Popular Woodworking 2004-10 № 143, страница 10

Out on a Limb

Send a Free Magazine And Do a Good Deed

You may find the following a bit off-topic compared to the usual fare found in this space so let me start by asking your indulgence and telling you about a meeting I had last winter at the headquarters of Lee Valley Tools and Veritas in Ottawa, Ontario.

I was talking with Robin Lee, the company president, covering a wide range of interesting subjects. At one point Robin steered the conversation toward corporate charitable giving and described a program his company started some years ago. I was thoroughly taken by the concept. It's one of those "everybody wins" ideas, a "no brainer."

We've adopted the idea from Lee Valley Tools, and here's how it's going to work:

You help us find a woodworker who becomes a Popular Woodworking subscriber, and we, in turn, make a $5 donation to a charity.

Let's say you have a friend and you think he or she might enj oy receiving Popular Woodworking. All you need to do is fill out the form below and mail it to the address shown or visit popwood.com/charity.html and fill out the electronic form there. We'll send your friend a free copy of the magazine and a note saying we were given their name by a friend. (However, we won't say who, so it would be good to let them know to expect the free magazine.) If they decide to subscribe, all they do is complete the order form and mail it back (it will have a code so we know the order is from our charity program).

I fully understand any concerns you might have about providing the names offriends who

might then start receiving unsolicited mail. So let me make this pledge to you: No names provided to Popular Woodworking under this charity program will ever be made available to an outside party.

You may wonder how we can afford such a program, giving up to 25 percent of a subscription price to charity. The simple fact is new readers who come to us via this program save us the money we'd otherwise spend on advertising to go out and find them.

We've decided to support two charities with the funds we will be donating. One is the American Cancer Society (cancer.org). It is safe to say everyone has been touched in some way by this widespread, ongoing health problem. We see evidence that significant progress is being made on many cancer fronts, but there remains much work to do.

The other charity we will support is The Nature Conservancy (nature.org). This organization's no-nonsense approach to preserving important habitat is commendable: It buys land outright to protect it in perpetuity. The Nature Conservancy also works with individuals and businesses to keep private land in private hands while making sure use restrictions preserve its natural state. PW

Steve Shanesy Editor & Publisher

Clip this coupon and send it to: Popular Woodworking, Refer a Friend for Charity, Circulation Department, 4700 E. Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, OH 45236; or go to popwood.com/charity.html.

CONTRIBUTORS

GLEN HUEY

Glen's motto is this: "If you can't do it on a table saw, it's not worth doing." Once a lover of all things Shaker, Glen has since immersed himself in the Queen Anne, Chippendale and Federal styles to produce custom furniture from his shop just north of Cincinnati. He's a master at finding simple ways to tackle complex operations, such as his cabriole leg technique shown on page 96. Unlike some hobbyists-turned-career-woodworkers, Glen - a professional since 1989 - still loves the craft. "I get up every morning and can't wait to get started," he says. He has written two books on building early American furniture and also teaches woodworking classes regularly.

BOB FLEXNER

For 10 years, Bob's quest has been to demystify finishing - long considered a "black art" shrouded in mystery and made more complex by confusing labels on finishing products. Bob's landmark book, "Understanding Wood Finishing" (Readers Digest), opened the eyes of thousands of woodworkers. But Bob's not a chemist. He started his career in 1976 building custom furniture in Oklahoma. He eventually turned to furniture restoration, which better challenged his skills. Finishing, however, proved to be a problem. So he started reading books and talking to chemists. Today, he skewers finishing myths (such as the one on page 110) through his writing and workshops.

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