In deep appreciation for this site

On a site such as this you can choose the pages you want to see and the order in which to see them. With a magazine you’re sort of forced to leaf through from front to back (or vice versa).

-- Phil Allin - There are woodworkers and people who collect woodworking tools. The woodworkers have a chair to sit on that they made.

Magazines kind of trick you into thinking you have to use a bunch of machines and whatever else the advertisers want you to buy too. You kind of lose track of what your own goals and thoughts are.

Far better than the info available by any type of search is the help, wisdom, suggestions.and expertise freely given by the members. You just can’t ask a magazine to clarify what is written. Kudos to all and to all a good night.

-- "PLUMBER'S BUTT! Get over it, everybody has one"

I was cleaning up files on my PC and came across my 2015 cummulative archive of Fine Wood Working. I also found one for American Wood Worker and a couple of other. I looked through some back issues, and it dawned on me I learn more and better from spending an hour browsing here than I ever got out of all those mags.

- ShopCat

Very true, and I can attest that if you do a project in progress, or a blog as they call it here, you will get a lot of feedback that will help make your project better. Maybe even take it in a direction you never thought of and come out with much more than you expected for a lot less effort.

-- Live to tell the stories, they sound better that way.

I agree…the help and feedback from LJ has helped me SO much. Responses to my (many) questions as well as listening in on other discussions has made LJ a favorite place to spend some time and learn a lot.

Its a good observation …...... I as well have gotten more out of this site then my little library of woodworking books.

Before the internet books and magazines were all we had. Unless you were lucky to live next to a seasoned woodworker.
The passing of Charles Neil made me realize someday there will be no one alive that was working wood before the internet. I wonder how much it will change. I have my thoughts and they are not good. YouTube has watered the craft down.
Too much parroting and copycat stuff.

-- Aj

i agree that this is one great site . just been here maybe a few months now…even though i’ve been in home remodeling for most of my working days i dont know it all and have learned some things on here….also want to thank anyone who has answered my sometimes dumb questions….at times I just draw a blank on some things but you guys have helped alot

Yep your 100% correct ShopCat, otherwise I would just think your doing a serious amount of sucking up.

Its a bit like Alice’s Restaurant eh what?

I even learned about Abranet here!

-- Regards Rob

I hadn’t really thought of things in quite that way, but reading your comments made me think back to when I stopped getting Woodsmith and FWW. Sure there were some plans and good ideas in Woodsmith and FWW generally had some decent articles but there was no way to ask questions or interact with the authors. On LJs, you can get help, advice, suggestions, and a whole lot more detail than you can from any magazine and the price is right as well.

-- Earl "I'm a pessamist - generally that increases the chance that things will turn out better than expected"

I really like the format here. I can see project ideas, and then move over to the forum section to either advise someone else or get advice on a topic I actually need help with. Haven’t found a magazine with that capability yet. but even in the on-line world, and I have looked, there is just not another site out there that is as easy to get good advice on woodworking. I tried Facebook, Instagram and a couple of other “forums” that I was told would be excellent sources. Not as good as LJ in my opinion. Well done to the format, but more importantly, well done to all the members that keep this site relevant.

-- Don't outsmart your common sense

Before the internet books and magazines were all we had. Unless you were lucky to live next to a seasoned woodworker.
The passing of Charles Neil made me realize someday there will be no one alive that was working wood before the internet. I wonder how much it will change. I have my thoughts and they are not good. YouTube has watered the craft down.
Too much parroting and copycat stuff.

- Aj2

There is still quite a bit of good information on youtube if youre willing to search for it. The top results are always going to be someone copying someone else. I only subscribe to the folks I seeing doing real innovation and I cant count how many times i see someone else copying that persons design and often without even crediting the original. The part that scares me about youtube is in the future i think everything will be built with pocket holes. Need to join a bunch of planks to make a table top…just use pocket holes.

Anyway enough of my ranting this site really is spectacular. You can gain knowledge on anything. How to restore an old tool, how to setup a shop or dust collector, how to quit screwing up finishes, or even how to carve a wooden duck.

Robscastle,

My kid went to school in Christchurch. How bad did the All Blacks beat you guys in the Bledso this time. As a youth I lived in Earls Court. There is no Oz-ite behaviour (note the British spelling here) that can surprise or offend. I even watched Barry MacKinzie.

-- ShopCat