Chris Schwarz is leaving PWW

[Tony Z]

My subscription to PWW lapsed well over a year ago. When I "re-upped", it was because of a personal email from Megan, addressing a concern I voiced in a forum thread. She spoke to my complaint directly, and then went on to speak of other plans she had.

Her departure was a loss, as was when Bob Lang and a few others left (May have been similar circumstances).

I don't miss my lack of mag subscriptions, content became repititive, and mags had fewer and fewer pages of content.

[AHill]

Chris Schwarz is the single biggest influence in my woodworking life pointing me to hand tools.  (Norm Abram was the single biggest influence in getting me into woodworking.)  So, sad to see him go.  I've had more than one conversation with him, but usually a short one in the context of a woodworking show.  What I appreciated most about Chris was his ability to research something and bring a lot of ideas to the table.  How many kinds of workbenches exist and which one is best for you?  Thank Chris for a lot of those answers.  He never claimed to be a world class woodworker, so you didn't see highboys or inlay on most of his work.  The things he made were things I could make and that's what appealed to me.

I wish him well in his future endeavors.  I suspect PWW will pull the plug on his PWW blog, or maybe he'll make one more post.

For those considering cancelling their PWW subscription, note Chris's take in his announcement:

"My leaving is not a condemnation of their work. I’m not asking you to cancel your subscription or write hate mail to the editor. Please don’t. Evaluate the magazine on its own merits and whether the articles are helpful to you – not whether or not my name is in the masthead."

[AHill]

I discontinued my PWW subscription when I found it being a magazine penned by the same (small) group of people. If the new editorial team is not changing that, their articles will be void of fresh materials as in the past. You can find better and free materials in Pinterest, Instagram etc.

Simon

I thought there was a small group of authors when Chris was in charge, because he mostly used staff writers.  It was either Chris, Megan Fitzpatrick, Bob Lang, Glenn Huey, or Charles Bender.  There were some repeat customers like Bob Flexner, and I enjoyed Adam Cherubini's Arts and Mysteries column as well.  Even though the writing staff was small, it was diverse, so you had a lot of diversity of projects.

[Carl Grover]

The Schwarz has posted here occasionally although not in a long time.


carl

[Tony Z]

You can get your fix of Swartz in his "Lost Arts" publications. The quality of the book and the content(both his and reprints of classics) is superb, and for me (selfishly) would rather see him do more publications than teaching.

[Handplanesandmore]

A Hill,

I was more referring to the post- Schwarz/ Three Musketeers time. Chuck Bender etc are real woodworkers with skills unlike some who get famous for their social media exposure. I call those woodworking socialites, interested in promoting themselves, nice tools they own, books (they write or want to write), etc. The latter group exists because of the invention of social media.

Simon

[Skip J.]

I thought there was a small group of authors when Chris was in charge, because he mostly used staff writers.  It was either Chris, Megan Fitzpatrick, Bob Lang, Glenn Huey, or Charles Bender.  There were some repeat customers like Bob Flexner, and I enjoyed Adam Cherubini's Arts and Mysteries column as well.  Even though the writing staff was small, it was diverse, so you had a lot of diversity of projects.

Hello Allan;

Frankly, I liked it best when it was the original "Woodworking" magazine.... when it was absorbed into the PWW format immediately it became diluted by at least 1/2 of powertool format. I had been reading WW'ing mags with mainly powertool articles for 30 years, and was tired of them.  Now handtools are at the bottom of their priority and will likely stay there. No more subscriptions for me, they write nothing I want to read.  There is plenty on Chris's and Megan's blogs; and I am about to start buying their books.

[Handplanesandmore]

I just subscribed to PWW for $18.00 for two years. I couldn't believe it.

My FW three-year subscription cost me about $25 a year. When you get a $9 a year subscription, something has to give. The paper, the content, the pictures, etc.

I am not a subscriber of WOOD, but I think it is $15 a year or so. Their paid circulation is the largest (double the FW's) and can afford to compete on prices with their volume.

Both FW and WOOD have lots of ads...to the point that I am planning to stop my FW subscription when it expires in a year or so. FW has had too many recycled materials (...just good photographs) in the last four or five years, too. Enough is enough.

Simon

[Greg Jones]

I stopped renewing my subscription to Pop Wood I'm guessing 2-3 years ago. I still get renewal offers about once a year in the mail. The latest one offered me two years for $10! Advertiser rates are tied directly to the circulation numbers, so ultra-low subscription pricing offers to select groups is one way to bump circulation numbers to command a better ad rate.

[Handplanesandmore]

I stopped renewing my subscription to Pop Wood I'm guessing 2-3 years ago. I still get renewal offers about once a year in the mail. The latest one offered me two years for $10! Advertiser rates are tied directly to the circulation numbers, so ultra-low subscription pricing offers to select groups is one way to bump circulation numbers to command a better ad rate.

You kidding me? $5 a year?! $1 an issue??? Holy Smoke.

Simon