Thread: Fine woodworking site and magazine

I subscribe to the digital version, I find it very good, all the articles are available for download in pdf format every month.

With the digital subscription you also get access to the complete archive of articles and videos etc.

Well worth the money, from memory it only costs about 2 paper issues from the Oz news stand.

I'd recommend getting the Fine Woodworking DVD Archive, it covers all issues from 1975 to present and your access doesn't go away when you stop paying rent to FWW for access.

The paying rent to access your content was what stopped me from buying FWW after several years as a subscriber, all you were getting was a bunch of pretty pictures, ads and some links to the real content that stopped working after a few weeks if you didn't keep paying for access to it. This is not a business model that I want to support.

And the old issues had way more information in them, such as how to frame staircases and lots of traditional and hand woodworking.

Some US based stores have the 2014 DVD on sale:
http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/f...3-dvd-rom.aspx

It does not seem to be available direct from FWW/Taunton.

FWW is a good magazine. I subscribed at one time. I no longer subscribe because it is not my style.

My suggestion is to purchase a couple of issues from the newsstand before you decide.

I started buying FWW around 1993 and stopped in 2004ish - I used to get it for the snob/aspirational value as there were very few downmarket articles in it (you'd never find a 'Build this kitchen paper roll holder out of some hardware store dowel in a weekend!' or 'Pine and estapol - a match made in heaven?' articles like you'd get in some mags) but since the mid naughties their article mix has been too n00b friendly to convince me to part with my dollar.

Originally Posted by bsrlee

Some US based stores have the 2014 DVD on sale:
http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/f...3-dvd-rom.aspx

It does not seem to be available direct from FWW/Taunton.

I ordered via Taunton a few months ago when they had a 20% off sale offer for a week. I did post a link to the discount offer somewhere on the Forums one day into the sale period. I received the offer as part of the regular email spruiking that they send me, but it can be found under the DVD section in their online store as well.

I am a mag subscriber and online subscriber. I like access to the range of videos etc that they have available for online members.
Just got my mag renewal, $74US fo 2 years International. From memory the online is around $34US pa reducing to $14US pa if you are also a mag subscriber.

I have been a subscriber to FWW for 20 years. I have their DVD archive as well - that was a gift/payment when I was a moderator there several years ago on their forum, Knots. I will dip into it every now-and-then when researching a build or looking for information. I also extracted the PDF files and copied them to my iPad, and reading old mags on long overseas plane trips is wonderful.

There is no doubt that the early years of FWW were the best, and there are a great many "classic" articles by experienced furniture makers. Writers cycle each decade, and now we have a new bunch with a few old names. Articles are repeated, updated, freshened with new techniques. They stay the same and they are different at the same time.

Being an on-line member also offers a searchable on-line archive as well as a great many videos to watch.

The other - perhaps absolute - favourite I have is Woodwork, which discontinued some years ago, but has been an annual publication for the past few years. Where FWW offers conservative features, WW offered provocative designs. It offered biographies of woodworkers. It was about woodworkers, and generally more advanced woodworkers. I believe that all the back issues are available on DVD - which I also have, and reread and reread on my iPad.

The third magazine, and still in production, is Popular Woodworking. This had a stronger handtool orientation when it was guided by Chris Schwarz, and seems to lost a bit of its zest under the new leadership. However I have faith in Megan, and it will continue to be a good read.

It is relevant to explain that I treat the modern woodworking magazine as a light-hearted read. Rarely do I learn something significant, but I still come away feeling that it has been fun and entertaining. These are not classics. They are a 15 minute read.

It comes down to what you can afford. I'm fortunate that I can write magazines off as they end up in my waiting room.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Derek,
Funny about perceptions.

In my perception I dropped Pop WW while Chris was in the identity crisis years of hand vs. electrons for Pop WW. It seemed that Pop WW evolved into a dearth of electrons.

For me, I'll use hand tools when appropriate but not to force the exclusiveness of electrons.