Truth In Advertising
No Ads — 100% Woodworking
Sort of.
Woodsmith does not include advertising in their magazine. And they’ve never accepted promotional considerations for using a certain product (like stain). But that doesn’t mean that an occasional reference to a product doesn’t make it into the magazine.
For example, in Issue No. 165 there’s a great looking 12-Drawer Storage Cabinet featured as the Designer Project. The cabinet has a very dark finish that gives it a unique, contemporary look. In the Sources section at the back of the issue, it lists the stain that they used, along with a toll free phone number and a web address for the manufacturer. And that’s it.
In explaining how the Woodsmith staff decided on the look for the cabinet, senior editor Vince Ancona told me that during the design meetings, “… we wanted an opaque finish, similar to paint, but we didn’t want to totally obscure the grain of the wood. Dark finishes are popular right now in many of the furniture catalogs.” (It’s very similar to the Espresso stain of this Pottery Barn console table.)
“So we asked senior designer, Kent Welsh to try a few different stain samples. I believe the stain he used is called “Java” from General Finishes. It’s a gel stain product.”
Also included in this issue of Woodsmith, which is now available on newsstands, you’ll find information about waterproof glues (including a new product called Bolder Bond), moisture meters, tenoning jigs, and outdoor finishes. The point is, even though Woodsmith doesn’t have advertising within the magazine, it is still a good source for information about new woodworking-related products.
Paul Cohen said,
Why is advertising such a dirty word, if having advertising allows you to publish more articles I think that is good. I actually love the sources page, I have used it may times to buy materials and parts to make the projects you show. Sometimes without the exact part details and source it is impossible to actually build the project.
When you offer kits or parts it is even better it saves me the time and trouble of hunting down stuff and at $3+ a gallon of gas it is a real money saver. I looked at building the drum sander and when I went hunting for parts it was easier to buy one but the article was interesting anyway. If you had a kit or detailed parts source list I might have made a different decision.
(posted on July 5th, 2006 at 11:43 am)