Popular Woodworking Magazine » Required Reading

What Type of Woodworker Are You – Honestly

Christopher Schwarz — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 18:24:12 +0000

Years ago I was asked to judge a building contest put on by Bosch that pitted young technical students against one another for a big cash prize and a whole bunch of tools. For the contest, the students were given a plan, some wood, some tools and a certain number of hours to get it … Read more »

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Psst, Hey Troublemaker. Wanna Buy a Book?

Christopher Schwarz — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 00:19:38 +0000

I am pleased to announce that ShopWoodworking.com now sells “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest,” a book that took me two years to write. And the process of writing this book so changed my perspective on the world that I stepped down as editor of Popular Woodworking Magazine. The book has its critics, and I imagine you’ll … Read more »

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Time to Grow Up

Christopher Schwarz — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 23:43:40 +0000

“Now,” said John, “we will put the work away for today.” “Why, I am not tired,” said Benny. “Neither am I,” said John; “but uncle Edward said, that, if we meant to make a good job of it, we must always leave off our work before we began to get tired.” This was excellent advice; … Read more »

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Finishing for the Rest of Us

Christopher Schwarz — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 04:10:59 +0000

Here’s some tough love: Most good woodworkers are terrible finishers. I know this because I have seen hundreds – probably thousands – of pieces of furniture that have been entered in competitions or in juried shows during the last 15 years. And while the design, wood selection and joinery might be excellent, the finish is … Read more »

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Roy Underhill’s 3 Favorite Books

Christopher Schwarz — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 10:48:26 +0000

In the June 2011 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine we have a fun article that lists all of the woodworking books that the magazine’s staff consider to be “classics.” It’s a great list, but the best part of the article is that we went to many of our contributors and asked them which books they … Read more »

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A Gift for My Successor

Christopher Schwarz — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 12:35:48 +0000

In 2006 a reader sent me a little spiral-bound black book that was filled with handwritten notecards. Graphs. Equations. Photos. It was a carefully assembled list of all my mistakes and misdeeds during the previous decade. It called me out as a fake – someone who doesn’t understand woodworking or handwork or editing a magazine. … Read more »

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Significant Staff Changes at Popular Woodworking Magazine

Christopher Schwarz — Wed, 25 May 2011 16:34:23 +0000

Note: This is a longer message than we usually post here on the blog and is in two parts. First, a message from Steve Shanesy, the publisher and leader of our woodworking community at F+W Media. Then a message from Editor Christopher Schwarz. Heading Back into the Front Lines of Writing Nearly 17 years ago … Read more »

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‘This Blather Would Not Pass a Sixth Grade Assignment’

Christopher Schwarz — Thu, 12 May 2011 15:23:44 +0000

This blather would not pass a sixth grade assignment to write a ‘theme’ on something. ‘Make me ill’ is hyperbolic and repulsive and means nothing, and ‘You owe it to yourself, the tree, and the whole of human history” is hyperbolic, stupid, and pompous. Its even punctuated incorrectly. I want a woodworking magazine and don’t … Read more »

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What We Do to Make Money

Christopher Schwarz — Tue, 10 May 2011 03:15:42 +0000

The results of last week’s survey on the occupations of woodworkers are in, and the results have a few surprises. I need to stop making fun of mechanical engineers on this blog, for one. Also, I can mock dietitians all I please. We had 1,760 people respond to the survey. That’s not bad. But as … Read more »

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Readers’ Favorite Woodworking Books

Christopher Schwarz — Tue, 03 May 2011 12:09:05 +0000

For the June 2011 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine we asked readers: “If you could own only one woodworking book, what would it be?” We are still compiling the responses (it’s time-consuming), but we wanted you to be able to see the raw results so you can draw your own conclusions. In looking at the … Read more »

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