# Woodworking Magazines



## jaredashley (Nov 2, 2009)

Hey all,
i am looking to subscribe to a woodworking magazine and looking for suggestions. Thanks for your help.
Jared


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## seanmacdougal (Feb 5, 2010)

Fine Woodworking by Taunton Press is the old standby. Subscribe OK, but consider also finding back issues. Of newer vintage, quarterly I think, is Chris Schwarz's new journal "Woodworking" magazine. This emphasizes hand tools. "Popular woodworking" is another.


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## CDN_Maple (Dec 19, 2009)

Try to search the past forum titled "best woodworking magazine" I also tried to load the link, not sure if it will work. Some useful discussions were included.

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f2/best-woodworking-magazine-14093/


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## firehawkmph (Apr 26, 2008)

Jared,
It kind of depends on what you like to make. For all around, I like Woodcraft magazine. It has some nice projects each month, and the nice thing is they sell all the misc. pieces parts for each project. 
Mike Hawkins


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Its a Trade magazine but*

interesting articles and profiles of shop and companies and some ads for great products you won't see in the home workshop mags:
http://www.woodshopnews.com/subscribe/preview-issue/ 
I have a subscription and they recently changed their size down to standard magazine format, a great improvement over the larger size! :thumbsup: bill


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## ACP (Jan 24, 2009)

I agree that it depends on what you are looking for. I have always thought Woodsmith was top notch along with Fine Woodworking. Like it was said, some lean more toward power tools, others hand tools, and most a mix of both. Are you looking for tool reviews, plans, or what? I personally get Woodsmith (for the plans, tips and jigs) and Wood for more reviews and also some nice projects. I buy others from the newstands as I find something interesting to read.


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## Burnt_Blade (Dec 26, 2009)

ShopNotes is great for jigs and shop organizing information. Try and get back issues.


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## bnew17 (Nov 10, 2009)

Im a big fan of Fine Woodworking. Lots of good stuff in there every mag!


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## bzbatl (Feb 10, 2009)

I like "Wood". It's always got a project or two I'd like to do (but never get around to doing).


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## rrich (Jun 24, 2009)

I've had a subscription to Fine Woodworking (Past tense intended). I'm not sure what it is, but FWW just doesn't float my boat, so to speak.

My favorites:
Woodsmith - Each article is like a semester in a woodworking course. If you bisect each article/project and understand why things are done the way that they are, it's like going to school. When you understand why, then you can easily design or redesign to meet your needs.

Shop Notes - Has a large number of "In the Shop" projects. It is great for all those little things that are necessary for your shop.

Work Bench - WB is undergoing a transition to a no advertising format. (Similar to Woodsmith and Shop Notes) This is a great improvement over the previous format. This magazine is more aimed at home improvement style projects. The projects are a bit slanted toward mid-west style homes and living. However everything can be adapted to even a condominium.

The above three are published by August Home. They are similar in style but I don't remember ever seeing duplicate content. The editorial staff are for the most part woodworkers first and editors second.

Woodworker's Journal - A division of the Rockler companies. This a good magazine with well designed projects and excellent editorial staff. The ownership is coincidental and has almost no effect upon content. The editorial staff (Like August Home) are for the most part woodworkers first and editors second.

Popular Woodworking - Soon to absorb "Woodworking". This is a good magazine with good projects. I know that some of the editorial staff are good woodworkers. I have had e-mail conversations with one of the editorial staff that helped me solve a problem.

American Woodworker - Also a good magazine but just not quite on the same level as the others. This one is a 98 while the others are 99 or 100.

I have listed these in the order that I would keep them if money became too tight. All of these magazines offer an explanation of techniques in side bars. 

At the risk of offending some of you, please understand that woodworking is all about the joinery. I know that some of you do not want to hear this and don't let this statement cause you to stop woodworking as I almost did about 50 years ago. All of these magazines will teach you from the simplest of projects to the most complex ones. Each magazine has a wealth of information that is yours for the taking.

When deciding which magazine to subscribe to, buy a few copies at the news stand or book store. Make your decision based on what you see and like. Remember that about 75% of a years worth of issues will be of very high interest to you while the other 25% will be of lesser interest. It is just the way that it is. 

You may receive subscription offers in the mail. What you receive in these offers is HISTORY. The articles mentioned in these offers have appeared in the magazine over several years. This is all in the past. You are not going to be able to read about the stuff in the offers. These offers are just showing you what the magazine has done. The magazine should continue with these types of articles in the future.


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## Gerry KIERNAN (Apr 20, 2007)

With so many ideas available on this and other forums, and available though search engines on the internet I find that I do'nt really have the need for subscription magazines. I do however check out the magazine rack at the local thrift store regularly for back issues. I like Shop notes for it's ideas, and lack of ads.

Gerry


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## shopsmithtom (Nov 3, 2009)

I've gotten almost a complete set of Fine Woodworking mags going back to the 80's from ebay in various size batches averaging about a buck an issue including the shipping. They are an amazing resource.


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