OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

269419 "Dennis Heyza" <michigaloot@c...> 2019‑11‑18 Popular Woodworking?
Gentles,

 

Curious if anyone knows the latest on PW. Due to the declining quality of
content and advertising of male sexual performance products, I purposely let
my subscription lapse earlier this year. All was quiet on that front until a
few weeks ago when I started getting daily emails from them containing
advertisements for both woodworking and non-woodworking related products,
and links to online articles, the latest of which was for CNC-based
woodworking ("I can't tell .001" on a micrometer, but I can set my CNC to
exact dimensioning," [sigh]. And based on a cursory glance at the web site
and magazine stands, I can't see they've produced an issue since June.

 

Yes, I can click 'Unsubscribe' and intend to, but just wonderin'.

 

Dennis Heyza
269420 Bill Ghio 2019‑11‑18 Re: Popular Woodworking?
> On Nov 18, 2019, at 8:44 AM, Dennis Heyza  wrote:
> 
> Gentles,
> 
> 
> 
> Curious if anyone knows the latest on PW. Due to the declining quality of
> content and advertising of male sexual performance products, I purposely let
> my subscription lapse earlier this year. All was quiet on that front until a
> few weeks ago when I started getting daily emails from them containing
> advertisements for both woodworking and non-woodworking related products,
> and links to online articles, the latest of which was for CNC-based
> woodworking ("I can't tell .001" on a micrometer, but I can set my CNC to
> exact dimensioning," [sigh]. And based on a cursory glance at the web site
> and magazine stands, I can't see they've produced an issue since June.


I had paid for a two year subscription just before they made the most dramatic
changes. after the ludicrous article on How to Build a Windsor Chair in early
2019, for all the reasons Dennis cited, I wrote them a critique of both the rag
and the article. I also asked for my money back. What a surprise to get a nice
response, acknowledging changes in format, and offering a refund of my
subscription balance. That was around April or May. I’m SURE my refund will be
here soon…

Bill
269421 "John M Johnston (jmjhnstn)" <jmjhnstn@m...> 2019‑11‑18 Re: Popular Woodworking?
Galoots Assembled,

It seems that over the past couple of years I have let my subscriptions lapse
for both PW and FW.  I found I just wasn't reading them, in some cases nothing
more that flipping through the pages.  While interesting in some instances, the
content was neither engaging or relevant to the work I do.

Cheers,
John
269422 Gary Roberts 2019‑11‑18 Re: Popular Woodworking?
PWW. The continuous ownership and management changes have taken their toll.
Woodsmith aka Active Interest Media now owns the mag. I expect the mag to be
wholly absorbed by Woodsmith and to disappear altogether.

Full disclosure: I used to contract with the original PWW to sell books via
there website. After F&W stepped in with new management, I ended up canceling
that contract due to ongoing problems. It’s a pity but, there is always Mortise
& Tenon!

Gary
269423 Kirk Eppler 2019‑11‑18 Re: Popular Woodworking?
On Mon, Nov 18, 2019 at 5:54 AM Dennis Heyza 
wrote:

> Curious if anyone knows the latest on PW. Due to the declining quality of
> content and advertising of male sexual performance products, I purposely
> let
> my subscription lapse earlier this year. All was quiet on that front until
> a
> few weeks ago when I started getting daily emails from them containing
> advertisements for both woodworking and non-woodworking related products,
> and links to online articles, the latest of which was for CNC-based
> woodworking ("I can't tell .001" on a micrometer, but I can set my CNC to
> exact dimensioning," [sigh]. And based on a cursory glance at the web site
> and magazine stands, I can't see they've produced an issue since June.
>
>
>
> Yes, I can click 'Unsubscribe' and intend to, but just wonderin'.
>

  I too have been getting the daily (or weekly) email, and don't find them
terribly enlightening.  Will unsubscribe one of these days.

I have not been reading my paper subscription, so I don't know if I haven't
been getting it.    Oh well, it was only $20.

-- 
Kirk Eppler in Half Moon Bay, CA, almost done with rehabbing a Reed 203-1/2
mechanics vise.
269424 Michael Suwczinsky <nicknaylo@g...> 2019‑11‑18 Re: Popular Woodworking?
I had the electronic subscription for a few years, trying to save trees for
more appropriate uses but found the content hasn't really spoken to me in a
long while. When Megan Fitzpatrick left as the editor (and
'mutual-agreement-to-part-ways" statement that reeked a threatened
severance and an NDA)  I cancelled that scrip too. The hand tool and Old
skills content that Chris Schwartz brought to the magazine are not the
focus any longer. The Lost Art Press Blog and many other electronic
resources seem to fill the need the print magazines once satisfied. I let
FWW go when it became more pictures than text and the captions on the
pictures just paraphrased the text.  Old issues of FWW are still a pleasure
to read, with dense text, explanatory captioning and deep dives into craft,
and I grab those old issues whenever they show up at sales.

Michael

On Mon, Nov 18, 2019 at 5:54 AM Dennis Heyza 
wrote:

> Gentles,
>
>
>
> Curious if anyone knows the latest on PW. Due to the declining quality of
> content and advertising of male sexual performance products, I purposely
> let
> my subscription lapse earlier this year. All was quiet on that front until
> a
> few weeks ago when I started getting daily emails from them containing
> advertisements for both woodworking and non-woodworking related products,
> and links to online articles, the latest of which was for CNC-based
> woodworking ("I can't tell .001" on a micrometer, but I can set my CNC to
> exact dimensioning," [sigh]. And based on a cursory glance at the web site
> and magazine stands, I can't see they've produced an issue since June.
>
>
>
> Yes, I can click 'Unsubscribe' and intend to, but just wonderin'.
>
>
>
> Dennis Heyza
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> OldTools is a mailing list catering to the interests of hand tool
> aficionados, both collectors and users, to discuss the history, usage,
> value, location, availability, collectibility, and restoration of
> traditional handtools, especially woodworking tools.
>
> To change your subscription options:
> https://oldtools.swingleydev.com/mailman/listinfo/oldtools
>
> To read the FAQ:
> https://swingleydev.com/archive/faq.html
>
> OldTools archive: https://swingleydev.com/ot/
>
> OldTools@s...
>


-- 
Michael
269425 Ken Wright <wizard@b...> 2019‑11‑18 Re: Popular Woodworking?
And here I thought I was the only one mourning the loss of what PWW used
to be!

I still have my subscription, and I received the November 2019 issue a
few weeks ago, so they haven't completely gone toes-up.

Ken

On 11/18/19 8:44 AM, Dennis Heyza wrote:
> Gentles,
>
>  
>
> Curious if anyone knows the latest on PW. Due to the declining quality of
> content and advertising of male sexual performance products, I purposely let
> my subscription lapse earlier this year. All was quiet on that front until a
> few weeks ago when I started getting daily emails from them containing
> advertisements for both woodworking and non-woodworking related products,
> and links to online articles, the latest of which was for CNC-based
> woodworking ("I can't tell .001" on a micrometer, but I can set my CNC to
> exact dimensioning," [sigh]. And based on a cursory glance at the web site
> and magazine stands, I can't see they've produced an issue since June.
>
>  
>
> Yes, I can click 'Unsubscribe' and intend to, but just wonderin'.
>
>  
>
> Dennis Heyza
>
>  
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> OldTools is a mailing list catering to the interests of hand tool
> aficionados, both collectors and users, to discuss the history, usage,
> value, location, availability, collectibility, and restoration of
> traditional handtools, especially woodworking tools.
>
> To change your subscription options:
> https://oldtools.swingleydev.com/mailman/listinfo/oldtools
>
> To read the FAQ:
> https://swingleydev.com/archive/faq.html
>
> OldTools archive: https://swingleydev.com/ot/
>
> OldTools@s...

-- 
Registered Linux user #483005

If you ever think international relations make sense, remember this:  
because a Serb shot an Austrian in Bosnia, Germany invaded Belgium.
269426 "Steve Jones" <stjones@k...> 2019‑11‑18 Re: Popular Woodworking?
GGs;

Just got the December issue - as expected, mostly power tools (and a little CNC)
with some cleanup and details with hand tools. Most of the ads have something to
do with woodworking. I wouldn't subscribe now, but I'll let mine run out. Every
once in a while there's something useful or interesting.

On Mon, Nov 18, 2019, at 3:14 PM, Ken Wright wrote:
> And here I thought I was the only one mourning the loss of what PWW used
> to be!
> 
> I still have my subscription, and I received the November 2019 issue a
> few weeks ago, so they haven't completely gone toes-up.
> 
> Ken
> 
> On 11/18/19 8:44 AM, Dennis Heyza wrote:
> > Gentles,
> >
> > 
> >
> > Curious if anyone knows the latest on PW. Due to the declining quality of
> > content and advertising of male sexual performance products, I purposely let
> > my subscription lapse earlier this year. All was quiet on that front until a
> > few weeks ago when I started getting daily emails from them containing
> > advertisements for both woodworking and non-woodworking related products,
> > and links to online articles, the latest of which was for CNC-based
> > woodworking ("I can't tell .001" on a micrometer, but I can set my CNC to
> > exact dimensioning," [sigh]. And based on a cursory glance at the web site
> > and magazine stands, I can't see they've produced an issue since June.
> >
> > 
> >
> > Yes, I can click 'Unsubscribe' and intend to, but just wonderin'.
> >
> > 
> >
> > Dennis Heyza
> >
> > 
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > OldTools is a mailing list catering to the interests of hand tool
> > aficionados, both collectors and users, to discuss the history, usage,
> > value, location, availability, collectibility, and restoration of
> > traditional handtools, especially woodworking tools.
> >
> > To change your subscription options:
> > https://oldtools.swingleydev.com/mailman/listinfo/oldtools
> >
> > To read the FAQ:
> > https://swingleydev.com/archive/faq.html
> >
> > OldTools archive: https://swingleydev.com/ot/
> >
> > OldTools@s...
> 
> -- 
> Registered Linux user #483005
> 
> If you ever think international relations make sense, remember this: 
> because a Serb shot an Austrian in Bosnia, Germany invaded Belgium.
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> OldTools is a mailing list catering to the interests of hand tool
> aficionados, both collectors and users, to discuss the history, usage,
> value, location, availability, collectibility, and restoration of
> traditional handtools, especially woodworking tools.
> 
> To change your subscription options:
> https://oldtools.swingleydev.com/mailman/listinfo/oldtools
> 
> To read the FAQ:
> https://swingleydev.com/archive/faq.html
> 
> OldTools archive: https://swingleydev.com/ot/
> 
> OldTools@s...
> 

"Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire." --Gustave
Mahler
Steve Jones

"Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire." --Gustave
Mahler
269440 Dan Beck <drumsandbacon@g...> 2019‑11‑22 Re: Popular Woodworking?
I've had some issues with them. About a year ago I signed up for the
Popular Woodworking Online Video Subscription - at $19.99 a month. It was
pretty steep, but they have every episode of The Woodwright's Shop, so that
alone was worth the price of admission for me. Several months ago, I
decided to cancel my subscription and sent them an email to do so. I
received a response saying my subscription was canceled. The
following month, I get dinged $19.99 again. I send them an email and the
email gets bounced. Turns out PW's parent company F+W Media has filed
bankruptcy. I get ahold of the new company that bought the PW digital video
assets (AIM Media) and ask them to cancel my subscription. I get an email
back saying I'm all set. Next month rolls around and I get charged again!
This happens over the course of four months, so now I'm out $80 and no one
seems to know who is charging me and why. Finally, just this past week, I
discover that a different company (Golden Peak Media) who bought some of
F+W's other assets (like Beadwork, McCalls Quilting, Knitscene) was, for
some reason, billing me monthly for the PW video subscription they didn't
even own! They claimed to have canceled future charges and they did
actually refund me for the last four months. But I wonder how many other PW
subscribers have been incorrectly charged by wayward companies who bought
up some small portion of F+W Media's empire.

As for the magazine itself, someone gave me a gift subscription last year,
and I agree - not really all that compelling. I find the content pretty
uninteresting after Chris Schwarz and Megan Fitzpatrick left.

-Dan
269442 curt seeliger <seeligerc@g...> 2019‑11‑22 Re: Popular Woodworking?
Dan tells about some crummy billing problems, and then sez:
> As for the magazine itself, someone gave me a gift subscription last year,
> and I agree - not really all that compelling. I find the content pretty
> uninteresting after Chris Schwarz and Megan Fitzpatrick left.

The rockstars are gone, yes. Yoav Liberman has been pretty interesting,
writing about teaching wood shop and 'bottom feeder' activities like
restoring tools found at the curb and using discarded furniture and other
sources of free wood.  While I'm not interested in doing any wood
machining, it's sometimes interesting to see what the CNC makes possible.

cur - who has no idea how anyone can turn that into profit, so the magazine
is in better hands than mine.
269443 don schwartz <dks@t...> 2019‑11‑22 Re: Popular Woodworking?
Except if it was made for a left-handed worker, maybe.

Don
269481 curt seeliger <seeligerc@g...> 2019‑12‑04 Re: Popular Woodworking?
On another somewhat contrary note, PW is also including art-focused
articles, like Woodwork did while they published. Art isn't my thing any
more than CNC, but I find it at least as interesting. I hope they are able
to pursue that direction.
They are currently running a series on (mostly young) wood-based artists,
the latest being this --
https://www.popularwoodworking.com/interviews/making-a-seat-at-the-
table-teresa-audet/">https://www.popularwoodworking.com/interviews/making-a
-seat-at-the-table-teresa-audet/

cur - I miss Woodwork, and am glad to have my issues to meander through.
(and boy, do I have some issues, but that's another story)


Dan tells about some crummy billing problems, and then sez:
269825 "Joseph Sullivan" <joe@j...> 2020‑01‑29 Re: Popular Woodworking?
I know this is two months after the original post, but I am catching up.  I
let my PW subscription lapse when I realized the mags were piling up.  It
wasn't so much that it was bad, as just not that interesting.  Publications
are all about the teams that create them; sometimes a change-over
reinvigorates, and sometimes the opposite.  In this case apparently the
opposite.  TO be honest, although I did like the pub back in the Megan and
Swartz days, I originally subscribed to Woodworking.  When they merged it
back into the parent, I stayed on.

Once, the FWW web forum was a magical place, with some superb craftspeople
and a lot of serious-about-it-but-not-so-superb guys like me learning from
them.  However, they cut out all their paid experts, and did not exercise
even a modicum of care wit the site -- no moderators, so flame warriors and
boring know-nothings spoiled everything.  I haven't even clicked on their
sites in many years now.  

Sic Transit Gloria Mundi

J
269829 Ed Minch <ruby1638@a...> 2020‑01‑29 Re: Popular Woodworking?
Joe

Last week I went to the Woodworking in the Eighteenth Century annual session in
Williamsburg.  They handed out a free copy of the latest FWW to each of us.  I
stopped my subscription about 10 years ago now because of repitition.  This
issue had a 5 page article on making your own wooden spokeshave, something that
the 3 makers of blades that I know of take anly 2 or 3 pages to tell, and that
have been out there for up to 20 years now when you buy a blade.  Always one or
two little things you learn,  but hard to remember all that stuff at the time
you need it.

How many times have you been doing something in the shop, developed a method to
do it, did it, then remembered that specialized tool that you bought just for
that job - DOH!

Ed

Recent Bios FAQ