Comments on: Try Digital with a Free Project

By: Pilgrimm

Pilgrimm — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 15:57:12 +0000

Yes, thanks Megan, but it might be a nice idea if you guys were to detail someone with a brain whose reponsibility would be to make certain that the link corresponds to the correct PDF. I’m tired of waiting forever for links to open, then to find out it’s the same PDF I was just looking at, and no, I didn’t click on the wrong link….. I’d rather waste this time in my shop. But thanks just the same!

By: icmguy

icmguy — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 21:35:51 +0000

So here in Connecticut; I just spent a week without power and 10 days without internet. Woodstove cooking and oil lamp reading got us through. Digital is great but certainly has it’s limitations. Paper still rules when Mother Nature decides we need a little humility.
My 11 year old son and I spent quality time reading back issues and planning our next projects. Quality time like that is hard to get, but I find him going through more of my books and back issues even though we are back to “normal”.
I’ll download the plan( it looks wonderful ) but I’ll be certain to print it out and file it.

By: xylosapiens

xylosapiens — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 15:56:05 +0000

In my humble opinion, the picture on step 10 shows a very dangerous way to rout the donut feet: it are small and round pieces, difficult to be firmly gripped. There are ways to do it safely, the easiest may be using a central hole to fix the piece loosely to a ¿jig? An experienced woodworker may correctly evaluate the risk to rout it as shown in the picture. But an unexperienced hobbyist may commit a bloody mistake. I´m sure it will take least to build this jig (or any other) than waiting a new finger tip to grow if routed instead of the wood chunk. http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=f533dc8fc6217a20c585efee365243b5 here I share for free an SU plane of a very basic jig.

By: Ralph Snyder

Ralph Snyder — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 15:34:29 +0000

After a hundred years, Chris Schwarz can still read Roubo’s plans for a bench on paper and spill beer on the pages. The “digital formats” are great for today’s technology and ease of use, but given the fragile nature of CDs, DVDs, PDF, JPEG, BMP, TIFF, Skip, CAD, hard drives, etc., and the ever changing software formats, it is very doubtful that those “digital formats” will still be available and accessible a hundred years from now, let alone 50 or even 10 years from now. I use CAD extensively in my work as an architect. That format has change / updated so extensively, that plans in early releases(prior to R9 formats) have incompatiblity problems with the newest releases. Likewise, newer plans in the latest releases are almost useless unless “saved” in the newer releases to older versions. However, not all can be had. I surmise, along with my computer geek brother, that the same can, and is, happening with other electronic / digital formats. And, if you spill beer on them, well, they are rendered for the scrap heap. Please keep and produce both the printed and digital formats!

By: Don

Don — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 13:26:49 +0000

When I read the description I was expecting to see a digital plan.
The photos and description of the work are fine, but the plan?
At the very least I thought you’d have a SketchUp model which allows one to examine every aspect of the plan, including exact demensions, and is a free download to anyone.
I had an experience with the editor of another, unnamed, woodworking magazine who asked me to do a SketchUp model of a product and then showed his lack of understanding of the medium by using the SU model as drawings for the printed page, expecting the same features as a 2D drawing. He never did offer the .skp file to his readers, not even on his website.
I think we should hold a seminar for editors to bring them up to speed on what the digital world has to offer and how to use it for their readership.
Please don’t take offense at this, but accept it as encouragement to get on the digital bandwagon.

Don “Dances With Wood” Butler

ps.
Against popular opinion, I dare say I’m a great deal older than you and still learning things every day.
ddwwb

By: holland

holland — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:39:32 +0000

Really? You define “digital version” as a .pdf? How 1980’s – and a waste of your intellectual capital and, among others, the iPad’s capabilities. How can you be so far ahead in your use of videos and blogs and so far behind in content delivery?

By: Edward in Vancouver

Edward in Vancouver — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 06:04:00 +0000

Uhhh—no. I’ll turn the pages manually for a while yet.

It’s not the technology, that’s fine.

It’s not the content, Pop Woodworking is excellent.

Why the hesitation?

My Dad once gave me three pieces of advice to follow:

1)Never argue with a Cop
2)Never buy foods with the word “chef” and/or “blend” in the product description.

and

3) Never give your Visa # to a magazine or book club

Now I know Pop Woodorking has nothing to do with the collecting of money, subscriptions, or debiting of Visa accounts. But,uh.. no thanks.

By: robert

robert — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 14:55:42 +0000

What book is that plan out of? I might like to buy the book (in dead tree form)?

By: Megan Fitzpatrick

Megan Fitzpatrick — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 14:35:08 +0000

Good thoughts, all. We’ll keep those in mind as we develop more content.

For what it’s worth, we do offer digital issues going back a few years, in PDF format. And the newer issues are optimized for iPad viewing (and for any device that can read PDFs) so that you can zoom in and see details clearly.

By: tsstahl

tsstahl — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 04:30:46 +0000

I agree. However, content costs real money.

I like my dead tree version, and the costs associated with it.