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Our friends at The Woodworking Channel are running a poll on their website. It asks what woodworking magazine you read the most. The choices are listed as follows:

American Router
American Woodturner
American Woodworker
Fine Woodworking
Furniture & Cabinetmaking
Popular Woodworking
Wood Magazine
Woodcarving
Woodcraft Magazine
Woodturning
Woodwork
Woodworker’s Journal
and Other

Several of the ones that are listed are specialty magazines (American Router and American Woodturner), focusing on a single aspect of our hobby, such as turning or routing. Three of the magazines — Furniture and Cabinetmaking, Woodturning, and Woodcarving — are published in the UK and may be hard (or expensive) to get here in the US. I didn’t even know they existed until just recently. (And I’ve been subscribing to anywhere from 4 to 10 woodworking magazines since about 1995.)

Woodwork is good magazine that appeals to woodworkers who have an artistic bent, and Woodcraft Magazine, even though it’s only been around for a couple of years, is starting to gain some readers.

The rest of them (American Woodworker, Fine Woodworking, Popular Woodworking, Wood Magazine, and Woodworker’s Journal) are all fine magazines, and I subscribe to all except one.

A few magazines not on the list include Woodshop News, Woodworking and Popular Mechanics. Woodshop News, from Sounding Publications, is a great source of information for consumers, as well as the professional trade. I don’t subscribe, but I always look at it when I’m at the Woodsmith Store in Des Moines. Woodworking, a no-ads limited circulation publication from Popular Woodworking, has started to gain a real foothold with woodworkers interested in hand tools and learning about craftsmanship. Finally, Popular Mechanics has included at least one woodworking article in every issue for many, many years. And every November, they dedicate the entire issue to woodworking. Some of my favorite plans for Arts & Crafts furniture come from PM.

But most odd of all is the absence of any of the woodworking magazines from August Home Publishing. That’s because two of the top four woodworking magazines are Woodsmith and Workbench. According to the last published figures from ABC (Audit Bureau Circulation, 2006)* that I know of, Workbench is number two and Woodsmith is number four. Then there’s ShopNotes. Although its subscription base is smaller than its sister publications, ShopNotes is a one-of-a-kind magazine for woodworkers who are looking at solutions for building shop jigs and storage projects for the shop.

I don’t have the capability to do a poll here, but I’m interested in your comments or feelings. What is your favorite woodworking magazine?

(* According to ABC, Wood Magazine is first in paid subscribers and American Woodworker is #3.)

If you were to sit down and try to redesign any tool so that it’s exactly what you’d want as a woodworker, what tool would it be?

Two of the first tools to come to my mind are the drill press and a contractor’s-style table saw. Most drill presses are made for the metalworker first and foremost. Features that a woodworker would find beneficial are an after-thought, if they’re thought of at all. And the contractor’s table saw, with its motor sticking out the back, is the price you paid for an affordable saw that supposedly is light enough to lug around to the job site.

But, a few manufacturer’s are starting to come around to offer tools with wood shop features. I’m talking in particular about the Powermatic® 2800 VS Drill Press, and the Jet® Pro-Shop line of contractor style table saws. I got a quick look at both of these new tools at IWF — 2006 in Atlanta last week, and are they impressive.

The Powermatic 2800 VS Drill Press has so many features that are great for woodworkers it’s hard to list them all. But I’ll try!

* Single handle variable speed adjustment (with a digital readout)
* A 5/8″ keyless chuck
* Twin LED lights
* And, a new dual laser guide system.

These are all welcome features that provide ease of use and accuracy that is rare on a standard drill press.Best of all is the extra-large table (it has dual extension wings to provide additional support for long work pieces). The table also tilts 90° and has a positive stop at 0°. Its large adjustment handle makes lowering and raising the table quick and easy.But that isn’t all, twin T-slot grooves for a miter gauge, hold-downs or shop-made jigs are milled right into the table top and an adjustable split fence with dust collection port is included.Finally, it doesn’t matter if you’re right or left-handed, because the feed handles can be mounted on either side of the drill press. Whew, that’s a lot of great features!

One of the more impressive new tools I saw at IWF is the Jet Pro-Shop Contractor Style Table Saw.

This table saw has a couple of features more commonly found on cabinet (or hybrid) style table saws. First, is the enclosed cabinet with a 4″ dust port for improved dust collection. The stand makes assembly of this saw significantly easier than a regular contractor’s-style table saw.The Pro-Shop saw has a new Pro-Shop fence with extruded aluminum side boards with T-slots and either 30″ or 50″ rails. The saw below is shown with steel wings, but cast iron wings are also available. A large paddle-style switch is also a nice safety feature on this saw. Once again, you can turn to Workbench Magazine for reviews and much more on these new tools and lots of others in future issues.

Every Thursday night this fall you can learn from the experts at the Woodsmith Store and Woodsmith, ShopNotes, and Workbench magazines. We’ll walk you through the basics of woodworking, tool techniques, safety, terminology, and everything you need to know to build great projects in your home shop. Reference handouts are provided. All questions are welcome.

Click here for more details including a calendar, seminar topics, and how to sign up!     

Try to forget the obviously exclusionary nature of their slogan and you soon realize that Steel City Tool Works is out to “steal” away a big piece of the market with their brand new, full line of woodworking machinery. From what I saw at IWF in Atlanta, the goal is to hit the ground running with the introduction of 35 new tools ranging from dust collection to bench grinders to table saws.

When I first saw the steel gray and black paint scheme I was reminded of another manufacturer of woodworking machinery. That may have been done on purpose, but I doubt it. They made no secret that quite a few of the people working for Steel City formerly worked for the competition, including Delta, Powermatic and Jet. But they’re not out to copy anyone. Their goal is to offer quality machinery without all the gimmicks.

When asked what it is that they hope will set them apart from the competition, the answer was — service. All of the tools are backed by a full, 5-year warranty and they promise to deliver the best customer and technical service and support possible.

From what I could see, they’ve made a good start. Look for more on Steel City Tool Works in future editions of Workbench magazine.

Got tools you want to get rid of?  Got tools you’d like to buy at bargain prices?  Then you need to come to the Woodworkers’ Swap Meet on Saturday, September 9 from 8:00am to 1:00pm sponsored by the Des Moines Woodworkers’ Association.

If you’ve got tools to sell, you need to fill out this form.  You can also see a sampling of tools that will be for sale on page 2 of this form.

Click here for directions to the Woodsmith Store.

Workbench magazine has been a source for great project plans for the home for many, many years. I think I bought my first copy off the newsstand around 1987. Back then, I was a brand new homeowner anxious to turn my 3-bedroom, 1000-square foot ranch-style home into my own idea of a “castle.”

Even though my wife and I were on a tight budget in those days (or maybe because we were), we realized the benefits of updating and maintaining our home. I considered every project that added to the functionality (and beauty) of that small house as an investment. Read the rest of this article »