“To help you know what to expect, you can preview parts of the course before buying.” Best Budget: Instructables Free Online Woodworking “If you like reading and just want to see what woodworking is all about, check out this free course first.” Best for Beginners: The Weekend Woodworker “The course includes printable plans and diagrams, video demonstrations, and comprehensive tool guides and material lists.” Best for Experts: Woodworking Masterclasses “These lessons focus on more difficult woodworking projects like crafting furniture and learning specific techniques.” Best for Furniture: Taunton Workshops “These courses will teach you some incredible and timeless furniture-making skills if you have the patience and tools.” Best for Variety: Woodworkers Guild of America “The Woodworkers Guild of America has one of the most diverse offerings when it comes to woodworking courses.” Best for Crafters: Skillshare “Its most popular woodworking courses will teach you how to make a wooden spoon and how to build a simple table.” There are over 100 courses offered in woodworking that range in difficulty. You have to pay for each lesson separately, but sometimes courses go on sale, which makes the pricing as low as roughly $10 per class. When you preview a class, like SketchUp for Woodworkers, you’ll see how many people have already taken the course, reviews, and what you can expect to learn. Other woodworking lessons on Udemy that are noteworthy include Woodworking: All About Wood; Woodworking: Fundamentals of Furniture Making; Creating Wood Art - An Intro to Handcrafted Wood Sculpture; and more. To help you know what to expect, you can preview parts of the course before you commit. If you liked a class, check out the instructor’s other classes in the author’s bio section. This website is ideal if you are an intermediate woodworker with basic knowledge who wants to take on a new project or add a new skill. Nearly 50,000 students have already enrolled in the course, and all you need is a free membership to the site to gain access to the material. There are nine lessons in total that are for beginner woodworkers. Each section will help you build your confidence with extensive instructions. At the bottom of each course, you’ll also find some frequently asked questions that can help further explain the lesson. The main drawback of this class is the lack of any video content. If you are a visual learner, a video course might be a more effective first step. However, if you like reading and just want to see what woodworking is all about, check out this free course first. The fact that this helpful information is available at no cost, making it easy on your budget, is the best part of this class. These projects are intentional: They give you the skills you need to be able to construct anything. The course includes printable plans and diagrams, video demonstrations, comprehensive tool guides, and material lists. This offering isn’t the most budget-friendly, since it comes in at around $150, but the testimonials say it’s completely worth it if you’re eager to learn. One student says this course “has given [them] so much confidence in building wood projects and has the side benefit of adding some awesome furniture to our home.” If you don’t love the course, there is a money-back guarantee within 30 days of purchase. And, if you’re looking for something different, Woodworking for Mere Mortals has two other classes geared toward more advanced woodworkers: The Weekend Workshop and Powered Up. To gain access to Sellers’ complete library of knowledge, members must pay a monthly subscription fee of about $15 a month. The website has an appealing layout and it is easy to navigate. However, it is missing a review feature. To get around this, the website has a comment section that you can read before becoming a member. Here, you’ll find thoughts on the course as well as a community of woodworkers who ask and answer each other’s questions. If you want to get a feel for an entire project, check out some of the project offerings that are available with a free membership. As far as testimonials go, people love this woodworker. One member said that they loved how you didn’t need to own a bunch of expensive machinery to make fine furniture. Another mentioned that Sellers’ methods are akin to a master craftsman from the 19th century. Sellers is a pro and is sure to teach other experts a thing or two to advance their trade to the next level. These courses stood out as the best for furniture because the finished products are simply breathtaking. They will teach you some incredible and timeless furniture-making skills if you have the patience and tools. There aren’t hundreds of projects to choose from, but the ones that are included are some of the best on the internet. Each section of this program is separated into chapters with several high-quality videos, and you’re able to preview multiple sections before you commit to buy. You’ll need to purchase each one individually, and the cost is around $20 apiece. However, sometimes they go on sale. The only thing we’d like to see added to this website is a review feature, so previous students can add their two cents. However, given the quality of the content, it’s not surprising that this site has been in business for decades. Some classes come with a streaming and DVD option, which might be useful for people with a poor internet connection or who happen to have a DVD player in their workshop. Each class has a thorough description of what you can expect, along with some images or video previews. This website is lacking a review feature, so it’s challenging to get a feel for what people thought about the course. However, the program’s social media presence has a lot of positive sentiment, and some other bloggers and sites also recommended this website as an integral part of the woodworking community. In addition to courses you can purchase, the site is jam-packed with other woodworking content that you can access with either a free, premium (around $6 per month or $55 per year), or gold membership (roughly $129). If you don’t require a step-by-step course, you could find some inspiration in the video library instead. For example, we fell in love with this mini wood barn quilt on the site. The great thing about Skillshare is that it includes some of the features that the other online course platforms are lacking. You can see how many people took the course, read reviews, and check out the profile of the instructor. You can also preview the first section of the course before you unlock it. Skillshare is a budget-friendly way to dabble in a variety of online classes since it is membership-based and great for crafters. For $19 a month, you’ll be able to check out all the woodworking content and decide which projects to make without needing to pay a la carte. Its most popular woodworking courses will teach you how to make a wooden spoon and how to build a simple table.
Will I Need to Buy Materials for an Online Woodworking Class?
Yes, you will need to buy materials for an online woodworking class. It all depends on your project. Larger furniture projects will demand more of an investment and variety of materials, while smaller wood projects will require fewer materials. The courses you choose will detail all the materials you need.
How Much Do Online Woodworking Classes Cost?
The classes we selected offer a range of prices depending on your budget. As noted in its title, the Instructables Free Online Woodworking class is accessible at no cost and is a great foundation to start setting up your skills as a woodworker. Udemy, which offers over 100 woodworking classes, has some that cost as little as $10 per class. Access to Woodworking Masterclasses starts with a free tier, which gives you a limited number of instructional videos, or a $15 per month membership, which includes access to over 250 project videos and four new videos per month.
What Will I Be Able to Create in an Online Woodworking Class?
You can create a full range of objects depending on your comfort level and woodworking skill set. Go basic with a small wood spoon, mini wood barn quilt, or simple table (on Skillshare). Or go elaborate with a country pine hutch, garden chair, or Arts & Crafts coffee table (from Taunton Workshops).
What Are Some Basic Woodworking Skills?
Learning about types of wood and how they behave and the tools needed for woodworking is just the beginning. Basic woodworking skills include: learning to measure, cutting wood, as well as making joints and angles, sanding, drilling holes, and selecting proper hardware (screws, nails) to attach pieces together. You will also need to know how to properly care for and maintain woodworking tools.
Methodology
To find the best online woodworking classes, we looked at options such as the number of projects offered, skill levels, and diversity of projects. We also looked at cost, class format, knowledge of instructors, and the ratings and reviews of courses. These seven shined above the rest and earned the place as our top picks for woodworking classes.
