Carol Reed, Pahrump, NV
I think I'd like to pop in here as well. I have rarely, very rarely, ever built something from magazine plans. Nowadays, I am so busy that drawing my own has gone by the wayside. Recently I found a clever panel shuttle devise from a magazine I thought would be useful to preserve my ailing back. It has features I would not thought of, but plan to find more than useful. In other words, a good idea.

However, lack of critical information, too much fluff about how wonderful it is, and in this case, confusing drawings and misinformation. And as is the case, I needed to make a size adjustment to accommodate this items integration with other tools in the shop. That I sketched out. That part has worked. Like Bill, I want the relevance of information, or as he put it, "how much." As an example, if the wheels need to be located specifically, tell me why. Don't just tell it is critical and then use more words to remind me it is critical. Use those words to tell me why. From my point of view, knowing why is just as important as knowing what which is just as important as knowing how. In fact, since there are multiple ways to accomplish the same thing in woodworking, perhaps dwelling on the why is more important

As you know, Ellis, I did the show circuit for a number of years. Many attendees told me the thing they liked best about my presentations was I told them why I did things a particular why. In the nine years since my book came out, I have received numerous emails that thank me for explaining why. I find that is still true today when participating on forums. If I had the interest, I would pursue writing for magazines, but my interests have migrated. I still love woodworking and try to do some from time to time. I am fighting giving it up due to physical limitations. In fact, I think from time to time to write an article or three about adjusting the shop to allow working with physical impairment due to aging.

Well, you asked, so just sayin...