Anyone subscribe to Woodsmith?

[BrazosJake]

Wasn't sure which forum to post this to, but since it involved a free copy of Woodsmith, decided it qualified for BA:-)

Does anyone subscribe, and if so how do you like it?

I'd been getting all sorts of subscription offers from them, then the freebie showed up. There's some cool shop projects, including a bandsaw tension QR.

FWIW, I also just got Jim Toplin's "The Toolbox Book", very cool, some great shop project ideas in there.

[WayneJ]

I got my free copy also.was wondering the same thing. It looks interesting and you get a free year for the price of one.
I also got another free drill index from the Handymam mag. I must have about 15 of them out in the shop, they don't give up.
Wayne

[MilDoc]

Personally I like Woodsmith and ShopNotes. Gives me plenty of ideas for when I get better at woodworking!

[Deadhead]

You might be able to find some thread in Tool Talk about Woodsmith and magazines in general.

I subscribed to Woodsmith but let it expire. I found it interesting and liked not having to flip through ads. I still very much consider myself a noob, so most of the projects were beyond my skill level. If it's a good deal, definitely give it a try.

Maybe someone else can confirm this, but it seems like the shop stuff just started showing up within the past 5 or 6 issues.

[MikeMcCoy]

I get several wood working magazines but Woodsmith and Shopnotes are my favorites also.

[Ken Massingale]

Woodsmith is one of my favorites.

[Pappy]

Ditto. Woodsmith and Shopnotes are two of the best available.

[LCHIEN]

Personally I like Woodsmith and ShopNotes. Gives me plenty of ideas for when I get better at woodworking!

I agree with the other posters, I lilke those two companion magazines very much. Very informative, Lots of good info and examples in a easy to read, well illustrated, keeper-quality, worth-saving edition.

[Stormbringer]

ShopNotes is my fav. Gotta love the redisigned, more content look. Seems they are heavier on the tips and jigs than Woodsmith who are heavier on the more "advanced" so to say projects.

Both excellent depending on your skill leve IMHO of course

[radhak]

i subscribe to Woodsmith and Shopnotes, and collect older issues too (ebay is pretty useful here). All projects seem doable, and the detail in describing steps to a project/jig is unmatched by other magazines.

as for the free issue, i keep getting those even now, 6 months into my subscription! they have a bad database retrieval, seems like.

this time they even sent one to my wife (and she looked suspiciously at me to convey that she thought it was my doing... ) !

[lrr]

I love the detail and LARGE diagrams in Shop Notes. I am building a small corner china cabinet for my daughter, and it is the most complex project I've tackled. But, it is coming out great. All the helpful hints in the magazine have really helped.

And I've also acquired a number of new tools because of it -- web clamps, a few new router bits, etc.

[BigguyZ]

This is interesting, since I also received a recent free copy of Woodsmith. In addition, shortly before that, I received a mailer from ShopNotes for a promotion as well. So yeah- a coincidence? I'm wondering where they got my info? Rockler? Woodcraft? Not that it's a huge deal, just curious.

[Steelnsilk]

Wives will do that.....

Look suspiciously at us.....After 33 years..Mine still does

[bert11]

link?

Does anyone have a link to Shopnotes and Woodsmith?

[wassaw998]

WoodSmith/ShopNotes/WorkBench are from the same folks. They also run the WoodNet forum. I took ShopNotes for 2 years as it was highly recommended. I am definitely the lone wolf here, but, I did not like it. I guess my gripe is twofold; the articles are of things I'd never build, and the "reviews" seemed to just be sales pitches. (Which I felt was bad for a mag that does not have any ads - which you'd think meant they were unbiased). Anyways, I did not hate it, but, did not like it either ! I've looked through Woodsmith before, the theme is a bit different, but, it has the same feel.

You can find these at the big box stores so I'd recommend you check them out there before paying for a subscription. Also of note, when I dropped ShopNotes is that I keep getting this call from Flagstaff Az asking me to re-subscribe, they are really getting on my nerves.