Fine Woodworking Sees Green - Go Figure

[RonB]

I honestly do not remember them being included that much. I say that as a fairly new subscriber who has been buying news stand copies or mooching reads from a cousin for years. To test a hunch I did a simple magazine index search on the word "grizzly" in their website. It came back with 17 hits that included about 14 issues. This goes back to 1995 and includes some smaller items like sanders, brad nailers, router bits, etc. This might not be an accurate way of determining actual appearances but it doesn't seem like much when compared to mainstream woodworking magazines.

Before anyone goes nuts, I do not consider FWW to be a mainstream magazine. It might have a fairly large following but the projects and skills shown fit a smaller sample of woodworkers than most of the mags. The magazine has an elitist tone that probably serves the skill level of writers and contributors; but perhaps not all of their readers. This is not a complaint because, in a way, it adds to the appeal of the book. I do find it a little curious that they chose to rerun a very early article regarding "woodbutchers". It might have seemed appropriate in their early days but it probably insulted some of their readers that do fit the mold of a mainstream woodworker. We are amatures, we know it and we are trying to improve our skills with FWW.

RonB

[Larry Jaques]

On Thu, 03 Nov 2005 16:37:00 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, B a r r y quickly quoth:

I complained to them last year about not having Griz products in their tests. Maybe they finally listened to me.

Charlie Self may be able to answer that question. He's BTDT.

- Don't be a possum on the Information Superhighway of life. ----

Dynamic Database-Driven Websites

[Greg G]

I too, read that article and wondered why they ran it. It definitely came off as an elitist slur against anyone who might be an amateur.

Very few are truly 'Masters' of anything - and only the most hubris would claim otherwise. You stop learning (and making mistakes) the day you die.

Besides, it's not a mistake, it's a feature...

Greg G.

[Duane Bozarth]

As a subscriber since about the fifth or sixth issue, I'd say the level of "elitism" has waxed and waned somewhat over the years, but the level was _much_, _much_ higher years ago than now. I recalled the endpage article and at the time that was essentially humour...

I think over the last two or three years the general content has gone down quite a lot in order to try to be a broader base audience and I also think the overall quality of the regular contributors isn't quite what it was in the early days. But it takes quite a fella' to replace a Tage Frid.

The Gallery is as good as always although again the emphasis on what type of work is featured heavily has changed over the years.

[Greg G]

I had the uneasy feeling of not being sure if they were joking, or specifically picking on me... ;-) I was haunted for days by the fear that I, too, was unworthy of cutting into a chunk of cherry and discovering a hidden gem, or whiffing the sweet smell of sawdust.

That my tools were mocking me, laughing behind my back at the dullard who clumsily handled them. Every remotely visible glue line, every slight distortion in the plane of a glued-up table top, each table leg that varied the slightest of a centimeter from it's kin, shrieked "Incompetent!" at me. The siren song of the wood catalogs suddenly waned - sounding now to be no more than brazen schemes to filch a gold coin from my pocket.

Then I went to the store and look at what was for sale. Bahh!

I grew up surrounded by truly talented people. Some were kinda weird, but when it came down to knowledge, skill, and competence - they had what it took to do the job - everything else became irrelevant.

My father would drag me around to different electronics shops and distributors as a child - and I never heard him speak more than a few hundred words in his life. But I met a multitude of people, and these became a major part of my education. They were just ordinary people you wouldn't look twice at on the street. But if you paused to look closer, they stood out as shining stars in the night.

But I see more and more of these people dying off and retiring, and there is no one replacing them. Depth and breadth are like a receding tide...

The Gallery is one of the first things I flip to. We don't need no steenkin store bought plans, and don't have a desire to build the perfect replica of a stale old design. I look to this section for inspiration. Although the 'melting' lamp and chest were pretty strange, try calculating angles and tweaking the fit on that puppy!

Greg G.

[Greg G]

Don't forget puky bright yellow. Or is that bright yellow puky ducks. Wait, I've got it - it's pukey ducks, bright yellow tools...

Greg G.

[Ba r r y]

Respectfully disagreeing with you, but there are PLENTY of magazines aimed a lesser experienced woodworkers. FWW is more mainstream than you know, and I think there are more folks capable of doing that level of work than you know.

When I first started woodworking, I used to pick up FWW in the supermarket (Day-um!), feel like I'd never be able to do that sort of work, put it down, and leave with "Wood" or "American Wooddorker".

Years, classes, books, and lots of scrap later, I really enjoy FWW and "Popular Woodworking". With some formal instruction outside of the BORG / "Family Handyman" realm, I can now pick up an advanced technique, practice it, and apply it to future projects. I still occasionally find a technique or idea in "Wood", so I look at it on the news stand.

To me, many of the projects in the simpler magazines, especially Woodsmith, look "home made". I can use technique and style ideas obtained from FWW, PWW, and some of the British mags to make stuff that looks great to non-woodworkers. We can appreciate the hard work and diligence that goes into the ugliest item. I yearn to make things that people think is really nice before they find out I made it. Since I live in a region of the USA that's very rich with beautiful antiques, do so can be that much harder.

Over the years, I've probably spent $1500-$2000, $200-300 at a time, on formal classes. My wife typically puts up with a 2 1/2' high stack of books and magazines next to my bed. I feel the investment in school and books has saved at least it's cost by enabling me to quickly and cheaply make jigs that some folks spend thousands on.

Almost all of the jigs in the recent Woodhaven catalog that showed up in my mailbox are simply commercial versions of items that have appeared in magazines and "hints and tips" books. The commercial jigs are GREAT for production, but typical part-timer (like me ) is better served spending the money on instruction and a smaller number of high-quality tools.

I don't see an elitist tone at all in FWW. Especially when many of the articles feature basic tools being used to complete complex tasks. Many of these tasks add or build on a basic skill that a good woodworker should know. Many other magazines feature expensive commercial jigs and single use tools.

Not at all looking to beat you up...

Thanks! Barry

[Stephen M]

Snipped for brevity

Every remotely visible glue line, every

Great post!

And that's where we come in, to keep alive some shred of creativity, and quality.

Grab that torch!

[RonB]

To this the only response is "Amen". I am sure he was immediatly assigned to sprucing up the big guy's quarters in heaven.

[Greg G]

Thanks! Sometimes I get all mushy like that... ;-) But in re-reading this, I noticed that I blew the punch line.

Shoulda been:

Then I went to the Furniture Store and looked at what was for sale. Bahh!

Dazzle 'em with the windup and blow the pitch - Oh Well...

I try, but hey, I'm no Spring Chicken myself...

Greg G.

[Enoch Root]

I thought Krenov was still alive?

*ducks*

er