Wally writes:


One way or the other, magazines will offer a wide variety of projects
from small to large... there's nothing wrong with that and I'm happy
with it too. Some projects make you go through your pile of offcuts
and some others will take months to be completed.

The concern the original poster was more about the fact that the Arts
& Crafts and the Mission styles are all over the place and there's
tons of free plans you can get on the Internet. Despite this fact,
magazines keep publishing those projects like they just invented it.
Getting some new stuff and great designs is a lot harder... WOOD
decided to go the Art's & Crafts route after they came out with some
pretty good and modern stuff in the past.

Let WOOD concentrate on stupid glue tests and blade cleaner tests
while I let my subscription lapse and look other magazines for nicer
projects.


All true. A&C and Mission are dominant right now. IIRC, though, Wood posited
its series of A&C style pieces some time ago, and has been slowly turning them
out. It's not all that easy to turn out a bed plan that can be built by a
majority of the actual woodworkers in a particular audience, should they desire
to do so. Some at the very bottom end will be displeased with the difficulty,
while those with topnotch skills will think the plan is old hat, not worth
their time.

My prediction is that within a year or so, you'll see a return to another
style, or maybe more of a mix of styles, in all the magazines. Sooner or later,
they have to please a goodly number of their readers or go out of business.
Wood has been around for a time. I'd expect it to remain around for a few more
years regardless of losing a few subscribers from this NG.

And, no, I haven't done any project articles for any magazines that show that a
change is coming. I'm about to build us a new bed to replace the new bed we
bought a few years ago, but that has more to do with the lack of quality in
mid-range furniture these days, and a growing waistline that makes sleeping in
a bed rough on the bed, than it does any desire to build a bed. So, no article.

But check out your back issues of Wood. You'll see plenty of variation. And
I'll be more is coming, there and with other magazines that have jumped back
into the '90s...the 1890s, that is.

Charlie Self
"A judge is a law student who marks his own examination papers." H. L. Mencken