I do not accept free or discounted tools. I purchased every tool in my chest and have marked it with my shop mark. I do not accept free or discounted materials – lumber, glue, finish or hardware.
On occasion, a manufacturer will send me a tool for private evaluation. If I choose to keep it and use it, I pay full retail for it. If I don’t keep it, I return it to the manufacturer or donate it to a school or student who cannot afford it.
Why am I writing this?
Every time I write a blog entry and I mention that I paid for some item, I get a few messages from readers who advise me to stop adding that caveat. They are tired of reading it. And in truth, I am weary of writing it. I don’t mean to sound sanctimonious.
But here is the truth: New people encounter my blog every day. And if they don’t know who I am, it’s easy for them to assume that I get all my tools for free. Most woodworking writers are bombarded with free tools in the hopes they will write about them. Or they are given free machines or entire batches of workshop supplies in exchange for advertising.
I do not question the ethics of other bloggers. All I know is what I was trained to do in journalism school: Take nothing from the people you write about. (And if you think I’m hardcore, you need to meet my journalist wife. She won’t even drink from the water fountain at a corporation she writes about.)
To finish up, a few more important notes: I am not an “affiliate” at any web site. I do not receive a percentage of the sale of any tool or woodworking material I write about.
I receive income from only three sources: the schools at which I teach, F+W Media Inc. (where I am a contributing editor) and from you, the Lost Art Press customer.
From this point forward, any time I review a tool or woodworking material, I will add a link to this statement of ethics. In that way, I won’t have to waste any more words on this topic, and you will not have to read them.
— Christopher Schwarz