Woodworker's Journal 2008-32-4, страница 5
The Woodworker's Journal JULY/AUGUST 2008 Volume 32, Number 4 When I test tools, I do my best to give you good information. But what does it all mean? Confessions of a Tool Tester While I know that getting to play with a plethora of power tools is a fond dream of many woodworkers, the reality is often less exciting than the dream. Consider for a moment walking into a warehouse with cartons containing 12 contractor's saws. It will take hours to assemble each tool. About the time you're wrapping up your eighth saw. you discover that there is virtually nothing of substance differentiating the models. In fact, on closer inspection, you begin to suspect that many of the components of these various brands of saws were made by the same factory. So, after 30 hours or so of knuckle-busting hard work (for a soft-paunched editor like me), you have 12 saws that are remarkably alike and. in truth, would make 99.9 percent of your readers very happy tool owners. Now. it's time to write a story and slap an award on one of them ... hmm. So you test and compare each tool. But at the end of your best efforts at objective testing, your worst fears are confirmed — they all crosscut, miter, rip, resaw and plow dadoes just fine. (Rats!) So, now you need to move beyond the objective to the subjective. Subjective observations are valid, they arc simply ... well, subjcct to personal preferences. Is onboard storage for your miter gauge, fence and push stick a valuable feature or a bit of fluff and nonsense? Even features I consider critical — for example, the inclusion of a riving knife — may be unimportant to others. Some tool testers (writing for other magazines, I won't allow it here) try to add a layer of "science" to the test methodology: weight-driven wonder-machincs to pull wood through a cutter, infrared heat measurements of this or that. I applaud the intention — but those guys are woodworkers, not scientists (they don't even play one on TV!). Those sorts of faux-scientific results just add to the glamour obscuring the truth, which is this: We tool testers do our best to evaluate the tools covered in our stories. But in the end, the subjective outweighs the objective in all but the most extreme cases. In other words, we give you our very best and unbiased opinions. We know a lot about and have extensive experience with the tools we are testing — we are indeed tool experts. By unbiased, I mean not influenced by advertising. If you look at the last six Woodworker's Journal "Best Bet" winners, three of the companies are not advertisers in our magazine (the bums). Now, I know what you're thinking ... are these tests and reviews in each issue worth the read? Here's where I can't pretend to be unbiased — my answer is an unqualified "yes." The combination of hands-on objective and subjective observations, presented through the filter of experience, is quite valuable. In fact, it is often the very best information you'll find anywhere before you buy. Featured Author: Bill Hylton /C^ Bill Hylton has been writing about woodworking for a long time now. Many folks will remember him from long ago in the old American Woodworker magazine ... back when it was produced in Emmaus, Pennsylvania. Since then, Bill has written a pile of books covering everything from woodworking with the router to building yard and garden furniture. A long-time contributor to the Journal, Bill has been a great sport, taking on tough assignments with grace and good humor, even when we make him pose for silly pictures. —Rob Johnstone 10 ROB JOHNSTONE Editor in Chief JOANNA WERCII TAKES Senior Editor CHRIS MARSHALL Field Editor JEFF JACOBSON Senior Art Director JOEFAIIEY Associate Art Director MATTHEW BECKER Content Coordinator LARRY N. STOIAKEN Publisher DANA SEVERSON Advertising Director ALYSSA TAUER Advertising Operations MARY TZIMOKAS Circulation Director KELLY ROSAAEN Circulation Manager MEG CI ARK Direct Mail Manager Founder and CEO ANN ROCKLER JACKSON Editorial Advisors NORTON ROCKLER JOHN KELLIIIER Contributing Editors MICHAEL DRESDNER RICK WHITE GEORGE VONDRISKA ADVERTISING SALES J.F. Van Gilder Company 12740 Hillcrest Plaza Dr., Suite 295 Dallas, Texas 75230 DAVID BECKLER davidOPwoodimrkersjournal.com TERRI MATIIIS terri@woodworkersjournal.com JIM VAN GILDER jim@jvgco.com Phone: (972) 392-1892 Fax: (972) 392-1893 Member Audit Bureau of Circulations Magazine Publishers of America EDITORIAL INQUIRIES ROB JOHNSTONE rjohnstone@woodworkersjournai.com 763-478-8255 JOANNA WERCH TAKES jtakes@woodworkersjournal.com 763-478-8303 CHRIS MARSHALL cmarshall@woodworkersjournal.com 614-746-2985 SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES (800) 765-4119 or www. woodworkersjournal. com. Write Woodworker's Journal, P.O. 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