th %ile or so. Just a guess, to indicate that I’m not an absolute newbie, and have at least mostly-mastered a few things, but I’m constantly looking to improve on pretty much everything I do.

    Having an ultimate membership, and thus access to the archives of all the old issues, I find that the deeper, more involved, more detailed articles of the “early years” often are more interesting and informative about things in which I’m particularly interested, while the how-to aspects of the newer issues tend to be better than the older ones. Please note: your mileage may vary, due to interests, abilities, etc.

    I don’t know that I would counsel the producers of the magazine to push too much toward what I shall call “very fine” woodworking—they do have payroll to meet, and all that. I would like to see a bit more variety in types of projects, and perhaps more attention to woodworking practices, techniques, etc. “foreign” to us. The recent piece on Japanese construction joinery I found very interesting, but more of a snack than a meal. Learning about novel, new, or just a little different ways of doing things can inspire/provoke unanticipated interest and learning.

    One thing I suppose I might suggest would be some more of the video workshop sort of productions—but those are expensive to produce, so that might not be a great idea.

    Perhaps rather than trying to go back to an old, maybe somewhat idealized state of affairs, they should just change the name of the periodical?

13. 
    _mj_ | Jan 23, 2022 09:23pm | #16

    No way the SEO guy lets them change the name.

1. 
   thebardowl | Jan 23, 2022 10:21pm | #17

   Good point! I obviously didn’t think of that.