No more Quercus Magazine

[RobNichols]

I've just received an email stating the Quercus' 21st issue will be the last. That's such a shame. I've only recently (last few months) subscribed, and I've found each issue fascinating and read them cover to cover.

 

[Adam W.]

Mortise and Tenon is a good read, there is a set of 5 in the for sale section on here.

 

[niall Y]

It's sad when a magazine closes down, especially one that you are really in-tune with and invested in. One would have thought that during lockdown , magazines would have undergone some form of resurgence, but sadly this seems not to have been the case.

Up until then I was able to submit - and have accepted - a few articles, however, the covid lockdowns put the kibosh on that. with one magazine telling me that they were no longer accepting articles due to the financial constraints. The writing, however, was already on the wall, with many publications amalgamating titles. and replacing the main content with soft advertising.

Now, if you know who to look for, You Tube is able to do things so much better. No subscription, for a start. And, with video one is able to go into things with a lot more depth, compared to the photos and written copy. of the magazines

 

[RobNichols]

Mortise and Tenon is a good read, there is a set of 5 in the for sale section on here.

Thoroughly agree with that. Unfortunately, I've recently bought the bound issues 1 to 3 book, otherwise I would have snapped up the set of 5.

 

[RobNichols]

Now, if you know who to look for, You Tube is able to do things so much better. No subscription, for a start. And, with video one is able to go into things with a lot more depth, compared to the photos and written copy. of the magazines

The problem is that so much of YouTube is people trying to sell you things. I just find the thoughtful long form represented by publications such as Quercus and M&T feed more into why we do things. Youtube is for how to do things, written texts are much better for why we do things.

 

[johnnyb]

I find youtube desperate tbh endless joints being knocked together in high speed, countless river tables. Some is good though most are trying far to hard.Fine woodworking must be a high watermark of magazines though. Surely.

 

[mark w]

Shame about Quercus, the chap that owns it/runs it is a decent bloke too.
Mortise and Tenon magazine, is it worth £22.00 an issue?

 

[thetyreman]

well that's a shame, I only bought a few but they were all good, best of luck to the guy who created it.

 

[Adam W.]

Shame about Quercus, the chap that owns it/runs it is a decent bloke too.
Mortise and Tenon magazine, is it worth £22.00 an issue?

Depends what you want from a magazine?

I like M&T for the stories about peoples experiences of working with wood, although the filler articles by the Editor can be a bit lame and the recent focus on Japanese woodworking is not really my thing either, but I really like the colonial stuff and the articles on natural finishing products and wooden planes, which are written by people who know what they are talking about, although some internet "pundits" may disagree about that, as usual.

I have a subscription for two mags a year, which I review each time it comes up for renewal. If it has been consistently lame with nothing interesting for the year, then I'll ditch it.

 

[mark w]

Depends what you want from a magazine?

I like M&T for the stories about peoples experiences of working with wood, although the filler articles by the Editor can be a bit lame and the recent focus on Japanese woodworking is not really my thing either, but I really like the colonial stuff and the articles on natural finishing products and wooden planes, which are written by people who know what they are talking about, although some internet "pundits" may disagree about that, as usual.

I have a subscription for two mags a year, which I review each time it comes up for renewal. If it has been consistently lame with nothing interesting for the year, then I'll ditch it.

Doesn't sound any better than F&C or Fine Woodworking, I think I'd want something better for £22.00 an issue. In my opinion there isn't a decent magazine out there now.

 

[johnnyb]

I don't think the price has any bearing on how good and inspiring a magazine is after all £22 is nothing these days it's how you react to it. I always get a filip from attending harrogate it's more than buying stuff.
Fine woodworking inspired me to try lots of things over the years simply because there articles were deep and immersive. They were also American. But the methods are still valid. So many crosscut sled articles though....why oh why? I looked at one that went into great detail about making a shaker knob without a lathe using a drill press. Wtf.

 

[Adam W.]

Doesn't sound any better than F&C or Fine Woodworking, I think I'd want something better for £22.00 an issue. In my opinion there isn't a decent magazine out there now.

Have you ever looked at it ?

 

[johnnyb]

Tell us a bit about it please Adam who knows I may buy it?

 

[Doug B]

@johnnyb classic hand tools have previously had copies of M&T at the shows they attend, I’d definitely suggest you keep your money in your pocket & take a look at a copy the next time you’re at a show.

 

[RobNichols]

M&T is more substantial than a magazine. It feels more like two or three bound together. I really like the content. As with Quercus, I will happily read them cover to cover, but that takes me days. If I lived in the states I'd subscribe, but here I just buy the odd copy when I buy other stuff from places that sell it (Workshop Heaven and Classic Hand Tools for example).

 

[mark w]

Have you ever looked at it ?

Not a full copy, I saw some edits online a few times, that was enough for me to know it had nothing which had not already been covered by other magazine's before, which, by the way, were much cheaper.

 

[mark w]

I don't think the price has any bearing on how good and inspiring a magazine is after all £22 is nothing these days it's how you react to it. I always get a filip from attending harrogate it's more than buying stuff.
Fine woodworking inspired me to try lots of things over the years simply because there articles were deep and immersive. They were also American. But the methods are still valid. So many crosscut sled articles though....why oh why? I looked at one that went into great detail about making a shaker knob without a lathe using a drill press. Wtf.

£22.00 is a lot of money for a magazine, even these days.

 

[CaptainBarnacles]

I too am really sad to see the demise of Quercus. I'm a relatively recent subscriber and found it to have a refreshing perspective. I've reached an age where I'm no longer interested in the latest Router review or a "back to basics" make a planter from a pallet article, so Quercus really resonated with me.

I subscribed to Fine Woodworking for 5 years and really enjoyed it but it started to get repetitive - there's only so many ways you can hand-cut those dovetails. It's a high quality magazine and it was the "eye-opener" that gave me an insight into the world of high-end woodworking and quality hand tools. I picked up a copy of their annual "Tools and Shops" edition (from around 1999 or 2000) while buying timber at John Boddy's one day, I never looked back!

I've never looked through a copy of M&T. £22 per issue seems like a high price to pay but if the content justifies the price then perhaps it's worthwhile. I've bought enough £4-6 magazines that have absolutely nothing of value between the covers that it makes me think maybe M&T could be considered - dare I say it - "good value"?

Presumably M&T has no advertising in it? I'd be prepared to pay a % more for a magazine with no adverts. Many years ago when I worked in IT I used to subscribe to PC Pro magazine (it was a genuinely good read back then, not so sure about now). It was a really thick magazine, thick enough to have a proper spine, maybe 200 pages?? Anyway, one month I decided to pull out all the adverts so I was just left with the editorial content, it was little more than a pamphlet! Fine Woodworking isn't as bad as that but it does have a lot of adverts.