A more advanced "rec.woodworking"

[B A R R Y]

I like FWW's searchable article indexes and downloadable pdf's, but the forums aren't all that hot in my experience. The forums seemed like they'd be great for those who get insulted and hurt if others point out alternative methods or that they're repeating false folklore.

Personally, I'd rather be told I'm wrong, or informed of other methods. I learn things when others point out my mistakes, or challenge my methods or opinions. Discussion... It goes both ways.

Off topic Usenet posts are extremely easy to deal with on either a high tech (filters & proxy), or low tech (skip the posts) level.

[B A R R Y]

On Sat, 13 Jan 2007 00:13:06 -0600, [e-mail] () >

I say go for it!

[B A R R Y]

I occasionally read Woodcentral, but I really don't like the interface. I think I've tried every sort order and option available, but none sticks with me. The reviews and articles can be quite useful, and I've enjoyed reading several chat transcripts.

The user tendency on WC that drives me batty are the users who start replies in the subject line! It's like they have 50 Don Dandos. When folks do that, it makes threads very difficult to follow, especially if you missed the beginning of the thread.

The relatively loose moderation style on WC does make it a rather friendly, easy-going site. I wish I could get used to a display style!

[Swingman]

They are penny pinchers ... I just got in a pissing contest with Taunton over their website store's apparently well *hidden* shipping policy. Not a bad idea to make wRec'ers aware of:

I ordered an item on a Wednesday morning via UPS 2nd Day air, expecting a Friday AM delivery ... the item didn't arrive until after 6 PM the following Monday!

Taunton continued to insist/claim that what I paid for with "2nd Day Air" was delivery after office hours (6PM) on Monday, after five days in transit, and 3 1/2 "business days" from the date of the order!

To me, 2nd Day Air is short hand for "day after tomorrow" when placed on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday before noon ... and UPS agrees with me, although they include Wednesday without a qualifier, like "before noon" for the contiguous 48.

To Taunton, and for all practical purposes for an unwary Taunton customer, because they just might not get around to processing your order until the next day, 2nd Day Air shipping is a crapshoot and only worth the price if you place the order on two days of the week, Monday or Tuesday ... maybe!

Hey,Taunton ... you really need to say that!

Long story short, after much bitching and exchange of e-mails, they reluctantly returned my money ... but only after they received the item back after sending me a "postage paid label" to return the goods.

Although I subscribe to their website because I find it to be a time saving resource for some of what I do, it'll be a cold day in hell before I buy anything from them again ...

[Don Fearn]

I think it was "Robatoy" who stated:

[Mike in Arkansas]

Where did your mice go to school?

[Mike in Arkansas]

[Doug Miller]

Some place where they do arithmetic in base-13, apparently.

[Robatoy]

If you got to the mice, you withstood a barrage of Vogan sharpshooters. That in itself is meaningful.

I think my drill press is depressed.

[Robatoy]

Prometheus wrote: [snipped for brevity]

Real expertise is making do with what you have. Some of these woodworking shows on TV, for instance, are not a reflection of reality in most cases. "Now here, we'll cut the stack of 4 x 8 pre-laminated sheets with our 8-blade gang saw. Then we move the slabs to our computer controlled edgebander before boring the prerequisite 44 holes per gable in our PTP unit." TOH went the same way: "Then we ordered the Elba stone, we had it crushed in Italy..blah, blah, blah." We watch this for a while before we figure out that we're not George Clooney, and we ain't getting Jessica Alba's clothes off.

I find the blend of expertise in here very comforting as many here know less about this craft than I do, and the same amount know more than I. What a great place to look good and stupid at the same time.

If I want hard-core, business-like solutions, there's always

there's a site (column on the right, called Knowledge Base) where they deal with more 'pro' stuff.

Just saw this the other day: a package of 'pro' sponge brushes, next to the 'pro' towels...wtf isn't 'pro' these days? Toothpaste: Large, King-size, Jumbo. WTF is with that? The smallest is now Large?....*peels off Andy Rooney mask*

My rant for today.

[Brent Beal]

Last I ever heard about their 2nd day(UPS), is that they do not guarantee anything but NEXT DAY.

[Mark & Juanita]

All except the "cost a few bucks part" Let us know how that works out for you.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

[Joe Bleau]

I have to admit that the humor here is far superior. Moreover, I learned about other groups I had never even heard of.

[B A R R Y]

I do that.

Exactly! When you've been gone for a new days, and there's 400 messages that start with "I agree with Lee", and "Me too", and "been there, done that", and "LRod is right"...

Must... Get... By... That... Woodcentral is worth it!

[B A R R Y]

My last hopes, dashed...

[Puckdropper]

"Robatoy" wrote in news:1168705378.514661.12930 @v45g2000cwv.googlegroups.com:

Do your saws sigh happily when they're turned on?

Puckdropper

[Tanus]

There are a few people on the Wreck that I've come to take at face value. Swingman is one of them. I don't think I've ever read anything by him that has been proven wrong or misleading. That's not to say he's the only one - there are quite a few who give me the same feeling.

Therefore, from what he's said about the FWW PDFs, I'll give it some more thought. However, my bitch with FWW is that I decided a few months ago to try out the forums and join the online group. Since I'm a FWW subscriber, it was only $15 a year and quite affordable.

I'm one of those people who doesn't have a credit card. I have my reasons for that, and it's served me well. So I emailed and asked about alternative methods of payment: snail mail cheque, PayPal, online bank payment, etc. NO, I was told by Taunton. CC is the ONLY payment method we take.

Well, sheeit. I had come to the conclusion then that I'd forego the online subscription because of that answer.

For the most part I'm quite happy with my FWW magazine every month, but I had come to expect more in customer service from them than that answer.

Maybe you're reading this, Taunton customer service. Maybe not. I think i'll just use my $15 and put it towards my next Lee Valley run.

Tanus

[John]

We don't want to join any club that would have us. :->

J.

Joe Bleau wrote:

[Leon]

54

[Mike in Arkansas]

Hey yeah, it is 42 in base 13. Had to check:)