Wood Review vs Woodsmith

[Chumley]

G'day all,

There was a post a while ago about someone looking for Aussie woodworking magazines. Someone said that Australian Woodsmith wasn't really Australian, but was American with someone changing the figures from imperial to metric. They recommended Australian Wood Review as the best Aussie woodworking magazine.

Well, I already had a subscription to Australian Woodsmith, so I decided to take out one with Australian Wood Review as well. I've had a couple of issues so far and am in a position to compare them.

To be honest I much prefer the Woodsmith. I'm not that well advanced in woodworking, so prefer magazines that show me how to make things I can handle, with tips and tricks I can use. I find Woodsmith's projects are sometimes easy to cope with, sometimes stretching and sometimes a little beyond me, which is also good as I've got something to aim for. However, the projects in Wood Review are way too complex and often much more 'arty' than I'd like. Wood Review seem to take contributions from woodworkers who are so far in excess of my skills that it'd compare with a first year student trying to sculpt like Michelangelo.

I find the tips and tricks in Woodsmith are often relevant to me - I already have a long list of things to make when I have free time - and the explanations are complete - in other words, the article is all you need to make the project. Yes, sometimes the dimensions are a little funny, but then as I don't have a jointer, planer or thicknesser and I'm restricted to the sizes of timber I can purchase from merchants, I just adjust dimensions to suit me.

In comparison, Wood Review describe projects that are very unrealistic. Don't get me wrong, the projects are obviously made by real craftsmen, fantastic looking pieces, but really out of my league.

I don't think I'll renew my Wood Review subs -- maybe I'll take it up again in 20 or 30 years when I get a bit better.

On the other hand, Woodsmith is number one on my must-have list, and I've started collecting back issues. I can highly recommend it to those who like woodworking but don't have the creative or artistic skills to match those who do this stuff for a living.

Oh and to the person who wrote the article in the latest Wood Review about 'nesting' - creating a home for everything in your workshop so that it is comfortable and a place you look forward to going, I don't really see what is wrong with banging a nail into a shelf or wall to use as a hanging hook. It is the ultimate keeping-it-simple method. But thank you for making me feel like a real dropout - I guess our classless Australian culture is not devoid of snobs.

Cheers,
Adam

[Andy Mac]

Hi Chumley,
Its great you've checked them both out and given it a good think through. I'm leaning the other way, not because I have the necessary skills to make the stuff in AWR-I don't, I'm a bodger in comparison- but because its more of a read, and great inspiration!
Its more to do with the type of person you are, for instance, if you work directly from plans, working with an exact cutting list etc; or even if you are actively looking for something to make! I'm in no position to have that luxury..."Ooh, a plant stand, that sounds like a great project for my empty weekend!!"
Woodsmith, which I have bought a few of, has a couple of achievable projects, with a couple of in-depth columns, but once its flicked through, I'm over it. Nothing wrong with it, excellent illustrations in their house style, but I reckon if you made every project you'd have a house full of matching furniture, a mild-mannered Arts & Craft affair. Nothing too challenging, nothing radical... no doubt you could fiddle with the designs a bit, but so you could with the ones on offer in AWR.
In saying that, AWR isn't really a how-to step-by-step mag: it has a wide range of info, news and opinion, suiting the home-maker, the tradesman and art-farty type, so its a different sort of mag than Woodsmith. The Australian Woodworker is different again, seems to be aimed more at the retired potterer!! Not my cup of tea now, although I used to buy it once.
Anyway, I'm hoping to renew my subscription to AWR soon, just to look at the output and hope that one day I'll have time to make something similar.

Cheers,

[Brown Dog]

Oh and to the person who wrote the article in the latest Wood Review about 'nesting' - creating a home for everything in your workshop so that it is comfortable and a place you look forward to going, I don't really see what is wrong with banging a nail into a shelf or wall to use as a hanging hook. It is the ultimate keeping-it-simple method. But thank you for making me feel like a real dropout - I guess our classless Australian culture is not devoid of snobs.

g'day chumley

Guess Im a snob then .

I tend to strongly agree with the ideas that were put forward in that article. But dont really see how this is snobbery....I built (and continue to add too) my shed the way I wanted it...for me, not to exclude or put down anyone else.

If your nail in a shelf is all you need to keep you happy in your shed...more power to you. Some of us may just need a liitle more .

As for Wood review v Woodsmith....when I started getting into wood working I would buy every magazine the newsagent had. Now I only subscribe to 2 mags (wood review and FWW) and get the odd magazine when something interests me


I suscribe to wood review because I find it inspirational to see how the guys who make a living from woodworking do it (amongst other reasons). I buy woodsmith occasionally when an article details something I may be interested in...but I dont find a lot of the projects very inspiring....informative and educational but not really inspiring.

cheers
BD

[Andy Mac]

I tend to agree with you about that article BD, although I baulked at the 'nesting' tag, a bit too much of the feminine side for me! Nesting in a workshop is how pieces to be cut are placed on a sheet to save waste!
My shed, when it is in a useable state, is a definite den, a place I look forward to retreating into. Posters, old signs and tools, assorted shed artifacts, everything in its place, including special places for each tool. I grew up in a shed with a tool cabinet that had hand-made holders for each tool, which my father learned from my grandfather, much like that article pictured, and I have continued that tradition, see here
I see it as treating a good tool with respect, and that suitable care is reinforced each time it gets pulled out/put back. I have lapsed into using a few nails, simply because I've gathered more tools that wouldn't fit between the rest if I used similar holders... something he warns about! However, the nails are bent to keep the tool there, and have their heads removed then filed, and the hole in the handle is countersunk.
Snobbery? Each to their own, I see it as an extension of myself.

Cheers,

[Sturdee]

Oh and to the person who wrote the article in the latest Wood Review about 'nesting' - creating a home for everything in your workshop so that it is comfortable and a place you look forward to going, I don't really see what is wrong with banging a nail into a shelf or wall to use as a hanging hook. It is the ultimate keeping-it-simple method. But thank you for making me feel like a real dropout - I guess our classless Australian culture is not devoid of snobs.

Cheers,
Adam

If creating an organised workshop is snobbery I must be the ultimate snob around here but I don't feel that at all. I'm just comfortable with the way mine is organised.

Workshop are like woodworking magazines, they are horses for courses and if one style suits you, then use it else don't.

BTW I don't like either magazine.


Peter.

[funkychicken]

I like the woodsmith for easy diagrams and the fact that it's sensible and not arty....I like the Wood Review because of Richard Vaughns article on Plane Restoration last issue... the rest is a bit too arty - good mag, just most of the pieces in it are ridiculous in my opinion.


Nesting??? .... I prefer a much manlier "Stick it in it's place"

[aljenit]

Woodsmith for me for the workshop specific projects & tips-
It wins tools down
AWR occasionally has tool reviews and tune-ups that are interseting,but for value per issue its Woodsmith.

[Harry72]

I go both! They are both quality magazines.
AWW is the one who needs to pick their game up... its still got the 1970's amateurish magazine feel to it. But I still buy it anyway!

[Poppa]

I've got a sub to AWR and FWW (with the Aussie dollar the way it is at the moment, FWW works out at less than $7 per issue delivered, which is too cheap for me to pass up). I often buy Australian Woodsmith at the newsagent as well, because they've usually got something to interest me in every issue. I don't consider myself an arty type, but I am interested in being inspired and challenged, particularly from a design perspective. I also like making (or planning to make at some future point) the things in the Woodsmith.

So I like 'em all....

[Wongo]

I don’t buy Australian Woodsmith. They send them to me for free but I don’t normally read them. Their focus is on making jigs and plywood furniture and I find it a bit boring. But then again that is how I feel about most woodwork mags.

Australian wood review is a little bit more interesting but not by much. I don’t buy them either.

I know, I am hard to please.

[flynnsart]

I would have every issue of every woodworking magazine ever made if I had the money!

They all seem to have their own little speciality, I dont think you could apeal to all woodworkers with every issue, we have so many different needs when it comes to a mag.

We used to subscribe to Aww, got a bit annoyed with it when only seemed to be showing off slabbers with their big slabs, and then they prosecuted some woodworking club for reprinting one of their articles in their little newsletter. I used to read it and then just put it aside, not often I would pull a copy out and re read it. However I find my husband now often gets into the back issues. So may resubscribe again one day once i am over my little ?????? with them.

Woodsmith is a mag I only buy if it has something I particularly want to make some time in the future.

I have bought the odd copy of Awr over the years, it is a high quality mag, aimed more at the higher art studio end of the woodworking scene. I seldom have re read any of them.

I Love FWW and have just recently subscribed for three years and am eagerly awaiting the first issue. I go back through these mags again and again.. you know.....its in one of these somewhere! It has great articles on how to do things, etc.

A couple of other mags I have bought over the years are Woodwork - a Magazine for all Woodworkers (american mag, profiles different woodworkers and usualy has one or two of them showing how they go about their craft ie carvers, chairmakers etc) American woodworker - it has projects and how to's and is a good read. I also like Traditional woodworking (English i think) I have a tattered copy or two which i have read again and again.

And I agree with Harry72 re Aww.

Donna

[Wood Borer]

Like others, I see them as both quite different publications. If you like none, one or both of them then spend/save your money accordingly.

I enjoy reading AWR and I have no issues with the article on nesting.

If you prefer to hang your tools on a nail then do so - you don't have to label those who prefer to store their tools differently "sheilas".

[artme]

If I had a fortune I woul Buy as many WW magazines as I could! But of course that is unnecessary and expensive. (I'm a miser at heart)
I buy AWR but do free reading of Woodsmith in the newsagents- said I was amiser. If Woodsmith has a project I want to tackle, or lots of really good tips I will buy it.

[Chumley]

If you prefer to hang your tools on a nail then do so - you don't have to label those who prefer to store their tools differently "sheilas".

Well it looks like everyone has a slightly different opinion, which is how it should be - interesting that different mags have different targets. I must have a look at FWW, quite a few of you recommend it.

Wood Borer,
I can't figure out if you're agreeing with me or disagreeing with me. Your sentance above is exactly the idea I was trying to get across. But ???? who on earth said anything about "sheilas" ????

Cheers,
Adam

[Wood Borer]

Chumley,

I am agreeing and disagreeing with you but nothing for you to take to heart.

The reference to "sheilas" came from Andy Mac's reply where he said

although I baulked at the 'nesting' tag, a bit too much of the feminine side for me! Nesting in a workshop is how pieces to be cut are placed on a sheet to save waste!

Which is his opinion.

Personally I feel that having well constructed shelves and drawers for your tools that are both functional and stylish provide:

A safe place for your valuable tools - tools look after you the way you look after them

Allow potential customers and others visiting your workshop see that you take care with your work and your tools

Give you a pleasant and enjoyable environment in which to work

I spend more of my awake hours in my workshop than I do in my bedroom or my kitchen. Some people would think it was inappropriate to bang nails in the walls of the bedroom to hang up your clothes, same with nails in the kitchen wall to hang your pots and pans.

Currently my workshop is only my car port (because I am waiting for the Council to approve my shed) but most of my tools are in handcut dovetailed drawers or on finished shelves.

That is just me, if hanging your tools on nails protects them and suits your needs then they perform the task required.

I agree with you that perhaps AWR is not the ideal magazine for those looking for detailed projects and that the Woodsmith is more suitable for those seeking such articles.

I like to design my own projects so I am less inclined to read those detailed articles in Woodsmith.

Thanks for starting the great thread.