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Popular Woodworking Magazine

Popular Woodworking Magazine
Reduced size for education use

Woodworking as an art or job is a very hands on and old-fashioned trade. It appeals to young and old, but there is an old spirit about working with your hands to produce something. That is one reason why woodworking magazines and prints are still a popular form of media today. Woodworkers like tangible things that they can put their hands on - like a magazine.

Popular Woodworking Magazine (PWM) is a mainstream woodworking print that has been in circulation for more than 30 years. The magazine consists of articles that go over projects that are suitable for all skill levels. Popular Woodworking Magazine covers just about all bases of woodwork. The focus of these articles is to give tips and tricks on using tools and working through projects. They circulate seven articles a year and will occasionally send a bonus issue. You can subscribe to a physical copy or digital copy.

Popular Woodworking Magazine is a great magazine for all woodworkers. Although the magazine is suitable for all skill levels, it has more emphasis on the more skilled woodworker. The magazine covers a broad range of topics such as big projects, tool reviews, and insight on tips to work through, but I find that I don’t have some of the equipment or the experience to complete what the magazine has to offer. Along with many other subscribers, I prefer the physical copy of the magazine. The digital copy is inconsistent, and the ads are a little too much in comparison of the regular magazine.

Overall, I would give it a 4 out of 5 stars. It is a good magazine, and I will enjoy it more as I progress in my woodworking knowledge. Most of the content is advanced, but the information is relevant to any woodworker whether it is your full-time job or just a hobby.

Ask This Old House

This Old House: Screenshot
The Charleston House

In a time where the latest and greatest is all the craze, some things just can’t take the place of classic. Taking on a project house can be a huge task when you do not know the first thing about remodeling. But that is no problem for the guys at Ask This Old House; they do that sort of thing for a living.

Ask This Old House is a home improvement TV show that airs on PBS. It got its start in 1979 and was going to be a one season series, but due to its popularity it is still on today! This Old House is primarily funded by large home improvement corporations such as Home Depot, Lumber Liquidators, and Ace Hardware. From the show’s success, This Old House now has its own magazine and website. The show is primarily about a few older tradesmen who set out to help homeowners restore their old broken down homes into homes of classic beauty. A majority of the cast has been with the TV show for over 20 years.

The episode that I watched was about the finishing of a single home in Charleston that had been built in 1879. The house was run down and ready to be demolished, other than the good bones that kept it standing. The Ask This Old House crew did a remarkable job at refinishing the house. The master craftsmanship of the details that went into this house shows the expertise of the people at This Old House, which is the one thing that sets this show apart from any of the other trendy shows on HGTV. The people on Ask This Old House are actual masters in their craft, and most have been doing their line of work for over thirty years.

The acting is subpar, but the results and the quality of work in the remodel is beyond what I could think of. If you like entertaining characters I would not recommend this show. However, if you like the trades of remodeling or DIY and want to learn, then I highly recommend this show. Ask This Old House receives a 5 out of 5 in my books.

Jay Bate's Woodworking-Youtube

Jay Bate's Woodworking: A Hickory Woodworking Workbench

If there ever was a time in your life where you needed to accomplish a task, but you were not sure how to get it done or who to ask for help, well, now is the time to be alive! YouTube has bridged the gap of cluelessness and the how to.

Jay Bates is a woodworker by trade and a YouTuber by hobby. His skill as a teacher has propelled his career in YouTube to being one of the most successful woodworkers on the internet today. Jay started his YouTube Channel five years ago with a 4-video series on how to make outdoor chairs and a side table. He now has hundreds of how to project videos that has racked up millions of views and over 478,000 subscribers on YouTube.

I believe Jay is so successful for a few reasons. First, he is a great teacher. He explains what he is doing and why he is doing it very simply and very thoroughly. Another reason is that he is a very skilled videographer. He uses multiple camera angles, sound effects, and video editing to set his videos apart and make them entertaining. Jay has a dry personality, is intelligent, and knows a lot about what he is doing, but his sense of humor is kind of flat. With that being said, I believe he uses that to his advantage in his video editing and makes side jokes that make his woodworking videos funny, which is hard to do.

YouTube is a great platform for woodworkers; especially beginners like me. People like Jay make learning easy and entertaining. I believe Jay is one of the best out there. You can tell he is a hard worker and really enjoys what he is doing. I give Jay a 10 out of 10 for his YouTube videos. He knows what he is doing, and he has had time to learn from mistakes and work out the kinks to now produce an exceptional how-to video.

Ryobi Marketing and PR

Initially founded as Ryobi Seisakusho Co. LTD in Japan in 1943. Ryobi is a manufacturing company that started producing tools in 1968 and changed their name to the name Ryobi that we know today. Ryobi is a world-wide brand and is sold exclusively at Home Depot in the United States. Ryobi is known for their reliable products at affordable prices. What sets them apart from the other brands is their marketing and public relations efforts, as well as having the largest battery powered tool selection.

The Home Depot: Ryobi Days Ad

I have followed Ryobi since I started woodworking on social media, on their website, and in the Home Depot paper ads along with other power tool companies. Most of Ryobi's advertising comes from Home Depot. They are Home Depot's feature brand , and they regularly push their products by placing them on end caps and displays all throughout the store. If you walk in the store you will see the Ryobi bright green everywhere.

The next platform that is used is social media - mainly Instagram and YouTube. Ryobi is hands down more active than any other power tool brand on the social media platform. They are constantly featuring their products, posting how-to's and posting their own internet mini-series of building in a build off competition. By using social media, they are reaching a new generation of maker. They make their products more appealing by keeping up with a social media driven world. I would consider this a public relation style of media because they are very involved with the community of makers that follow them. Ryobi sponsors a lot of builders on Instagram and YouTube, sending them free tools or discounted products so that the followers of the social media builders may choose to use the same tools that they see online.

Ryobi Instagram PR

Ryobi is reaching the DIY and weekend warrior community by utilizing a combination of print, in-store, and public relations marketing. They are domination the social media market and PR aspect of advertising by being so involved in the DIY community.

News Article

Non-Profit serves community by providing woodworkers a class and space to create

By: Cody Bland

Aug. 2^nd, instructor Mark Salas of Dallas Makerspace gave a woodworking class to makers in the Dallas community.

Instructor Mark Salas guides student
Ali Fiaz how to safely use the
Powermatic Jointer

Every Tuesday and Thursday at 12:00 p.m. Dallas Makerspace puts on an instructed woodshop basics class for members that are interested in using the equipment provided for woodworking. According to instructor Mark Salas, “there is over $500,000 worth of equipment that is available for use that has been either donated to, or invested in, by Dallas Makerspace”. The Woodshop 101 class takes students through a series of different techniques of woodworking. Students take a standard 2x4 and shape it down to a fully square piece of wood that would be fit for a fine woodworking project. The goal at the end of the class is to learn safety in using all the machinery and to have every student produce an identical piece of fine cut lumber.

Salas explains how to safely use
the Bosch sliding miter saw

Dallas Makerspace is built on memberships, donations, and fundraisers provided by makers in the Dallas community. Salas explained, “The goal of Dallas Makerspace is to create, educate, and inspire.” The non-profit provides a place for metalworkers, woodworkers, hobbyists, electronic gurus, and beginner makers a place to learn and build whatever their mind can create. There is everything anyone would need provided under one roof.

When asked why he joined Dallas Makerspace, beginner maker Ali Fiaz said, “I had wood projects in mind, cutting boards, etc. I have never taken a woodshop (class) before and wanted to create a benchmark in my life. I want to start making things.”

Dallas Makerspace Woodshop

The consensus of the members is that the Dallas Makerspace provides tools, equipment, and education of materials that they do not have the space for, or do not have the financial ability to produce. At $50 a month anyone can join and begin working on any project that their heart desires. Dallas Makerspace is truly serving the community of makers, and is a beginner woodworkers dream.

Golden Age Classic Game Reviews

Champion Baseball

Champion Baseball: classicarcadegrafix

Made by Alpha Dneshi Co. in 1983 and published by Sega, Champion Baseball was considered an advanced baseball game for the time. Players can control batters and pitchers in a split screen game play, giving you the ability to supervise the action on the field. This title produced a sequel. In my opinion, this was a very fun game and I played several games. The basic gameplay makes it both difficult and addicting. The computer was smarter than me and seemed to be able to hit better than me as well. On a scale from 1-10, I would give this game a 7. I will add a .5 to this for having Texas as a team option. Total for Champion Baseball 7.5.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Indiana Jones and the
Temple of Doom:
Altered for Educational use

Made and produced by Atari in 1985. The game and title are named after the movie that came out in 1984. It was the first Atari game that had vocalized speech by using Harrison Ford clips from the movie. In this game you play as Indiana Jones and you accomplish tasks such as saving imprisoned children while fighting bad guys, snakes, and skeletons with his famous whip. This game was a lot of fun and difficult. What made it hard is that you cannot take out bad guys with the whip - they just fall and come back after you. My favorite part of the game was using the getaway mine cart to move levels. You even get to blow up enemies with gas cans. I give this game an 8 out of 10. I even racked up a high score and got #8 on the list.

Star Trek: Strategic Operations System

Star Trek: Systems Operations
System: The Strong

Made in 1982 and released by Sega in 1983. It has a two-screen system known as a vector game with a 2D display and a 3D display. The goal is to take down any ships with your ship by using phasers and using warp speed to navigate through space to dodge mines and dock at the star base. This game is my favorite of the 3 that I decided to review. It has smooth controls and you glide around the galaxy obliterating the enemy with ease. It starts off at an easy level and progressively gets more difficult at a good pace. I imagine this game would have been huge when it first hit the market. Especially with the captain’s seat system where you would fill like you are in the Starship Enterprise. This game gets a 9 out of 10.

Jason and the Argonauts

Jason and the Argonauts is an American made fantasy film produced by Charles H. Schneer and distributed by Columbia pictures in 1963. Jason (played by Todd Armstrong) is a Greek soldier who banned together a crew to sail to the end of the earth seeking the Golden Fleece.

            In 1963 Jason and the Argonauts was highly acclaimed, and was considered ground breaking because of the stop motion animation by director Harryhausen. The film did not win any awards, but Harryhausen did receive a lifetime achievement award in the 1992 Academy Awards where Tom Hanks commented on Jason and the Argonauts saying, “Some people say its Casablanca or Citizen Kane, I say Jason and the Argonauts is the greatest film ever made.”

            This film is before its time with the stop motion animation and the massive amount of other special effects that they incorporated in this movie. This would be the equivalent to an Avengers movie or Jurassic Park of modern day as far as special effects; it was simply over the top. The movie was very entertaining. As I watched, I set myself in the time that this came out from the perspective of never seeing special effects that are as interactive with the human characters before. I would have been blown away in 1963, and that made it more enjoyable for me to watch now. The story line was slow and basic, the acting was fare, and Hercules was a chump. The amount of shield/ weapon throwing in the movie was hilarious. The only thing that would keep this film from being a success in today’s market is the simplicity of the acting and the shallowness of the character depth. They did not build on either of these, but that wasn’t why this movie was made. It was made for Hydra fighting, skeleton screaming, Hercules abandoning, shield throwing action and, in that category, Schneer and Harryhausen nailed it.

How MP3 Changed Music

MP3: Wikimedia Common/Public Domain



            Many people have listened to MP3 files or owned an MP3 player, but I am willing to bet that most people do not know what MP3 is. In a world where everything is instant and accessible most people would find it inconvenient, and downright unacceptable, to have your favorite song take three to five minutes to stream each time you want to listen to it. But thanks to a German company named Fraunhofer-Gesellshaft and its inventors Bernhard Grill, Karl-Heinz Bradenburg, Thomas Sporer, Bernd Kurten, and Ernest Eberlein, that is no longer the case.

Karlheinz Brandenburg:
Christleches Medienmagazin pro

            In the early 1990’s many people still used cassette tapes and were being introduced to the CD player for all their instant music needs. But behind the scenes there was a new technology being developed that would forever change music. While we were now able to record crystal clear high quality digital sound onto CD’s, the files of music were still very large in consideration to how long songs were. What Karlheinz Brandenburg (often called the Father of the MP3) was working on was developing in the MP3, which would cut that footprint down by 12 times. MP3, aka Motion Pictures Expert Group Audio Layer 3 (we will stick with MP3), is technology that takes the original digital audio file and compresses it making it smaller with hardly any sound quality loss.     At first, MP3 was a near failure because the technology was before its time. It wasn’t until 1996 that it was copy-written in the US. By that time the internet was in full dial up swing. As MP3 files became more popular, so did file sharing. Now with music files taking a third of the time to download and taking 12 times less storage space, it made music very easy to access. Before Limewire and Napster, people would either copy and burn CD’s that their friends bought or record a song that was playing on the radio with a cassette (if you could get the timing right). But now, people were able to store millions of songs on their computers and share them with anyone who was connected to the internet. This caused earthquakes for the music industry. Artists were losing enormous amounts of money along with record labels and music producers. But in all reality, this is how MP3 really stayed relevant, and in turn, thrived.

            A year later in 1997 the first MP3 player was invented by MPMan. This was huge because you no longer had to carry around a bulky cd player that you could only carry in your pocket if you owned a pair of Jinko jeans. You could have access to hundreds of songs on a device that was just the size of your hand. Many companies made MP3 players from that time forward and the music industry scrambled to shut down the file share sites like Napster, Frostwire, and Limewire. But the granddaddy of them all made an appearance in 2001 when Apple introduced the Ipod and Itunes. By that time a lot of the illegal filesharing sites where on the downfall. Apple had revolutionized the music world.

MP3 revolutionized the way we access music in just 10 years thanks to some German inventors that never gave up, millions of American music pirates, and Apple. That is such a short time if you think about how long it took to get recorded music accessible to the masses. Thanks to this technology, along with advances in the internet and the data grid in America, we can now stream music on services like Spotify and Pandora from anywhere, often with no delay. What a time to be alive!

Fine Woodworking Magazine

Fine Woodworking Magazine has been around since 1975. The magazine printed issues every season offering articles on various focuses of woodworking. Every issue contains projects, different crafting techniques, articles on wood theory, and works from different master woodworkers. Fine Woodworking’s primary audience was the more skilled woodworker, but they kept the magazine interesting enough to appeal to all in the woodworking community. As the magazine grew to be more popular, they started to print more frequently graduating to a monthly magazine, they also have articles that appeal to Diy hobbyist and beginning woodworkers. Now, Fine Woodworking has multiple platforms to view, read, and listen to their product.

If you are green planet conscious and do not want to subscribe to the magazine, they literally have all options of viewing for their product. They are on social media, offer website subscriptions, YouTube videos, podcasts, and if you are not interested in any of those they also have a TV show on PBS called Rough Cut (maybe the ultimate This Old House rival). Their podcast is Shop Talk Live, where a couple of hosts talk about random things in the woodworking world. I have recently listened to an episode about glue ups (I know, sounds exhilarating). They are very active on Instagram where they feature how-to projects, new articles in upcoming issues, and other work of woodworkers on Instagram. Fine Woodworking also utilizes YouTube in the same manner as Instagram, where they will feature some popular woodworkers and have them go through a build to show the viewers different techniques and tips and tricks of the trade. As an alternative to their magazine, they also offer a full subscription to their website. You can view some things as a guest, but to have full access you can choose to subscribe for a fee to get things like digital magazine issues, work projects, build plans, and access to their article data base to over 40 years’ worth of articles and plans.

Overall, I would say that the primary subscribers to Fine Woodworking’s Magazine is the older generation of woodworker. However, I believe they do an exceptional job of making their product available to the younger generation in the form of digital media. I am sure that the magazine will stick around even with the digital media takeover. Some demand for the magazine will die off with an older generation, but woodworkers like tangible things they can touch with their hands and they always will. Woodworking is a very small community, and a magazine used to be the only real current event information someone could get outside of joining a woodworker’s guild.  Now with the ability to share your hard work over social media and share knowledge over YouTube, it makes being a beginning woodworker a lot easier than I would imagine it would have been 40 years ago.