In defense of Chip Chats

[mdallensr]

Several of us have referred to Chip Chaps magazine as a good source of information on carving shows, clubs, classes and suppliers. While some others of us think Chip Chats is not nearly as instructive as WCI and some other carving magazines, I think we're comparing apples to oranges. Chip Chats is the publication of the National Wood Carvers Association, which charges dues of $14/year, including the magazine. The magazine is published for the members, and displays the work of members as displayed at shows and seminars. Chip Chats also lists, free-of-charge, wood carving shows and seminars for the next year. They have a separate listing of classes and seminars, listed by state and venue as well as by instructor. For example, there's a recent post on this message board asking about classes by Jeff Phares, and page 116 of the current March/April 2003 edition shows his next five classes. This current issue also lists, without charge to advertizers, 17 pages of suppliers of wood, tools, workbenches, patterns, plans & rough-out, books, videos, and instructors (listed by state). Looking for a class in Memphis, take a look. Those listing were the ones I was looking for to help SCL find a source for good butternut (Teri, look for that info today).

Chip Chats is not a 'how-to' book for wood carving, and does not compete with WCI and others that present articles on techniques, tools, and procedures. There's no doubt that some of the shows that are reported are not world-class, but we've asked our Message Board moderator to provide a way for us to show our stuff, which may or may not be world-class all of the time. I think there's a place for Chip Chats, and it's always the first topic of discussion in our weekly carving class when the bi-monthly edition come out. There are a lot of good ideas from some of the carving shows, and it's always useful to benchmark your work with others. All, of course, IMHO.

No complaints from me, I belong to NWCA and subscrib to both the Chip Chats and WCI. Both are great Mags.

Safe and happy carving

Ken

I'm happy - Get Chip Chat, WCI, and Carving Magazine. I look to Chip Chats for ideas and WCI and Carving for information on how to implement those ideas. Following step-by-step instructions never works for me. I get part of the way through and for some reason or another get off on a tangent and start modifiying things. So, I just use part of the step-by-step to get me over any rough spots I run into.

I think something we have lost sight of is that ChipChats is not a magazine in the sense that WCI is. Chip Chats (unless I am sadly mistaken (and that wouldn't be the first time) is the newsletter of the NWCA. I belong to some other woodcarving organizations, some put out a newletter and some don't. IMHO, Chip Chats is about as classy a newletter as you can get.

Wolf

...I recieved my Chip-Chats the other day and I'm disappointed that so few comments have been posted here.
I'm wondering how many of you don't even belong to the NWCA.$14 a year for membership and 6 issues of pictures and articles from the clubs from coast to coast. Mar.-Apr. issue has free ads. It is about woodcarving from beginners to the all time greats. I could go on, I've been enjoying mine for 30 yrs. already! Art

You can't beat the magazine Chip Chats.I 've been subscribed since the 70s.The best part is there are no ads.which usually take up half a magazine.And you can't beat the price and the amount of pictures.