LumberJocks

Does everyone save their woodworking magazines?.. want a spreadsheet to index useful articles?

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Forum topic by Chardt posted 1480 days ago 812 views 0 times favorited 14 replies Add to Favorites Watch
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Chardt

158 posts in 1773 days


1480 days ago

This weekend I was poring over my huge box of magazines looking for the article on making a crosscut sled, and one on new sawhorses, and a fence for my router table..and it dawned on me that if I had a spreadsheet I could immediately find every article by magazine, issue, date, page number, etc.

I have it broken out now by separate worksheets for books, websites (*including lumberjocks projects), magazines, etc.

I’m creating a spreadsheet in Excel to track them all.. I should have a rough draft in a couple of days. If anyone is interested I’ll happily send out a copy.

Just out of curiosity, does anyone already have a system like this? ...would you be interested in it?

I’d love to hear your thoughts, suggestions..

-- When my wife ask's what I have to show for my wood working hobby, I just show her the splinters.




14 replies so far

View lew's profile

lew

8986 posts in 1927 days


#1 posted 1480 days ago

That’s Cool!

Why didn’t you use Access? It would have been easier/faster to search and provided additional search criteria.

Lew

-- Lew- Time traveler. Purveyor of the world's finest custom rolling pins!

View wpreman's profile

wpreman

1608 posts in 1884 days


#2 posted 1480 days ago

Sounds good! I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

-- Bill, Florida

View a1Jim's profile

a1Jim

87312 posts in 1748 days


#3 posted 1480 days ago

I’m not familiar with either but it sounds like a great idea. I have full collections of FWW FHB WOOD WOODSMITH AMERICAN WW and more I don’t know if I would live long enough to index every thing.

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

View Chardt's profile

Chardt

158 posts in 1773 days


#4 posted 1480 days ago

I don’t know access very well. I’m pretty good with SQL programming, but I figured a lot more people use Excel, and it would be easier for people to tweak a spreadsheet to suit their own needs.

..and also that’s why I posted this so early into the project. So I could get feedback and ideas on how to make it better. Thanks Lew!

-- When my wife ask's what I have to show for my wood working hobby, I just show her the splinters.

View lew's profile

lew

8986 posts in 1927 days


#5 posted 1480 days ago

Actually, an Excel spreadsheet can be imported into a simple Access database with just a few clicks.

I tried to learn SQL and VBA but I can’t think logically. My mind resembles a flea market after an earthquake :^)

Lew

-- Lew- Time traveler. Purveyor of the world's finest custom rolling pins!

View Chardt's profile

Chardt

158 posts in 1773 days


#6 posted 1480 days ago

I’ll look into that. Thanks Lew.

-- When my wife ask's what I have to show for my wood working hobby, I just show her the splinters.

View lew's profile

lew

8986 posts in 1927 days


#7 posted 1480 days ago

If you need any help, let me know.

-- Lew- Time traveler. Purveyor of the world's finest custom rolling pins!

View out2sea71's profile

out2sea71

36 posts in 1850 days


#8 posted 1480 days ago

I am interested in a copy. My wife is tired of the perpetual pile of books and magazines I drag out every time I am looking for something specific. Les

-- kein Schaden ohne Nutzen

View WhitePineLane's profile

WhitePineLane

5 posts in 1578 days


#9 posted 1480 days ago

I haven’t tried any of them, but I know there are a few ready-made programs out there for doing just this thing. Here’s one:
Magazine Organizer PS Bombay 4.0
If anyone’s tried this one, i’d love to hear about it!
Otherwise I can’t wait to see the spreadsheet you come up with—finding things in old magazines is definitely a problem!

-- WhitePineLane

View leonmcd's profile

leonmcd

204 posts in 2143 days


#10 posted 1480 days ago

Did a google search and came up with this

http://www.woodbin.com/docs/software/wwmagazinesoftware.htm

-- Leon -- Houston, TX - " I create all my own designs and it looks like it "

View pashley's profile

pashley

834 posts in 1889 days


#11 posted 1479 days ago

What I do is simply gently tear out the pages I like and nicely punch them, and sort them into a 3-ring binder.

-- Have a blessed day!

View Douglas Bordner's profile

Douglas Bordner

3907 posts in 2235 days


#12 posted 1479 days ago

I certainly applaud your diligence and look forward to the final outcome. I have for the last several years taken both FWW magazine and a subscription to FWW.com. It certainly tames the data hunt for that particular magazine.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

View Mario's profile

Mario

902 posts in 2223 days


#13 posted 1479 days ago

That sounds great My wife and I try to do this using 3X5 cards which is ok but not great. I have been considering moving them into Access but have not done so yet. I work in the IT industry and tend to stay away from computers when not a t work.

-- Hope Never fails

View Greg Wurst's profile

Greg Wurst

769 posts in 2004 days


#14 posted 1479 days ago

I scan my magazines to PDF’s and then bookmark the articles in the PDF.

-- You're a unique and special person, just like everyone else.

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