About Amateur Woodworker

Although there are a plethora of woodworking magazines on the market, Amateur Woodworker stands out as the only magazine that is aimed at amateurs, not professional, woodworkers. Several publications profess to write for these weekend warriors, but when it comes time to duplicate one of their woodworking plans you very quickly find yourself without one of the tools vital to that project's completion.

At Amateur Woodworker, we believe that woodworking should not be an expensive hobby. Sure, if you want to spend thousands of dollars on the latest table saw gizmo then you can. But the point is that you don't have to in order to make our projects.

This does not mean that our projects are dull, or too basic. Amateur Woodworker tries to provide a fair range of projects from very basic projects such as October 1997's bird feeder project, though to more complex designs such as the inaugural issue's bedside lamp project. But, regardless of the project's complexity, one thing remains constant: there is no need for expensive tools. Remember, a limited number of tools should never limit one's imagination. Amateur Woodworker projects do use power tools, but the typical cost of these tools is around the $100-$200 mark - tools like a power drill, or a jig saw, that you most probably own anyway.

Amateur Woodworker is a free publication that is available only on the Internet. There is no paper-based version of this publication...at least not yet. The magazine is published 11 times a year, on the first day of each month. The one exception to this rule is January: there is no January issue and so, after the December 1st issue is published the next issue comes out on February 1st of the new year. This break gives the Amateur Woodworker staff a chance to recover from the excesses of Christmas, and time to play with our new woodworking tools (we hope!).

Last, but certainly not least, if Amateur Woodworker's philosophy on reader feedback. The more feedback we get, the happier we are. Let us know if we're doing something right -- or wrong -- so that, with your help, we can determine the future direction of this publication. If you have any woodworking questions, we will do our utmost to answer them. Please be patient, however, as it sometimes takes us a number of days to work through all the mail.

Thanks for reading Amateur Woodworker.

What's in the magazine

Projects
Each month, two new projects are featured. Included with each project will be the plans necessary to complete the projects, as well as a detailed description of how to construct the item. Access to these new projects is available only from the Home Page.

Archive
The archive section stores all projects previously featured in the magazine. These projects are listed in reverse chronological order.

Finishes
This section describes various ways of finishing your projects, such as waxing or varnishing. As new projects require new finishing techniques, they will be included.

Joints
This section describes how to create the various types of joint used in the magazine's projects. As new projects require new jointing techniques, they will be included.

Games
This is a new section for Amateur Woodworker. Initially, this section will have just one games, but we intend to add a second fairly soon (one that will test your knowledge of tools). To make the game more fun, there will be a prize for the fastest completion of this game - go to the games section for more details.

About Amateur Woodworker
Since you are already in this section, it must be self-explanatory

Contact AW
This provides email access to the Amateur Woodworker staff.

Advertising Information
This section provides access to our online media pack, less the pricing. Companies requiring more information should contact the advertising department.

Contributing to Amateur Woodworker

Amateur Woodworker is always on the look out for new projects. If you have an original project that you would like to share with the rest of Amateur Woodworker's readers, then please submit it to us. All submissions should be sent as plain emails: we do not accept attachments. The first step is to send a rough outline of the project. If we think that it would be a suitable project, we will then contact you for further information, and a photograph. Please ensure that your return email address is correct so that we can contact you. There's nothing worse than finding someone with a truly great project, but not being able to contact them because their email address doesn't work!

The guidelines:

• Projects should be between 500 and 1,500 words long.
• At least two photographs should be supplied: these can either be real photos, or scanned images.
• A sketch of the project is necessary to demonstrate its dimensions. Don't worry if you are not an artist, we'll clean it up.
• All projects must be your own design. Amateur Woodworker will not assume legal responsibility for any plagiarized designs.