Fine Woodworking is planning a special issue. Which of these topics would you prefer:
- Hand-tool techniques
- Furniture design
- Furniture projects in a specific style
- Projects of a specific type (e.g., beds)
- Jigs and fixtures
- Methods of work (tips)
- Router techniques
- Workshop solutions
You will not be able to change your vote.
Replies
Halleluja. Hopefully you guys will look at these results and consider it for not only the "special issue" but all of them! NO MORE JIGS please. If I wanted yet another home made tennon jig design, or another obscure use for the router I would read any of the other mags.
Mike
I voted for "Furniture projects in a specific style", but I'd really like to see a focus on the techniques, woods, etc., used in that style, rather than the items of furniture.
To contrive an example, dissect typical "Arts & Crafts" furniture:
- which woods, how cut?
- design elements (ie, how to make a praire sofa or a morris chair "comfortable")
- typical joinery examples (ie, proud through tenons with bevelled edges)
- finishes (ie, which finishing methods were typically used for various items)
That isn't an exhaustive list, but I think you get the picture.
I completely agree with djHSL - I'd like to see a special issue (or a series of special issues) that cover the design and construction that make up specific styles. My personal favorite would be Arts and Crafts style, but I would also like to see the basics of Shaker, Queen Anne, Federal, Modern, or other styles. A lot of times, I try to incorporate details that I like from one style into pieces that use another style as a theme. Knowing the design elements, typical woods, joinery techniques, and finishes that make up a specific style would be most useful.
Loach
I guess the results so far want how to design a piece, and how to build it using hand tools.... can't be a bad thing... ;)
Mike Wallace
Stay safe....Have fun
I would like to suggest articles on techniques in building old classical furniture.
Amen to this.
I have been retired 4 years and now have time for woodworking. Taunton Press' "In the 18th Century Style" is the best (and only) book I have found to date that satisfied my urges. I have made the Chippendale stool which taught me how to carve ball and claw feet - it really wasn't too bad and only cost $150.00 for some good carving chisels. I have used other components from this book for other projects.
Most magazines show you how to build simple furniture - like Mission(all straight cuts). I'd like to to try the harder stuff. I only work in solid cherry and walnut, so far, because I can buy it pretty cheaply. I'd like to see how to make curved front drawers or cabinets using solid wood, not veneers, or other challenging techniques.
My second pick as a topic would ahve been the one on using hand tools - which seems to be second choice for the majority.
I would like to suggest an issue devoted to more modern design, I really liked the coffee table in the most recent issue! Antique reproduction is impressive, but modern, unique designs are more of interest to me. Unfortunately, I think I'm in the small minority...
I support an artical on modern or contemperary designs. Why must " fine " be a period piece? Also, I don't care if it's made with hand tools, machines, both or CNC.DJK
Agree with that.
Cabinetmaker/college woodworking instructor. Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.
You guys should take a look at populwoodworking and the fine job chris has done with that magazine. the articles are of MUCH greater weight, subtelty and substance than what FWW has churned out of late. i hate to say it, but fww has been a total piece of CRAP compared to PWW. Even the rag american woodworker has more meat to it than FWW. Not sure why this is, perhaps the editors of FWW are being pushed to lowest common denominator stuff for commercial reasons?
I think you kind of went overbord bashing our Fine hosts, but I will agree with you that Chris Shwartz is doing a great job with Popular Woodworking. It's really had some great issues for the serious hobbiest over the past several months.
I like Woodworker's journal too lately. It has been running Ian Kirby design articles - one on chairs and now the first in a three part series on how to learn to design. Good solid stuff.
Chris' other magazine (I think called something like "Woodworking") is very good too. And no ads! It's aimed as the serious hobbiest too more than the pros.
FWW definitely has some pro level stuff in it. Like Master Class etc. Not many other mags shoot for that audience. They all have their points depending upon your interests and where you are coming from as far as woodworking experience and aims.
THANK YOU!I agree 100%. I turned my nose at Popular Woodworking because of its mainstream history and reputation, but got desperate because FWW's simple lack of interesting articles...got an issue of PWW at the library and was pleasantly surprised! It seems as if these two mags have swapped places of late. PWW has great articles on the history of the craft, tradition hand tools, design (great articles on "Western Shaker" stuff), and others.-J Conrad
I too have become upset with magazine content from time to time. Too much color and glitz. More advertising than articles, too many articles on how to build a better router table, too many book shelves. Also , too many articles by people with too little experience. Too many articles by women. Oh boy! I 'll catch 'H' for that! I subscribe to 4 or 5 magazines and when I get unhappy with one, I just drop it for a while. Hope they ge the message.
"I would like to suggest an issue devoted to more modern design, I really liked the coffee table in the most recent issue! Antique reproduction is impressive, but modern, unique designs are more of interest to me. Unfortunately, I think I'm in the small minority..."I wholeheartedly agree! And I hope we are not in the minority! Yes, I, too, really liked the coffee table in the latest issue. Reproductions of classical pieces are just a big yawn for me. I'm especially intrigued the combination of materials like wood and steel and glass. I wandered into a furniture gallery yesterday because of the obviously Maloof-ian rocking chair displayed by the front door. But my breath was taken away by a dining chair made of cherry, luciously curved black steel tubing and wenge accents to tie it all together.Let's see initial sketches to final product of origianl design. My $0.02 worth.
"I would like to suggest an issue devoted to more modern design..." "And I hope we are not in the minority!..."
IanD, batorok, it's at least a minorty of 3 :-)
Yes, God forbid they do something on modern design! This Old House just did it. Its a nice change .
LMC
I agree. I have made a couple of period pieces and they are basicly perfect and very attractive. however,I sorta feel like I have plagiarized another's design and the satisfaction is not really there. Much of my enjoyment is from designing a unique piece that is pleasing to the eye and incorporates mostly wood but is enhanced with metal or other elements. When someone visits my home he/she usually notices the unique pieces and not the period pieces. I think that is because most homes have the typical period furniture -its mass produced, and available at an affordable price. Almost everyone, not just the rich, as in the past, has it in their homes. The period stuff is beautiful but the unique stuff is what generates discussion and satisfaction.
I also like to see fabrication techniques that are out of the mainstream and allows designs that stand out. I also wish the gallery section had even more photos -not to copy but just get the juces flowing.
I wouldn't feel too bad about borrowing elements of other designs- there are very few totally original aspects to anything creative. Everyone who has seen or heard anything by someone else will use something based on those experiences, whether it's consciously or not. That's called 'style'. It isn't plagiarism unless you use someone else's design and try to make it seem like you came up with the idea on your own. There are many ways to do a lot of things and some really add to a particular design. The ones that are either too hard to carry out or are just inferior inevitably fall by the wayside.IIRC, Shakespear said "There is nothing new under the Sun". Or, maybe he borrowed that from someone else.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
I'm with you...
Show the styles and what it takes to get to it......you know, fine woodworking......
aloha, mike
Of your many readers, any one of these topics would interest many readers. I voted for workshop solutions. That may not interest me much down the path, and I see it didn't interest others much. I wasn't much interested in some of the other topics, but, hey,what magazine could include only the topics that interested every body most all the time. We need a variety.
Because there is so little published that shows the details of Newport (and comparable) so-called classic furniture pieces, I'd love to see some of these pieces "deconstructed" - especially some of the conventions applied in style, proportion, and aesthetics.
I'd also like to have more light shed upon the methods used to make them - which processes were done by machine and which by hand, what work was completed by apprentices versus what was reserved for the masters, the finishing methods and products used, etc.
I, personally, find the mass and rectilinearity of most craftsman-style furniture extremely boring, even if it is popular.
I'd also like to see more profiles written on noteworthy woodworkers. Pat Edwards and Russ Filbeck come to mind immediately, and there are countless others whose work deserves to be seen by readers of fine woodworking.
-Jazzdogg-
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Gil Bailie
Edited 1/11/2006 1:34 pm by jazzdogg
I'll second Jazzdog's suggestion. I'd love more information on the "classic" furniture of Newport, Philidelphia, Connecticut, etc., and how those guys made a living. From what little I've read, they were turning out fabulous furniture at a pace that would astonish most woodworkers today and, of course, did it all with hand tools.
I'm with Gene, I'd like to see a series of articles on the craftsmen from the colonial period up through to about 1840.It'd be nice (I'm a Southerner) to see one on Southern craftsmen, from Baltimore, Annapolis, Williamsburg, Fredericksburg, Richmond, Savannah, Charleston and the North Carolina coast.Leon
What you're talking about is basically what Home Furniture was. Some of the examples are shown in many of Taunton's other mags and books. If you have the 'Working With Hand Planes' book, Hank Gilpin is in there, along with a couple of others.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
I still miss that publication. When I received the notice that it was being discontinued I was sincerely disappointed; too bad that doesn't seem to have been a lucrative (form them), yet affordable (for us), publishing niche.
-Jazzdogg-
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Gil Bailie
Edited 1/15/2006 10:24 pm by jazzdogg
There are two full books with substantial detail of the Newport construction details alone. Moses Master Craftsman of Newport is unfortunately out of print, with a few copies available at really serious prices. More recent is Morrison Heckscher's John Townsend Newport Cabinetmaker which was written for last year's Townsend display in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC).
Almost every major museum has had a book or three written about pieces in their collection. The Magazine Antiques also has valuable articles, though the publication covers much more than furnture. The annual series American Furniture from the Chipstone Foundation also has lots of solid info, albeit at a scholarly level. It also has a bibliography that lists the articles and books published each year. The 2001 edition, as an example, lists over 9 dense pages of publications. There really is a LOT of material available in print about what many believe was the high point of of American furnituremaking.
Colonial Williamsburg Master Cabinetmaker Mack Headley has published several articles concerning proportion in the furniture of our late colonial period, at least one of which has appeared in Fine Woodworking.
I'd also suggest a visit to Colonial Williamsburg. Mack, and the others in the Hay Shop are very knowledgeable. I'm not sure what you mean "done by machine" since there wasn't much (any?) machinery applied to woodworking in the 18th century. I think the first application was in waterpowered saw mills, not in the cabinet shops until quite a bit later. The first "innovations" were in the manner of organization with increasing specialization, and larger numbers of workers who became employees in the urban shops. There is an annual symposium in Colonial Williamsburg entitled, Working Wood in the Eighteenth Century. Think about attending next January.
Also check out http://www.SAPFM.org for another source of information. They have informative meetings, usually in mid-summer. Between the Williamsburg, and the Sapfm, you would not just have a chance to see the profiles of important producers of American reproductions, Pat Edwards, Phil Lowe, Al Breed, and up and comer Steve Latta and others of course, including Mack Headley. In fact, LOTS of very knowledgeable people associated with SAPFM.
Edited 1/15/2006 10:08 pm ET by SteveSchoene
Thanks for the detailed information, Steve.
Your response could comprise the basis for an excellent Fine Woodworking article: How to pull together various threads in order to come up with a well-researched design for a historically significant piece.
I appreciate the time and effort you expended preparing your most thoughtful response,
-Jazzdogg-
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Gil Bailie
I think it would be great to have articles on building arts and crafts or shaker furniture. They are my favorite and with my tools and skills they are the easist to make. I think someone that has taught on a high school or colledge level that is good at leading you through something reguardles of your ability level. I like tghe thought of design helping with proportions. Even if I don't maake it this high is this wide and this is why it looks so pleasing. Like the New Yankee Workshop telling how I got this done in the easist way A easy made jig to get the best results in the most consistant and timly manner. It seems like I read three finishing articles and four what tools are the best to buy for every building article. A short story on the things in the Readers Gallery would be nice. Many look like things beyond my ability but I'm sure I could learn a great deal from these people. More how to would be great.
I voted for projects of a specific type...
But unlike so many of the FW articles, I'd like the type to not be furniture.
To me, "fine woodworking" includes so many things other than just furniture making.
Ruth,
I cast a vote for hand tool techniques (apparently the current number 2 favorite). But, I wanted to clarify that by this I don't mean yet more articles on hand cut dovetails, M&T joints or flattening a board with a hand plane. I'd like to see some more content on carving, shaping parts with hand tools, perhaps a piece on Japanese style joinery, etc...
But, what I would REALLY like to see -- and there has been a lot of interest on Knots recently -- would be an issue devoted to making hand tools. Although I realize that this might lead us into an issue that is more Fine Metalworking than it is Fine Woodworking.
Whatever it is that you do put together for an issue, please, please, please give us something that we have not seen before -- or at least not for a long time :-)
Best Regards,
Michael
I like this suggestion too.As I start becoming more comfortable on my lathe, I wish I new a little more about making tools...(I know there are other publications but I don't want to spend three hours in Barnes and Noble reading through magazines about my addiction. I want to feed the addicition.)
I think the least explored area is design. I'll see 100 plans / articles with instructions on how I can copy some guy's coffee table for every one single good guideline that really helps me design my own. Why do you choose this joint / thickness / reveal? "Here's how to make the haunched tenon..." OK, but why a haunched tenon. Which forces does it counteract? What must I do with the dimensions for the same stability with a floating tenon? Biscuits? Pocket screws?
The next level isn't copying Marks or Maloof or Krenov, it's making your own statement, informed by the structural limitations of the wood we work with. Even in articles with other aims, I'd love to see a sidebar with every piece highlighting at least one design choice with the major options presented, with a rationale for the final selection.
"I think the least explored area is design. I'll see 100 plans / articles with instructions on how I can copy some guy's coffee table for every one single good guideline that really helps me design my own. Why do you choose this joint / thickness / reveal? "Here's how to make the haunched tenon..." OK, but why a haunched tenon. Which forces does it counteract? What must I do with the dimensions for the same stability with a floating tenon? Biscuits? Pocket screws?
The next level isn't copying Marks or Maloof or Krenov, it's making your own statement, informed by the structural limitations of the wood we work with. Even in articles with other aims, I'd love to see a sidebar with every piece highlighting at least one design choice with the major options presented, with a rationale for the final selection."
Perfectly stated. Wake up FWW
I agree! Right on the mark.
I'd like to suggest something of a combination of the categories listed. My own interest would be something along the lines of designing, for example, a four-poster, 18th century, canopied bed, and then document using hand tools to build it from rough lumber. Make it baroque or rococco ornate, to give the advanced woodworker a challenge, but also point out where the more difficult techniques, etc., could be eliminated for something less decorated and more within the skills of a beginning or intermediate woodworker. Such an article would serve several purposes, could appeal to a larger audience, and could cover several of your listed categories.
And, even though it would not interest me quite as much, the same type of article could be done from the perspective of using power tools, or using a combination of power and hand tools.
Another suggestion, enough with the authors saying use a "sharp" pencil, use a "sharp" chisel, use a "sharp" well tuned plane, use a "sharp" marking knife. We all know to use sharp tools.I'd also like to know more about the pieces the authors make such as Mario R. coffee table; how many hours it took to complete, material cost and what he charged for the piece. Also like a pictorial of their shops and the type, brand of tools and machines they use.DJK
Queen Anne and Methods of Work are the BEST articles. I dream about this stuff. It's got to be be good!
No more routers please!!!!!
Ruth,
I draw a tremendous amount of inspiration from seeing how folks out there are earning a living working wood. I would love to see more profiles of all different kinds of fine woodworking businesses from around the country-heck around the globe. From the solo operator on up to the larger corps. It's good to know that people are out there making a living doing what they love.
Thanks,
-Paul
How about doing an article on Bars, Bar fronts and bar backs. Large ones, small ones, mahogany, oak and cherry?
Like to see it, Lou
Well , I'll vote for Furniture in a specific style thank you.
Particularly, have a project in mind, A Chippendale chair. I believe it was covered by Gene Landon in one of the first few articles of FWW. (or so I've heard) but I have been unable to get a copy of it, sure would like to see that.
Thanx for asking the readers opinions
E
I would like to see the "Fine" back in Woodworking. Other mags have plenty of router, jigs, coffee tables, etc. I am far from a master but I aspire to build fine furniture and not the most elaborate router fence possible.
I voted for Furniture of a specific style. I would like to see more treatment of classic period pieces. How they are built, woods, types of joints, moldings, how to do the difficult like perfecting the rule joint or a tombstone shaped raised panel, or the curved molding on a Philly highboy top.
Secondly, help in learning hand tool techniques is needed in that few of us have access to the master craftsmen that can teach these techniques. I do not have anything against machines but I can learn their application from numerous sources.
That is the FW that generated my original subscription. In my opinion, FW has been drifting away from the “Fine” and catering more to the average.
Chuck
My suggestion is to discuss designs and the design process, using many photos of finished pieces from a wide variety of sources. Include the general techniques involved and highlight key techniques that may be different or unique for a particular piece. In short, show basically how the designer craftsman realized the design into wood.
The old Home Furniture magazine did essentially this and it was excellent. When it went out of production in 1997, the farewell note promised to incorporate some of the Home Furniture content into FWW. For my taste, there was not enough of this done. I think the poll shows that the interest is out there among readers.
There's always a push-pull between the design possibilities that techniques can allow or suggest, and, on the other hand, the broadening of technique fostered by the desire to acheive certain designs. I think FWW can benefit by more focus on the power of design.
By the way, I really enjoyed Michael Fortune's article in FWW 182, p. 54.
I voted for jigs and fixtures, but what I'd really like to see is an article on stand alone machinery that I can build in my shop. Something like a springpole lathe or an old treadle powered sewing machine converted into a scroll saw.
Red-1
It seems to novice me that the distinctions can be difficult to make between Jigs/Fixtures & Tips & Workshop Solutions. Good luck.
How about doing a article one the real side of The Business of Woodworking & Cabinetry. Customer headaches, Problems that arrive with material, Material handling,How to save $,Who cares about sharp tools, I just used a brand new $100 chisal to chisal out a marble threshold. Had to get paid. It was either the $100 chisal or the check for $13,600.The Check won!!!! Lets not sugar coat the #$@& out of woodworking. The only reason we do it Is becouse its in our blood. We thrive on the pressure and bewilderment it brings.
-LMC Get er dun!
Sorry for the repeat posting, but I found this subject later on, and it seems more appropriate.
I would love to see a series devoted to home office furniture such as computer workstation, credenza, lateral file, bookcase etc.
rumplestilskin
I too would add emphasis on my vote for more design info. I found the recent article by Michael Fortune on his process incredibly useful. He had some specific ideas on how to improve designs. Let's see more like this.
A friend once said that all you need is any 50 consecutive copies of FW and you'll have all the technique you need, it's just repeating the same stuff after that.
Jeff
I voted for design and I would like to see modern interpretations of classic styles. Mix in some art nouveau, Victorian, deco stylings and show some how to such as designing and adding carving, overlays, and other adornments.
I agree with you about the jig thing. This magazine should leave them to the others. I probably have plans for 1000 of them in the magazines I bought in the last 10 years only. By that, of course, I mean 50 real ones and 950 versions,clones, sub-clones etc...
On the other hand, since my shop is of limited size, I would welcome EXPERT ADVICE on how and where the hell can I hide them after use or, even better, how to convince my next door neighbour his life is meaningless without my jigs in his empty garage.
I chose specific projects but I had to toss a coin because furniture design was my other favorite. I would have liked a multiple choice survey.
Throw the jigs out!!!!!!!!! I have made so many over the years my shop would be full. I have about three which I uas regularly but the rest get tossed as they are related to the job being done at the time.
When you do the article or series (hopefully) on design, please ask the author to be sure to point out the difference between modern and contemporary. These terms are often used interchangeably (as you will note by usage in many posts here), but they are not the same.
Well at least it wont be another jig issue!
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