From the Editor: Wanting Again, Wanting Ahead

The extra issues change, the extra they keep the identical. Something that has endured for 50 years, as Nice Woodworking has, positively has survived plenty of change. And that’s price a celebration.

Nonetheless, I don’t suppose the easy reality of being round for 50 years is what we ought to be celebrating. Extra thrilling to me is the character of the craft and the journal’s mission to create a spot for discourse, a spot to be impressed and get the data essential to make the stuff you wish to make.

A key cause Nice Woodworking has remained related is that the journal supplies a clearinghouse for concepts, from the knowledge of masters who’ve devoted their lives to the craft, to the insights of considerate, curious, impassioned amateurs toiling away of their outlets. Collectively our voices create a group, one which has been thriving far longer than the connectivity afforded by the web and social media.

In scripting this letter, I struggled to make it greater than only a private memory. However as I thought of our 50 years, I concluded that the non-public connection every of us has to the journal is the essence of its enduring worth. Once I was an aspiring furnishings maker in faculty, Nice Woodworking recognized what I hoped to be. It embodied the ethos that was so tough to articulate to others when attempting to elucidate why I used to be making sawdust in faculty moderately than pursuing a enterprise diploma.

Our founder, Paul Roman, knew the worth of that private connection. Reasonably than depend on an editorial employees to create content material, Paul regarded to fellow woodworkers for the data that had been so arduous to return by when he was studying the craft. Due to this preliminary imaginative and prescient, the identification of the journal continued to evolve as extra woodworkers contributed their insights and experiences. It’s odd to contemplate that I’ve been concerned with Nice Woodworking for over half of its lifespan, and but I’ve by no means stopped being stunned by how a lot the craft has to supply.

There may be at all times one thing else to study, some new approach to discover. And with each new writer featured in its pages, the journal reinvents and renews itself. The truth that Nice Woodworking is a reader-written journal implies that all of us, whether or not we’re veterans or new to the craft, have a voice to lend to the dialog. And in that dialogue, the journal has been in a position to transfer ahead whereas staying firmly linked to custom—making a timeline and a household tree that features us all.

Right here’s to 50 extra years of reinvention and renewal, no matter they could deliver. I prolong my sincerest because of everybody who has contributed to the journal, from the present employees to previous editors, and the numerous authors who’ve generously shared their information. You’re the cause why I’m nonetheless excited to get to work on daily basis.

Anniversary Cowl

Selecting the duvet picture for any common challenge could be a problem. There are a lot of features to contemplate—from the subject material, to the composition, to the standard of the photograph. For the duvet of an anniversary challenge, the features are a little bit more difficult. I intention for a picture that conveys the core identification of the journal but in addition feels celebratory. Ideally, the result’s a canopy that stands other than that of a typical challenge. For our twenty fifth anniversary challenge, we commissioned a fantastic oil portray that includes, of all issues, the slicing of a dovetail.

For the current fiftieth anniversary challenge, I began by looking out the content material of the problem to seek out some contenders. Whereas the undertaking articles supplied some great choices, nothing felt acceptable for an anniversary picture. Hoping for inspiration, I believed again to our first cowl, which featured a picture of a chunk that wasn’t furnishings in any respect. As an alternative, the black-and-white photograph was of a segmented turning.

With that in thoughts, I took one other tour via the problem and got here throughout the work of Alison Croney Moses, who seems in an article on up-and-coming makers. Her sculptural work consists of bent laminations and coopered development, components that jogged my memory of the checkered bowls of Irving Fischman which graced the inaugural cowl.

Whereas an inventive piece is commonly reserved for the again cowl, I felt that Alison’s sculpture created a reference to our previous, uniting the wealthy heritage of the journal with our intention of frequently shifting ahead. To prime it off, the putting photograph had simply the particular high quality I hoped for to have a good time an important day. I hope you take pleasure in it as effectively!

Mike Pekovich’s store, a decade later

Few outlets present up within the pages of Nice Woodworking greater than Mike Pekovich’s store has prior to now decade—let’s have a look at the way it has held up.

Benchmarks: Mike Pekovich’s Methods for Success

As a lot as I like designing furnishings, craftsmanship is on the forefront of my considerations after I construct, and it is that facet by which I’m more than likely to evaluate…

Easy methods to Reduce Excellent Dovetails with Tape

Learn the way painter’s tape might help you chop excellent dovetails.

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