Woodcraft magazine speaker story

[Bill Schneider]

Advanced disclosure - I'm the author.

I recall a few years ago that there were some threads about "Why didn't woodworking magazines feature speaker-building stories?"

Now they have.

Woodcraft magazine took a chance. The October/November 2016 issue of Woodcraft magazine has a story about building bookshelf speakers. The editors chose the Overnight Sensations because of their low cost, popularity, and relatively simple construction.

The story is about 7 pages long, and is nicely illustrated. In particular, the 3-D cutaway illustration of a speaker is spectacular.

When I said that the magazine took a chance, it is because there were some senior editors who were reluctant to run it. A similar story years ago in another magazine was not well received.

I don't consider myself the most qualified woodworker that they could have chosen to do the story, but the stars aligned because of proximity and a mutual friend of the magazine staff. The magazine wanted to introduce more people to woodworking (and we all know that speaker-building is a gateway!), and I wanted to introduce more people to speaker-building. I hope both goals will be accomplished.

If you like the idea of speaker-building stories in woodworking magazines, go buy a copy and maybe send them a note.

[wkhanna]

well done, Bill!!!

[Bill Schneider]

Thanks, but the magazine deserves all the kudos here. They took the chance. They put out serious money for top-notch illustrators.

I'm surprised how much research they put into the project before they gave it the OK. I have a lot of respect for the people I worked with on this project.

BTW, here is the magazine's workshop where the construction photos were done (you might have to click it to make it larger)...



I had partially built a number of speaker cabinets at home, each paused at different stages of construction. They set me up in their shop for the photography of the partially-built items to show the steps for the story. I spent a day in that wonderful shop back in July with two magazine staffers and a photographer all helping me set things up.

Man, I'd love to have that shop at my disposal everyday!

[sdl2112]

Bill, I look forward to the article. I hope your site moves to a new server. You do great work and I have referred to it on several occasions.

-Scott

[---k---]

Very cool. Congratulations. I'll have to see if I can find a copy.

I would love to hear more of the back story about how the article came about.


It also goes to show my naivety when it comes to publishing magazines like this. I would have assumed they were desperate for new type of content and so what if one article doesn't appeal to the masses, there are still 40 more pages.

[Steve Manning]

Got my copy in the mail the other day ..... very cool.

[Bill Schneider]

Ryan - a behind the scenes story would be a worthwhile task. I might create it for my web site in case I get too wordy for this forum. That will allow some flexibility in layout of screen captures of the process too.

Steve - thanks for the note. Even though it's seven pages long, we could have used another two additional pages. The magazine's goal was to provide basic steps for beginning speaker builders and novice woodworkers. Note that the cabinet is not like your curved laminates - that would scare off many potential builders! (Nice cabinet in your avatar, BTW!)

Woodcraft wants to have stories that appeal to beginners as well as expert woodworkers. This story falls toward the beginner end, and is geared for someone starting out.

[Steve Manning]

Ryan - a behind the scenes story would be a worthwhile task. I might create it for my web site in case I get too wordy. That will allow some flexibility in layout of screen captures of the process too.

Steve - thanks for the note. Even though it's seven pages long, we could have used another two additional pages. The magazine's goal was to provide basic steps for beginning speaker builders and novice woodworkers. Note that the cabinet is not like your curved laminates - that would scare off many potential builders! (Nice cabinet in your avatar, BTW!)

Woodcraft wants to have stories that appeal to beginners as well as expert woodworkers. This story falls toward the beginner end, and is geared for someone starting out.

Hey Bill ..... If I had known what was truly involved in building those curved laminates, I would have run the other way as well. Thanks for the kind words on the avatar.

[JonMarsh]

Thanks, but the magazine deserves all the kudos here. They took the chance. They put out serious money for top-notch illustrators.

I'm surprised how much research they put into the project before they gave it the OK. I have a lot of respect for the people I worked with on this project.

BTW, here is the magazine's workshop where the construction photos were done (you might have to click it to make it larger)...



I had partially built a number of speaker cabinets at home, each paused at different stages of construction. They set me up in their shop for the photography of the partially-built items to show the steps for the story. I spent a day in that wonderful shop back in July with two magazine staffers and a photographer all helping me set things up.

Man, I'd love to have that shop at my disposal everyday!

Nice job to take this on! And yeah, that's a pretty drool worthy shop setup- is that how the other half lives? :B

[TEK]

Advanced disclosure - I'm the author.

I recall a few years ago that there were some threads about "Why didn't woodworking magazines feature speaker-building stories?"

Now they have.

Woodcraft magazine took a chance. The October/November 2016 issue of Woodcraft magazine has a story about building bookshelf speakers. The editors chose the Overnight Sensations because of their low cost, popularity, and relatively simple construction.

The story is about 7 pages long, and is nicely illustrated. In particular, the 3-D cutaway illustration of a speaker is spectacular.

When I said that the magazine took a chance, it is because there were some senior editors who were reluctant to run it. A similar story years ago in another magazine was not well received.

I don't consider myself the most qualified woodworker that they could have chosen to do the story, but the stars aligned because of proximity and a mutual friend of the magazine staff. The magazine wanted to introduce more people to woodworking (and we all know that speaker-building is a gateway!), and I wanted to introduce more people to speaker-building. I hope both goals will be accomplished.

If you like the idea of speaker-building stories in woodworking magazines, go buy a copy and maybe send them a note.

OK, honored your work and their balls by getting a one year subscription.
This better be one hell of an article Bill. If not: :wedgie:

On the serious side, congrats with your article! Well done!

[Bill Schneider]

OK, honored your work and their balls by getting a one year subscription.
This better be one hell of an article Bill. If not: :wedgie:

Uh oh! The pressure's on!

What I'm thinking about doing is to contact the freelance illustrator (John Hartman) who did the 3-D cutaway illustration for the story to buy a print from him. I'd frame it, and hang it on the wall in my man-cave.



I wish that I could illustrate like that.

[TEK]

Do you know if he did that drawing using 2D drawing or a 3D model?

[Bill Schneider]

I had asked about the software used by the illustrator about a month ago after seeing the pre-production PDFs. Here is what he said...
-----------

"Thank you for the feedback. It would be quite a lot to share all the techniques I use. I combine the output from a number of programs depending on the demands of the project.

3D software includes, SketchUp, Rhino 3D, Cinema 4D and even Z-brush for medical stuff.

2D software includes, Photoshop, Illustrator and sketchbook pro for rough sketches.

It all comes together in Photoshop were I use the cintiq to pull it all together. Its not simple and there is no program that can magically get it done. Its still just drawing and painting, just more complex images can be created in the allotted time."
------------

The art director at Woodcraft had previously created a really nice Sketchup model that was sent to the illustrator. Here's what that looked like very early on in an early layout concept.

[Bill Schneider]

BTW, the magazine's web site has downloadable instructions for getting started in Sketchup. I don't believe that you have to be a subscriber to access that content listed under "Projects & Plans".

The magazine's web site is http://www.woodcraftmagazine.com/

The art director tried to convince me that it was easy, and that I should give it a try. Easy? Yeah, right!

I'm an old dog, and new tricks don't come easy.

[Undefinition]

I know I'm biased, but it's a really great article, especially for woodworkers. It would have been a huge help to have something like this 10 years ago, when I was first getting into the hobby. Doing that first speaker is really daunting--there are just so many puzzles to solve.

The artwork was fantastic. I was wondering how he did that.

Thanks for everything, Bill.