It’s That Time of the Month Again

Though some of you are probably still waiting for the June issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine to arrive, we’re almost ready to send the August issue to the printer. And it feels like August here in Cincinnati – today’s weather prediction is a high of  87° with 75 percent humidity – ugh. This morning (in the air-conditioning, thankfully), I get “The Binder” – a collated collection of just about everything that’s in the issue (there will probably still be a few ads outstanding; ads are always the last thing to come in).

The Binder is our last chance to carefully read every word in the issue and make any editorial and art changes before we have to hand it over to the pre-press production team. (We do actually get one more chance to look at the issue on screen when we receive digital printer proofs in a couple weeks, but there’s a great deal of sturm und drang associated with making changes at that point – and anyway, I’m much better at editing on paper, so I’m unlikely to catch any copy errors at that point.)

Linda Watts, our senior art director, is responsible for collating the Binder, and usually, she pulls a picture from one of the articles to dress up the front cover of said Binder (and to help us quickly identify what’s inside). But this time, she chose a picture that didn’t make the story – Executive Editor Robert W. Lang acting like a goofball.

Now, I don’t want to give too much away at this point (you know, just in case our competition still has time to beat us to the press), but Bob’s article discusses how to hold your tools and move your body to get better results (for example, when planing, push with your legs rather than your arms, and you’ll be able to work longer and more efficiently). Apparently, during the photo shoot, he got a little punchy.

We also have a story from Ron Herman – some of you may know him from Woodworking in America (for which he’ll be back this fall) and from his recent miter box story (and we just filmed a couple DVDs with him…coming soon). In this issue, Ron writes about choosing the proper tools – how the size of the tool should match the size of the user. And yes, he gives you the information you need to make a sawbench in the same style as the one he uses. No, there are no dimensions; you’ll need to work those out from your measurements (hip bone to hip bone, knee to floor, etc.).

The cover story, by Senior Editor Glen D. Huey, is a Pennsylvania Spice box with a unique door; Jameel Abraham shows you how to cut “condor tails”; Don Williams shows off a shop floor that I’d be mighty pleased to have in my living room; Editor Christopher Schwarz writes about his latest bright idea (a contemporary lamp…bad pun, I know); and my Shaker-inspired coffee table with simple through-drawers also made the cut. And of course, we have Tool Test, Arts & Mysteries, Flexner on Finishing, I Can Do That (this time from the very funny Mag Ruffman) and more.

So I’m off now to read through the Binder, peacock-blue pen in hand (we all edit with a different color as the stories route around in the weeks before Binder – that way I know who wrote what). And next week, that means it’s on to the October issue. I’m hoping the weather continues to play along; I much prefer 50°.

– Megan Fitzpatrick

p.s. Arts & Mysteries columnist Adam Cherubini will soon be back from hiatus and writing again. To catch up on all his work, check out the “Arts & Mysteries of Hand Tools” CD – it’s on sale right now for just $10.