Best Online Woodworking Classes—Beginner to Advanced 2023

• Rating: 10 / 10
• Free trial: 7 days 
• Number of woodworking lessons: 40+
• Price: £90 (£7.50/mo)

Skillshare is one the best eLearning platforms for creative arts and home to some of the top-rated and most varied woodworking lessons. 

The platform hosts over 40 courses in woodworking, taught by designers, architects and DIY experts. Topics explore several techniques and tools and cover anything from furniture making to crafting wooden kitchen utensils—ideal for anyone wishing to incorporate wood into their DIY projects. 

Some of the best woodworking courses on Skillshare include: 

• Make Your Own Furniture—A beginner’s guide to design, modelling, and basic carpentry.
• Building a Simple Table—A step-by-step approach to making a beautiful wooden table.  
• Setting up your Woodshop—Teaching you all about establishing your woodshop.

If you are unsure which class to choose, you can always see a preview of the course and read up on the most essential details, such as the curriculum and users’ reviews. 

Skillshare does not issue certificates, but most courses include a hands-on class project that will showcase your newly-acquired skills and demonstrate that you successfully completed the workshop.

• Rating: 9.9 / 10
• Free trial: 7 days 
• Number of woodworking lessons: 40+
• Price: from £19.99 

Udemy has a variety of woodworking courses ranging in complexity and subject matter. 

So whether you want to explore design tools and illustrate in 3D or you are interested in learning how to add finishing touches to your final product, the platform has the courses to meet your needs. 

Some of the most popular woodworking lessons on Udemy include: 

• Table Saw Essentials—Learn how to rip and crosscut, cut rabbets, and more by using a table saw.
• Fundamentals of Cabinet Making—Choose the best materials for your project and get started with cabinet design.
• Fundamentals of Furniture Making—One of the best furniture making classes for beginners, covering everything one needs to get started with the craft.

Best of all, you can watch these on-demand videos whenever and wherever you wish as the platform provides offline and lifetime access to course content and materials.

The one downside is that you cannot access the site’s entire catalogue with a monthly subscription. However, you can still try out a course thanks to Udemy’s free trial and generous refund policy.

• Rating: 9.7/10
• Free sign up: Yes
• Number of woodworking lessons: 250+ 
• Price: £12 a month

Woodworking Masterclasses is brought to you by hand-tool enthusiast and master woodworker Paul Sellers. 

The platform, started by Sellers in 2012, lets you sign up for free and explore hundreds of videos, both as standalone courses or as episodes forming part of a bigger project.

That said, these furniture building classes tend to focus on more challenging woodworking tasks, such as making a router plane, a home TV unit and bookshelves. They also have small projects for coasters and wall clocks which makers can consider selling on Etsy.

More specifically, some of the courses you can find here are:

• Child’s Stool—A simple guide on making a small step stool in just an afternoon.
• How to Set Up and Use a Bullnose Plane—Demonstrates how to use a bullnose and how to set one up.
• Building a Spice Shelf—Master the art of cutting sliding dovetails as Paul provides step-by-step guidance.

At £12 for a Premium Membership, you can unlock all courses and get a list of tools, hand-drawn layout diagrams and a cutting list with each project. The subscription fee is a bit high, but it’s well worth it, considering you’re getting lessons from one of the best artisans out there.

• Rating: 9.6/10
• Free trial: N/A
• Number of woodworking lessons: 20+
• Price: £82.80 annual subscription 

Domestika is a relative newcomer on the eLearning scene, but that hasn’t stopped the platform from delivering high-quality courses from some of the best creatives in their respective fields. 

Here is a selection of the platform’s best-rated carpentry tutorials:

• Professional Woodworking for Beginners—This virtual woodworking class goes over the fundamentals, techniques, and tools you need to get started. 
• Chair Restoration and Upholstery—Learn how to give new life to old and shabby furniture.
• Furniture Design and Construction for Beginners—A workshop on designing, planning, and constructing wooden furniture in your own distinctive style.

The video lessons are broken up into bite-sized lectures, and all feature a class project giving you the chance to put your training into practice. 

Courses are available for individual purchase, or you could opt for a monthly/annual subscription. It is costlier than Skillshare, but with Domestika, you get lifetime access to all courses you buy, the ability to view classes offline and on the app, plenty of downloadable resources, as well as a certificate of completion. 

Most tutorials are in Spanish and Portuguese, although English subtitles are available.

• Rating: 9.5/10
• Free trial: NA
• Number of woodworking lessons: 3 courses & 700+ YouTube videos
• Price: $147

If you’ve ever tried your hand at learning woodworking online and seen a YouTube carpentry video, you are probably familiar with Steve Ramsey—master furniture builder and instructor. Now thanks to his in-depth course, Weekend Woodworker for Beginners, you can take full advantage of Steve’s expertise and get started with carpentry. 

Crafted especially for beginners to woodworking, this course provides six incredibly elaborate weekend woodworking projects that will teach how to create professional-looking wood pieces. The projects come with step-by-step video demos, printable schematics, detailed material lists, as well as a complete introduction to every skill and tool introduced. 

If you are a more advanced woodworker, you can take a look at other courses on the platform, including: 

• The Weekend Workshop—A complete guide to setting up your shop, plus 14 shop projects to boost your DIY skills. 
• Powered Up—Geared towards intermediate and advanced students; in this course, Steve shares tips and tricks of the trade to help you create projects faster and better. 

The subscription is a little on the pricey side, but you do get a 30-day refund policy in case the courses are not what you signed up for. Plus, you will continue to access all the course materials long after completing the tutorials.

• Rating: 9.3 / 10
• Free trial: N/A
• Number of woodworking lessons: 20+
• Price: starting with Free courses 

As one of the best platforms for arts & crafts, Craftsy has a wide selection of in-depth woodworking training classes that are bound to take your weekend hobby to the next level. 

These are just some of the 28 woodworking courses on offer: 

• Shop Essentials—Learn how to build essential workshop components that will result in professional-looking products. 
• Decorative Inlay Techniques—Teaching you how to use a portable router to create and install inlays.
• Hand-Cut Mortise & Tenon Joinery—Learn how to make and use mortise and tenon joints for creating beautiful furniture pieces.

You can purchase a course individually or unlock them collectively with a Premium Membership. The monthly fee starts at around $8 and comes with great parks, such as accessing on-demand courses on any device, including your fire TV or AppleTV, and membership sharing options.  

Taught by expert woodworkers and furniture makers, Craftsy’s courses can run up to 3+ hours. While this will give you detailed insight into each skill, it might make the material a bit hard to follow.

• Rating: 9.3/10
• Free trial: 100% free
• Number of woodworking lessons: 9
• Price: Free

This Instructables class is an excellent place to start if you simply want to learn more about the most common tools and techniques in woodworking. The lack of videos might be a problem if you’re a visual learner, but the text-based, nine-part courses cover all of the equipment and supplies you’ll need. For example:

• Drilling Perfect Holes—Goes through the essentials behind using a power drill, as well as drilling strategies for small and big holes.
• Sanding—Here, you’ll discover the importance of sanding and how to use different materials to achieve an even wood surface.
• Wood Shaping —A step-by-step guide on carving anything out of wood.

All courses can be downloaded as PDFs, so you can browse them in your own time or any device you want. There is also an option to share your finished project with other users and show off your craftsmanship skills. 

Should you get stuck along the way, you can always contact the course creator during virtual office hours by signing up for the service in the Questions section.