# Oh no, it looks like Shopnotes is folding



## GregInMaryland (Mar 11, 2010)

According to a thread over at WoodNet. Go to page four for this quote:

"Hi Robin,
Thank you for writing. Yes, it is sad, but true. We confirmed it late yesterday that issue #138 (Dec/14) will be the last published issue. It is an unfortunate business reality. We are hoping most readers will continue on with the long running Woodsmith magazine. We don't have the final details on how we will be handling remaining subscribers, but if you are ok with transferring your remaining issues over to Woodsmith I'd be happy to facilitate this for you. Just let me know.
Best Regards,
XXXX, Manager
August Home Customer Service"

Hmm, let's see: Popular Woodworking has imploded, American Woodworker has folded and ShopNotes is going bye. I do not think that we can say "Change is a comin'" any more. It's here. I wonder what is going to happen next, though I am bummed with Shopnotes folding.

Oh well, I can always have my wife surprise me by putting old issues in the mail box.

Greg


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## JoeMcGlynn (Dec 16, 2011)

wait - what happened with Popular Woodworking? I missed that…


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## jmartel (Jul 6, 2012)

Shopnotes, too? Damn.


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## ArlinEastman (May 22, 2011)

The two magazines I really like were Shopnotes and Woodturning Design and I guess I now lost 18 months on Shopnotes too. (


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## GregInMaryland (Mar 11, 2010)

Joe, three of the Popular Woodworking editors/authors quit on the same day-Lang, Heuy and Bender.

They started something called ' 360woodworking.com.'

Greg


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## crank49 (Apr 7, 2010)

Well this is the pitts.
ShopNotes was my absolute favorite magazine.
Is it still possible to buy a library of past issues on DVD?
I'd like to at least have that.

This crap economy, continuous scandals, stupid waste, over regulation, and any damn thing else they can come up with to destroy America has gone too far. This totally SUCKS.


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## GregInMaryland (Mar 11, 2010)

Another Woodnet forum topic with an official response: link

Greg


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## SPalm (Oct 9, 2007)

Ah….. poop.

Steve


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## 6mmBR (Sep 29, 2014)

It figures, I just subscribed to both Woodsmith and Shop Notes. I got one free issue, and then #138. Ah well, we should get more issues of Woodsmith I guess.

Magazines are just tanking in every field.


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## JAAune (Jan 22, 2012)

Hard to compete with the internet. I've stopped subscribing to much of anything a long time ago because by the time the printed material reaches me, it's usually old news. That plus the fact that I don't have the space or time to keep a proper indexed library that will allow me to find the right articles when I need them.

Couple that with the fact that after a huge period of growth over the past few decades, woodworking as a hobby seems to be shrinking. All those companies that sprang up to service the booming industry are left competing for the shrinking customer base instead of trying to capture the largest portion of newcomers.


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

Bummer!! ;-(


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## splatman (Jul 27, 2014)

Anyone had a subscription for Workbench? I dropped it when it got eaten by MyHome.


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## fuigb (Apr 21, 2010)

Publiications are going into the ditch everywhere because of digitization and the internet. In the first place hardcopy material is a PITA and you'd have to be a Luddite or a traditionalist to choose paper over the many advantages of electronic format.

The internet is killing traditional media and everyone who reads and posts here is contributing to the end. Remember the old days when people eagerly awaited the arrival of their magazines, the daily paper, or the broadcast time for their favorite show? Hell, in five minutes any one of us can use a smart phone and access almost anything imaginable. Why subscribe to Shop Notes or even thumb through old issues when there's a tidal wave of websites and blogs and history residing just beneath your fingers and behind your screen? Yes, editorial oversight and professionalism set the old line apart from the million-and-one hacks on the web but the qualitative difference doesn't seem to have saved Shop Notes or any of the empty shells that masquerade as "papers" and publications.

And then there's the fact that the enormous breadth of web-based content dillutes attention. As a society we are engaged with our electronica more than ever, but the diversity of content means that fewer eyes fix on any one object because there are just too damn many objects. Anyone else notice that the film industry has been taking a beating? Anyone else in the ad world and see that ad spend has fled television?

Here's a market research project for the guys among us: when is the last time that you spotted a newspaper left on the floor of a men's room stall? Yeah, ladies, men are pigs, and in days gone by they'd read their paper while hiding from the boss and then leave it on the floor. Maybe eight years ago the newspapers vanished, and if you still see them today then I can only assume either that you work in a press room or reside in a retirement home.

It's a brave new world out there.


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## gtbuzz (Sep 19, 2011)

Dang, that stinks. I really enjoyed that magazine. I'm paid up on my subscription through next year. Does anyone know what happens to the extra issues? I've also got a WoodSmith subscription; hopefully they'll tack it on there or maybe give me a credit towards the DVD archive of all the issues.


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## CharlesA (Jun 24, 2013)

I really liked ShopNotes all in all. Found it valuable. Some of the jigs, holders, fixtures looked like they needed a new variation on a theme they'd covered before. Nonetheless-loved the ideas.


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## dbray45 (Oct 19, 2010)

The economy, regardless of what the press tells you, is seriously bad. I work for a school system and our budget has decreased by around 25% over the last three years, mostly because the tax revenue is not there.

We have lost about 10 people from them either leaving, retiring, or worse. They have not replaced any of them so the remaining pick up their workloads. Equipment that should have been replaced several years ago is still in production and the plans to replace them are off the table for at least 2 more years.

A local regional grocery store chain has reduced their overhead by seriously reducing their full time people at making up to $23 an hour by making them part time - 24 hours a week and reducing their rates to $9.50 an hour. Something about Obama care.

When things like this become the norm, expendable income used for hobbies, going out to dinner, going on nice vacations are not even discussed at the dinner table, the discussions become, "how do we make it this week and through the month?"

This may get worse before it gets better - we just have to hang in there, keep the faith, take each day at a time and work towards a better time.


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## timbertailor (Jul 2, 2014)

Those companies that fail to adapt, will be assimilated!

Resistance is futile.

All of these publications should have generated an internet site that used ad money to pay for its publication.

If it is not on the internet, it does not exist…........................................for long.

As for woodworking, it has become a rich man's hobby. The price of tools has not changed much but the price of materials has sky rocketed, just like food and fuel.

I find myself being far more selective of what wood I use and how. Before, scrap was scrap.


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## ChrisTheWheeler (Oct 27, 2014)

Over the past couple of years I have cancelled almost all my magazine/publication subscriptions. Why you ask? Well, very simply, first, they have become mostly ads. Secondly, that by the time it arrives in my mailbox, I've already seen it on the web. Paper publications are becoming a thing of the past. Granted, after a day in the shop, there is nothing I enjoy more then laying in my hammock or the sitting at the local pub, reading these publications. But now that i can simply bring them up in the Ipad, who needs the paper version?


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## SoonerMike (Oct 20, 2014)

I only read ShopNotes a few times. It was good, but I couldn't justify the price. I still get Wood Magazine, which I love. I'm always looking for other good sources of tips & projects ideas. I still prefer paper to digital things.


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## fuigb (Apr 21, 2010)

"The economy, regardless of what the press tells you, is seriously bad. I work for a school system and our budget has decreased by around 25% over the last three years, mostly because the tax revenue is not there"

Does your state fund education through property tax? If so then I'd expect that this accounts for a large part of your problem. I'm not claiming to be an expert or in tune with regional trends, but nationally property values are down from their peak. Thinking beyond the phenomenon of the psychological push of feeling rich when taxable value is high, lower property values = less revenue = less resources for schools and government.


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## ColonelTravis (Mar 19, 2013)

> Joe, three of the Popular Woodworking editors/authors quit on the same day-Lang, Heuy and Bender.
> 
> They started something called 360woodworking.com.
> 
> ...


Dang, had no idea. I was about to pull the trigger and renew. Not now. Wonder if the 360 thing will pan out.


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## Case101 (Jun 29, 2013)

It sucks.. but is totally understandable the way printed media is going.
Hell in this area obituaries were free in the paper, not anymore. Minimum is like $400 with the average close to $1000 dollars. Newspapers don't have the circulation. Therefore advertising is down and the price of the advertising goes up.

Last year I was selling firewood, $45 a week to run the add in the newspaper and trying sell a cord for $180. Was just not worth it.

Oh, and yes taxes suck, school tax is from real estate tax here in NJ. My family has been in NJ for over 300 years. I build a nice house, to have in the family to pass down to my son and so on. I wish I had not built it here. The taxes are killing me, I will not be able to retire and stay here! Hell may have to leave before retirement. Love the state hate the politicians!


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## Jeff28078 (Aug 27, 2009)

I quit Shopnotes and Woodsmith because of their crazy insistence that I renew months and sometimes up to a year before my current subscription was over.


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## BinghamtonEd (Nov 30, 2011)

> Publiications are going into the ditch everywhere because of digitization and the internet. In the first place hardcopy material is a PITA and *you d have to be a Luddite or a traditionalist *to choose paper over the many advantages of electronic format.


While I agree with a lot of the points you made in the rest of the post, I do have to ask…you do realize the demographic here, right? Whenever a magazine thread starts, there's no shortage of people who comment that they subscribe to magazines, usually multiples. I think a lot of us fall into the traditionalist category, maybe a few into the luddite category.

I am in no way denying that printed media is falling to online content. My wife's Uncle founded one of the largest magazine sales/distribution centers in the US, started probably 40 years ago. Years ago, he pushed his children to seek out education and employment in other fields, because he saw the writing on the wall. They're still in business, but their time has passed.

My wife subscribes exclusively to magazine content online. I subscribe exclusively to paper format, for four main reasons :
1.) When I get a magazine in the mail, and can hold it in my hands, it feels like a present (for more information, see "Nudie Magazine Day" a la Happy Gilmore). I forget about having a subscription and poof, a magazine shows up, and it makes me happy.
2.) I like being able to bring the magazine out to my workbench and not have to worry about a $500 device getting dust, glue, stain, etc on it. I also like that my 2 year old likes to "read the tools magazines" on the coffee table.
3.) I like to put a post-it on quick projects that I'd someday like to do. My shop time is limited to 2-3 hours per week, so if I'm between projects, I can just grab a magazine off the shelf and turn to a post-it in about 10 seconds and start a project.
4.) I write software 9 hours/day, 5 days per week. Last thing I want to do when I go home is stare at a screen.


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

My biggest gripe with digital is not being able to find specific things. If the search criteria is off, it will never happen ;-( The second being we are just one big solar flare away from everything being gone! ;-)


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## BinghamtonEd (Nov 30, 2011)

> The second being we are just one big solar flare away from everything being gone! ;-)


Haha, if that happens and your biggest concern is the latest issue of must-have router jigs, you're sittin' pretty.


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

> Haha, if that happens and your biggest concern is the latest issue of must-have router jigs, you re sittin pretty.


Probably true. With the grid down and most modern conveniences gone, there may be higher priorities and concerns.

Print media is really up against the wall. Too much free content online plus declining disposable income. Wood working is especially hard pressed to keep content new and relevant. After about 20 years, nearly everything has been presented. It inevitably becomes very repetitious.


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## JoeMcGlynn (Dec 16, 2011)

While I understand the economic pressures everywhere, and on print media in particular, I have to say it really stinks.

I was looking at the new (last?) issue of Shop Notes last night. Several good projects (sliding table mod for a table saw, lumber storage rack, clever router table/cabinet), and not a single ad is sight. It's nicely laid out, decent pictures and great drawings. Even though there isn't anything in it I feel like I need to build, I enjoyed reading it and will miss having it in the future.

I like digital media too, but it's going to be a sad day when the last printed woodworking magazine folds.


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## fuigb (Apr 21, 2010)

@ed -me too! I don't feel that I own a book or an album unless it's actually in my hands. My remarks about the shortcomings were my attempt to be objective. The hardcopy "books" just lack so many ofthe real advantages of digital format. The only real advantage of hard copy is that I like it but the like-it demo gets smaller with each day's obituaries.

My day job is marketing and advertising, and it is stunning to see ad spend pour out of print. The Post Office (I collect stamps, too) is kept alive pricipally by advertisers who (wait for it) want to reach late-middle age and older buyers because they don't really do email! The good news, I guess, is that soon there will be more trees for fossils like us because few else will have a need for them.


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

I wonder about Fine WW. I do not subscribe, most of it is way over my head, but i do the online access. I look anything of interest up on there any time. I wonder if they will make it on digital subscriptions alone as print falls?


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

It's a shame really as Shopnotes is/was a top notch magazine and has published many awesome DIY machines and jigs through the years. But really I've wondered for a long time if we don't have too many woodworking magazines and this year seems to be proving it.

I brought this up on another forum but ww magazines have for decades catered to newbies. How many newbies can there be and what happened to the newbies from 5 years ago, 10 or 20 years ago. If woodworking is nothing but a stream of newbies entering and exiting then the world should be mostly woodworkers and yet, outside the people I have met through clubs or classes, very, very, few of my acquaintances know anything about woodworking. And yet we get the same router jigs, table saw jigs, Shaker & Craftsman furniture, bookcases and how to cut dovetails. Deltagrams of old had more variety and challenging projects than magazines today.


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## Flocktothewall (Jan 16, 2011)

Literally just sent a subscription check like 5 days ago. Shoot!


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## BinghamtonEd (Nov 30, 2011)

Luke,
Send them an email to [email protected]

I had a paid Shopnotes subscription through August 2016, I sent them an e-mail asking them to transfer it to Woodsmith for the remainder of the subscription, and they responded a few hours later saying that it was no problem. If you don't want Woodsmith (or you already get it), they might be able to refund your money or extend your Woodsmith subscription.

Edit : Might take longer for you, as your subscription may not be in their system yet.


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## Planeman40 (Nov 3, 2010)

I am sorry to hear about ShopNotes too. I have to say I wondered how long they could keep coming up with new jigs and fixtures before they ran out of ideas. There are just so many ways to make a saw sled and the like before it becomes "the same thing only different" as a friend once put it one day.

As to the catering to the "newbies" . . .

A couple of years ago I had dinner with Asa Christiana, the editor of Fine Woodworking magazine and said I wished FWW would have more articles on unusual and interesting wood working projects that were not furniture. His reply was that it had been tried and the reception was poor so they stick to furniture building pretty much. I have been wood working for many years, like 60 or so, and began reading FWW from its first issue back in the early 1970s. I even built the Tage Fried Danish wood wood working bench from what was about the seventh issue. The articles finally became repetitious and I finally quit subscribing. I recall as a teenager reading Popular Mechanics and Popular Science and enjoying all of the far out things to build that were at that time were far beyond my ability. But that was how I LEARNED! I wish the woodworking magazines included some unusual and very advanced articles. Most won't build them, but they will aspire and they will learn some things.

Planeman


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

I like so many others have dropped all my wood mag subscriptions because I can find just about everything I need on the net these days, though I do maintain my net subscription to FWW. The wood magazines have failed to inspire me the last few years, partly because most are focussed mainly on shop tools and gigs or furniture and after a few years the content becomes kind of repetitive and just made over to look fresh. I don't mean this as a criticism of the various magazines, and it is a bit sad, but I think that is the reality.


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## Tedstor (Mar 12, 2011)

Well, at least there is still "Fine Woodworking"......for those who like to build China Hutches out of Ebony and read reviews about $5,000 industrial-sized cabinet saws.


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## BinghamtonEd (Nov 30, 2011)

> Well, at least there is still "Fine Woodworking"......for those who like to build China Hutches out of Ebony and read reviews about $5,000 industrial-sized cabinet saws.
> 
> - Tedstor


I do like when they do an article on certain techniques, like joinery, but those 4 or 5 pages don't justify the FWW price tag to me. And if I can't justify the price tag on the magazine, I guarantee you I am not paying too much attention to the saw reviews.


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## jmartel (Jul 6, 2012)

I can't say that I've seen a lot of stuff in FWW that was done in solid ebony or other similarly difficult to obtain woods.

Sure they tend to review higher end tools, because that's what their clientele tend to have.

Nothing saying you can't make any of their projects out of a different wood. I'd say they are still the best magazine out there.


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## moke (Oct 19, 2010)

> Well, at least there is still "Fine Woodworking"......for those who like to build China Hutches out of Ebony and read reviews about $5,000 industrial-sized cabinet saws.
> 
> - Tedstor


\

AMEN!!!!


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

I haven't read FWW for years but back when I had a subscription it was cherry Shaker or white oak Craftsman using the same joinery and finishing techniques, issue after issue; oh and their annual bookcase issue. Out of curiosity I went and looked at the 2014 issue covers, except for two (garden chair and bow front cabinet) everything else was shaker or craftsman. Looks like they dropped the annual bookcase issue. WW mags have the same problem as radio, a huge variety of music exists but you'll hear the same songs everyday.


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## oldnovice (Mar 7, 2009)

This is not unique. Remember LOOK, The Saturday Evening Post, Life, and probably some others?
They have been replaced by People and other *who cares about celebreties* rags!

It's a shame, I'll miss Shopnotes but life goes on!


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## ssnvet (Jan 10, 2012)

*lower property values = less revenue = less resources for schools and government.*

not so around these parts…. they just jack the millage rate and bleed us dry

*Last thing I want to do when I go home is stare at a screen*

I agree…. staring at the light bulb all day is hard on the eyes

*Wood working is especially hard pressed to keep content new and relevant. After about 20 years, nearly everything has been presented. It inevitably becomes very repetitious.*

Aint that the truth!


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## TravisH (Feb 6, 2013)

I have checked out Shop Notes a few times and they have had some interesting things for sure (for me mainly jigs and such) but never subscribed. The recent cross cut table saw jig perked my interest. Hate to see any of them go as limits the options and exposure overall. I think the issue ends up being the market they are targeting. Hobbyist woodworking very interesting market as you have distinct levels within and the magazines cater to these levels.

I have always liked FWW as overall the projects end up showing a high level of craftsmanship and I would be happy with building something that they typically build. I like PW also because of this just not as much into the style of furniture they feature as often and main reason the actual magazine when it comes to FWW appears to be a higher quality (better color rendition, pictures, feel, etc…). Both magazines feature builds that just have some class and skill to them, may just be perceived and not actual.

I have had subscriptions and bought all the usual other "grocery store" wood magazines and overall find them to be just as repetitive in nature when it comes to projects (How many adirondack chairs, wood toys, nightstands, swings/gazebos, ultimate whatever shop thingy….) and generally projects that for me aren't inspiring. I think that is the critical element for me when it comes to magazines or subject matter in general, if it doesn't move me to be creative or make me feel something I can't get into it. Now the sad part is my wood working skills are inline with the uninspiring…


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

> I had a paid Shopnotes subscription through August 2016, I sent them an e-mail asking them to transfer it to Woodsmith for the remainder of the subscription, and they responded a few hours later saying that it was no problem.


That is encouraging that they are obviously not going bankrupt, probably just making survival level market adjustments. I don't know how much longer my ShopNotes subscription runs. Be nice if it is just applied to my WoodSmith, but if it isn't, it won't really impact my life one way or the other. Having owned rental property and been in business since 1985, trusted Merrill Lynch and a malpracticing doctor, there are a few [email protected][email protected]**$ out there that did have a minor impact ;-) Everything in perspective, I will miss SN even though I'll probably never use most of the stuff I see in there. Maybe I'll just find them all, get them in order and take a look at each issue in its turn every other month. With my aging memory, it will be just like they are still coming fresh and new after having run the 20 year recycle of WW ;-))


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

'


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## BinghamtonEd (Nov 30, 2011)

So I wonder if my Shopnotes issue #138 will be worth a million dollars some day…


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## moke (Oct 19, 2010)

We used to have a Shopnotes employee that stopped in here periodically…..he offered me a tour of the facility…it is in Des Moines. I have lost his name, anyone know who it is?
Mike


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

> So I wonder if my Shopnotes issue #138 will be worth a million dollars some day…
> 
> - BinghamtonEd


Wait 50 years and check with Antiques Road Show, you just never know ;-)


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## splatman (Jul 27, 2014)

If you have any ARS episodes on DVD, take those along while you're at it.


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## tcarswell (Nov 4, 2014)

that's a real bummer I still have a subscription I renewed 2 months ago but my heart really goes out to the staff of the magazine.


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## DrDirt (Feb 26, 2008)

That sucks… but woodworking is in trouble in this economy.

Certainly other things like schools and revenue is also down, but fact is woodworking for most is a hobby… and not a cheap one at that.

when times are tough, buying a new bandsaw is hard to justify.

Look at the advertisers index in FWW this year versus before the 2008 crash. It is still nearly a full page, but is now double spaced. Woodworking continues, but the sales of Lie Nielsen planes is down, as folks don't have the disposable income.

Look even at this site, traffic is waning, the number of projects is falling in terms of new posts.
I recall people complaining that a new project wouldn't stay on the front page very long… and there were calls to "group" post things like pens or cutting boards.

Now checking on new projects is really quick.


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## TheDane (May 15, 2008)

> ...my heart really goes out to the staff of the magazine.


It may not be so bad for the staff … most of the people involved with ShopNotes also work on their other woodworking magazine (WoodSmith). I just hope it doesn't go in the tank as well.


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## mloy365 (Oct 30, 2009)

I love SN. I get it on my kindle. I will miss it.


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## azgaragedude (Nov 7, 2014)

Shop Notes is discontinuing their subscription.

That is not good! :-(

I worked for a state publication for 15 years 1990-2005 and the subscription based dropped by 70% during that time.


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## Flipper01 (Oct 30, 2014)

I know I'm just a noob here but I have to say, I so enjoy being able to learn something new everyday in a medium that isn't populated by people who do videos assuming I already know things that I don't and at a speed I can't keep up with. I need the voice of experience and patience and that's exactly what I got from media like Shopnotes and this site. And I'm not alone. There's a whole new world of over-50 "Baby Boomers" out there who are just like me. The problem is that no one is paying any attention to us despite the fact we're 80Million strong with 70% of the disposable income and 100% of the time to spend and learn. I spent 30+ years in a world far-removed from woodworking and welding before retiring and yet I've discovered a love for both. And now I'm losing one printed medium and being inundated with ads on another which will do nothing but drive me away. Again, I apologize for using my privileges here to rant but I'm at a loss to know what else to do. You members here are so knowledgeable, patient, articulate, experienced and able to help so many of us who haven't read 20-years of publications. We're just now getting involved in woodworking. If the people who run this site are listening, please don't screw this up. There are ways to run ads that don't drive us away; just ask; we'll tell you.


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## damjensen (Apr 3, 2012)

Hmm sad to hear that. But hey - at least you Americans should not complain. You still have plenty of different DIY magazines, targeted at different sectors of woodworking etc.

Here in Scandinavia, we have ONE magazine related to DIY. Controlled by the one media conglumerate that publishes next to all monthly magazines.

Subscription to that magazine is like USD 10 a month.


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## sras (Oct 31, 2009)

Well, I've been on the fence with their back issue DVD. I think I'll get one…


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## youngd24 (Oct 12, 2014)

I must say this is disappointing, I've been in technology for 25 years and the "it's going digital" reason is simply shortsighted. Come back in 25 years and try to read that e-whatever on the tech of that day. Hint: got something on floppy, tape or punch card you want to view? It's sort of hard to deprecate paper. I personally don't like digital woodworking books, the pics just don't cut it. Let's face it, many of us that read these magazines and books need reading glasses. A high resolution image in a book can be viewed close up with reading glasses (coupled with a magnifying glass) and you can see the detail. Try expanding one of those images on your iPad, they're grainy.

If I want to be sure that I can still read a plan I like, I print a couple copies. Call it my woodworking "disaster recovery plan".

I also disagree that the information from something like ShopNotes would be outdated by the time it was received, this isn't exactly breaking news sorts of info. I don't think seeing that new crosscut jig design will go stale in a week. And there's nothing whiz bang, change the world, technology being added to smooth planes.

Yes, Luddite and traditionalist, ABSO-FREAKIN-LUTELY. And I'm one of the people that helped build the Internet.


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## JollyGreen67 (Nov 1, 2010)

You can also add Woodturning Design to that list.


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## Planeman40 (Nov 3, 2010)

You do have a point there youngd24.

However some of us in the model airplane community have been frantically working to save all of the old model airplane plans published over the years by scanning them from old magazine copies, digitizing them and restoring them, and putting them on a website (http://www.outerzone.co.uk, http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1265873) where they can be downloaded for free. There is also a website called The Internet Archive (https://archive.org/) that is a vast trove of old movies, old radio programs, old music, etc. plus a lot of other stuff all for free. The problem with printed publications is they reside in homes scattered everywhere if they are not discarded - and most of them are. When the publisher goes out of business the back files disappear and all that are left are those few left that are scattered in closets and basements throughout the world and are soon gone. I think digital collections, if placed in archives like The Internet Archive are most likely to survive.


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## TheDane (May 15, 2008)

FWIW, I contacted customer service at August Home Publishing (publisher of ShopNotes) ... they extended my subscription to WoodSmith magazine to make up for remaining issues of ShopNotes in my subscription.

I also will be receiving the DVD archive of both magazines as soon as the DVD's are ready (I have subscribed to the DVD archive for the past several years).


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## Waldo88 (Nov 7, 2014)

> Hint: got something on floppy, tape or punch card you want to view? It s sort of hard to deprecate paper.


The .jpeg and .pdf are going to be backwards compatible for a very, very, very long time. The USB port will be around a while. Likewise most people are starting to understand that data is a real thing and storage mediums are fragile and not to be trusted; data itself is being treated as a possession (when's the last time you heard of a young person losing their music collection?). The tech industry and society have organically evolved to solve the exact problem you describe.

As someone who is new to finer woodworking and a lot younger than most of you (30 something), I must say it wouldn't even occur to me to subscribe to a magazine about woodworking. If I need an answer to a problem I just google it. I hit up pinterest or houzz for inspiration. Forums like this one tend to be the best source wisdom. The few times I've thumbed through magazines, I've seen a bunch of ads and some plans for lame furniture; certainly not something I'd spend money on.

I highly disagree that woodworking is dying or that it is an expensive hobby. Finer woodworking is I suppose (on both points), but if anything people my age and younger are FAR more likely to DIY things than the past few generations. This is born out of necessity, as it is the cheaper solution, but also a lot more feasible than the past given the breadth of information at your fingertips. Self made furniture is just a natural outgrowth of self done remodeling which is a natural outgrowth of self done repair.

And in most urban areas/inner ring burbs, land values are back to where they were pre-crash if not surpassed it by a decent bit. Around here that surpassing occurred in 2013. I sold my old house this past summer, that I bought at the peak of the market in '08, and made a profit (after fees); the new house I bought was at its value peak and is if anything skyrocketing upward since (cool house in prime location = $$$). But this is of course where younger people want to live; the outer ring burbs or rural areas have not seen the same fate, too low a % of younger people want to live there, there is no demand to drive prices up.


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

I believe woodworking is more popular than ever but the internet is putting magazines out of business. Used to be that magazines would promote upcoming features then you would read about them months later. Now if a magazine promotes something the internet has done it 10x over by the time the article publishes. And many writers are not good on camera (looking at you Woodsmith/Shopnotes, and you Fine Woodworking) so their videos are like watching an old man rake leaves. Your magazine subscription money is better spent on a Wood Whisperer subscription or Paul Sellers' Master Classes.


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## Waldo88 (Nov 7, 2014)

> I believe woodworking is more popular than ever but the internet is putting magazines out of business.


The popularity can be hard to see; some branches can be dying while others growing strong. And not everyone sees the process as the hobby (eg - you may enjoy remodeling, but that doesn't mean carpentry is your hobby).

One good sniff test is to look at tool companies. They aren't exactly doing bad. And the sheer variety of tools available today is far beyond what there was even in the recent past. A brand here and there may not be, but that has more to do with their marketing and distribution moreso than demand.


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## jmartel (Jul 6, 2012)

Ok, look. Just by being on this website, we are all contributing to the downfall of the magazines. The world is going digital, which is a great thing. Used to be that if you wanted plans for something, you had to go out and buy a book/magazine, hoping that they would have plans in there for what you wanted. If you were lucky, the book shop would carry something you like. If you weren't lucky, you'd have to mail order a book hoping it had something useful in it. Nowadays, you can look online, and search through a much wider variety of sources for them.

If you wanted to learn a technique for how to do something, you relied on photos and a written description of how to do it. Now, we have Youtube videos that show you real time what to expect. All for free.

News/new products/reviews are instantaneous online. No waiting 2 months between magazines to find out some useful tidbit of information.

If you want a hard copy? Print it out. When that copy gets destroyed from being used? Print out another one.

There is just absolutely no advantage to having a print-only magazine anymore.

To those complaining about potential out-dating of digital media: You can convert old media quickly and easily with no issues. If you have a bunch of floppy discs, you can get a USB floppy reader, and save all of the information onto your hard drive.


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## CharlesA (Jun 24, 2013)

As I thought might happen, looks like some of shopnotes content will be in Woodsmith


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## TheDane (May 15, 2008)

> As I thought might happen, looks like some of shopnotes content will be in Woodsmith
> 
> - CharlesA


I got my copy of Woodsmith a few days ago … they have added 16 pages to the magazine and have a new section called (wait for it) ... *Shop Notes*.


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## jacksteel (Jan 10, 2015)

Printing anything is a huge expense. Thats why I am still stunned when I get these huge Grizzly Tool catalogs every couple of months! Don't get me wrong I love them BUY man the expense!!!

I have worked for many years in the digital design world and have seen Paper after magazine fold up dry up and go away. It's just too expensive.

I began work as a designer a few years ago for a medium sized town that had a thriving local paper. It had a printing press the size of two city buses. They sold off the state of the art hindelburgh printing press, had another paper print their paper. Then slowing they just put the old girl to bed. Last one out Turn off the lights

Plus save the trees for wood working projects


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## Jasonjenkins (Jan 4, 2014)

Yeah I got my new "woodsmith guild edition" and I really like it! And the digital vs hard copy debate? I have had a few subscriptions to things like shopnotes but also have the digital library of every issue. The paper is good to sit and flip through and read articles. The digital is easier to plan projects and organize ideas. I like the idea that some companies are adopting that gives you both.

I hope the project AND shop content put woodsmith guild edition ahead enough to stay viable. Fww for fancy stuff and furniture , woodsmith for furniture, medium projects and now shop content, and wood for basic built stuff. I will miss some of the others mentioned, but each still around has its niche


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