Yahoo News These are the best woodworking courses across the UK
Woodworking is a hobby that can be enjoyed by people of all ages and skill levels. It provides an opportunity to work with your hands and create something tangible that you can be proud of – and a woodwork course is a great way to get started with this satisfying craft.
From simple wooden toys and birdhouses to more complex pieces of furniture that can be used and appreciated for years, there are endless possibilities when it comes to woodworking.
One of the great things about woodworking is that it's a versatile hobby that can be tailored to your interests and skill level. Whether you're keen to learn about traditional wood craft techniques or prefer more modern methods that incorporate technology and power tools, there's something to suit everyone.
Finding a local woodworking class or course can be a great way to connect with other like-minded individuals and join a community of people who share your passion for crafting. It’s also a great way to get kids engaged in a new activity that can teach them some hands-on skills. There are plenty of family-focused woodworking classes up and down the UK that can make for a unique and fun weekend or school holiday activity.
Here's our pick of the best woodworking courses and classes around the UK.
NORTH LONDON: Make a spatula
Perfect for beginners, this 3 hour course will teach you how to make a locally grown spatula to take home with you. Learn to work with the grain of your wood and use traditional tools like a shave horse and drawknife to hone your skills in a relaxed and fun environment.
Classes are held outside, so make sure to take weather-appropriate clothing!
Course name: Make A Spatula
Run by: London Green Wood
Address: 1a Goldsmith Row, Hackney, E2 8QA, London
Duration: 3hrs Price: £45 per person BOOK HERE
EAST LONDON: Spoon carving
Learn to use an axe, knife, and crook knife to create a beautiful and practical wooden spoon. Using freshly cut green wood, you'll be supported throughout the process by an experienced tutor and be encouraged to carve at your own pace.
All tools and materials are provided for this 2.5 hour course, and it’s a great way to slow down and focus your attention on learning a new skill.
Course name: Spoon Carving
Run by: Creative Nature HQ
Address: Thames- Side Studios, Unit TW-008, Harrington Way, SE18 5NR, London
Duration: 2.5hrs Price: £80 per person BOOK HERE
CENTRAL LONDON: Intro to furniture restoration
Give your furniture a new lease of life with this one-day starter class. An expert tutor will guide you through the process of removing varnish, refinishing woodwork, and fixing loose trims.
You'll get hands-on practice and learn how to tackle common problems like white rings and surface scratches. Don't let good furniture go to waste – sign up now and discover the joys of restoration.
Course name: Intro To Furniture Restoration - 1 Day
Run by: The Goodlife Centre
Address: 49-55 Great Guildford Street, SE1 0ES, London
Duration: 1 day Price: £195 per person BOOK HERE
SOUTH EAST LONDON: Make a Windsor-style stool
Create your own classic Windsor-style stool fit for a king! This hands-on two-day course in London will teach you the fundamentals of green-wood chair-making techniques using traditional tools like an axe, adze, drawknife, and spokeshave.
Learn how to split freshly felled timber and carve a comfortable seat to create a beautifully crafted three-legged stool.
Course name: Make A Windsor-Style Stool
Run by: Ben Willis Woodcraft
Address: 3 Stoney Lane, Crystal Palace, SE19 3BD, London
Duration: 2 days Price: £220 per person BOOK HERE
SOUTH LONDON: Epoxy resin river coffee table workshop
Join the team at The River Shop in South East London to learn everything you need to know about the fascinating process of making your own unique river table.
From mould set up to preparing your wood, mixing colours, and pouring resin, you’ll be guided through every step. After the two day course (held over two consecutive Sundays) you’ll leave with a beautiful resin and waney edge wood coffee table that you've designed and built yourself.
All tools, materials, and an apron is provided but make sure to wear old clothes and be ready to get messy!
Course name: Epoxy Resin Reiver Coffee Table Workshop
Run by: The River Shop
Address: TB-05 Thames Side Studios, Unit 8, Harrington Way, SE18 5NR
Duration: 3hrs Price: £575 per person BOOK HERE
SOMERSET: One week introduction to fine furniture
Designed for those with little experience but plenty of enthusiasm, this week-long course will teach you how to use tools to a professional standard and produce a small project to take home.
With a maximum of 8 students per course, you can benefit from focused and close attention from experienced tutors to develop invaluable woodworking skills.
You'll learn how to set up and sharpen hand tools, interpret basic woodworking drawings, the best techniques for chiselling and planing as well as gain an understanding of basic wood joining techniques.
Course name: One Week Introduction to Fine Furniture
Run by: Williams & Cleal Furniture School
Address: Willett Farm Workshop, Lydeard St Lawrence, Taunton, Somerset, TA4 3QB
Duration: 5 days Price: £870 per person BOOK HERE
SOMERSET: Veneering parquetry & marquetry
Unleash your creativity with marquetry and parquetry on this two-day veneering course. Discover the advantages of working with veneer and choose from a variety of colours, grains, and species to create your own veneered tray.
Learn valuable skills such as selecting the best veneer, pressing and jointing techniques, vacuum press principles and sand scorching. Plus get the chance to steam bend handles for your own tray.
Course name: Learn Veneering
Run by: Williams & Cleal Furniture School
Address: Willett Farm Workshop, Lydeard St Lawrence, Taunton, Somerset, TA4 3QB
Duration: 2 days Price: £420 per person BOOK HERE
CHESHIRE: Two day basic woodturning
Aimed at novices, this two-day course will give you a firm foundation in all the basic skills of woodturning and allow you to create your own pieces on the lathe.
Day one focuses on using the lathe safely, tool sharpening, and turning wood between centres using tools like a roughing gouge, spindle gouge skew chisel and parting tool. Day two is dedicated to bowl and face plate turning, with emphasis on mastering the bowl gouge.
This is the ideal course for anyone wanting to take their first step into the world of woodturning.
Course name: Two Day Basic Woodturning
Run by: Chesire Woodworking
Address: Old Alvanley Garage, Commonside, Helsby, Cheshire, WA6 9HB
Duration: 2 days Price: £260 per person BOOK HERE
BRISTOL: Fitted furniture with power tools
Make a small cabinet from MDF using woodwork power tools and learn how to make it fit perfectly into any enclosed space. You'll be guided through setting up and safely operating a range of hand-held power tools, joining sheet material, and using pocket screws for joinery.
You’ll also learn about cabinet structure, hardware, and hanging, meaning that you can take your skills and make fitted furniture for anywhere around your home!
Course name: Fitted Furniture with Power Tools
Run by: The Makershed
Address: St. Paul’s Learning Centre, 94 Grosvenor Road, St Pauls, Bristol BS2 8XJ
Duration: 4 days Price: £395 per person BOOK HERE
DENBIGHSHIRE: Cleft oak gate making
Learn the art of cleaving and make a cleft oak garden gate in just 4 days! Join course tutor Jack Ritson and learn traditional green woodworking techniques, including cleaving, shaping with an axe and drawknife, and cutting mortice and tenon joints.
You'll take home a handmade cleft wood gate up to 4ft wide that you'll be proud to show off to anyone who walks through your garden.
Course name: The art of cleaving - make a cleft oak garden gate
Run by: Wernog Wood
Address: Llanbedr DC, Ruthin, Denbighshire, LL15 1YE
Duration:4 days Price: £420 per person BOOK HERE
GWYNEDD: Learn to turn in Snowdonia
Learn to turn wood in beautiful Snowdonia with qualified teacher and award-winning woodturner Les Symonds. Les will guide you through the process of creating a bespoke piece of your choice in his well-equipped workshop.
Courses are tailored to your individual needs, whether you're looking for a fun experience to learn basic skills or if you want hands-on advice to develop your wood-turning skills further.
The full-day course runs from 09:30 to 15:30, with flexible finish times to complete your project, which you’ll get to take home with you.
Course name: Learn to turn in Snowdonia, North Wales - Full day
Run by: Pren
Address: 2 Cae Bach, Bala, Gwynedd, LL23 7TF
Duration: 1 day Price: £175 per person BOOK HERE
POWYS: Make a Welsh stick chair
Flex your woodworking skills on this seven-day course to make a beautiful Welsh stick chair. Learn how to craft a chair from log to finished piece, using traditional chair-making tools like a drawknife and spokeshave to fashion legs, spindles, and frame parts from green ash.
You'll also be taught how to use an adze and travisher to shape the seat for comfort, with the highlight of the course being steam bending the graceful bows that form the chair's distinctive arm and back. This intensive course is suitable for beginners, and more challenging variants may be possible for woodworkers with some existing skills.
Course name: Make a Welsh Stick Chair
Run by: Ben Willis Woodcraft
Address: Redwood Valley, Boultibrooke House, Norton Road, Presteigne LD8 2EU
Duration: 7 days Price: £625 per person BOOK HERE
EAST LOTHIAN: Woodturning weekend
This fun weekend woodturning course, taught by woodturning specialist Adam Stone, is perfect for beginners and focuses on woodturning and round joinery.
Learn how to work a lathe and use a variety of tools and techniques to make a stool or plant stand with a wooden turned top and three legs.
You’ll be taught how to make tenons, tapered legs, as well as how to sand and finish on the lathe. If you're up for the challenge, you can even try turning a bowl!
Course name: Woodturning Weekend
Run by: The Chippendale International School of Furniture
Address: Chippendale International School of Furniture, Gifford, East Lothian, EH41 4JA
Duration: 2 days Price: £400 per person BOOK HERE
AVIEMORE: Highlands cup carving
Learn Scottish woodcarving traditions and create your own Highlands cup in the forest at Inshriach, near Aviemore. With expert tuition from Wooden Tom, you'll safely use hand tools like a knife and axe to carve a Highlands kuksa cup or whisky quaich to take home.
This course is fairly technical and physical, so some woodworking experience is recommended.
You'll learn a variety of grounding skills that can be applied to other carving projects – including using an axe for accurate cleaving, roughing out shapes with a carving axe, and safe cutting techniques with a carving knife and gouge.
Course name: Highlands cup carving
Run by: Wooden Tom
Address: Inshriach Farm, Aviemore, Inverness-Shire, PH22 1QP
Duration: 6hrs Price: £70 per person BOOK HERE
ABERDEENSHIRE: Crafty coffee workshop
Perfect for taking as a solo class or with a friend, you’ll be guided by a woodworking expert through a coffee themed greenwood working experience. By the end of the workshop you'll have made an espresso shot cup, coffee bag peg, and (if there is time) a small spoon.
No previous experience is required, and all materials are included in the price - you’ll even get to sample some locally roasted campfire coffee! All you need to do is bring your own packed lunch and get ready for a fun and creative day.
Course name: Crafty Coffee Workshop
Run by: Knockiehill Woodland Centre
Address: Melgum Road, Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, Ab34 4UX
Duration: 6hrs Price: £65 per person BOOK HERE
EDINBURGH: Children's whittling & wood carving classes
Looking for a fun activity to do with the kids, look no further than this whittling and wood carving class! The focus of these classes are on good technique, making use of the bigger muscles in the body to avoid fatigue and accidents.
Classes are typically 1.5 hours long, with options to make items like a butter knife or wooden flowers. Tutors can also show safe techniques for using spoon carving knives so that you can carry on your crafting at home.
Course name: Children's whittling & wood carving classes
Run by: Alien Spoons
Address: 22 Priestfield Crescent, Edinburgh, EH16 5JQ
Duration: 1.5hrs Price: £45 per person BOOK HERE
BELFAST: Kids and parents - Make a rustic stool
This fun one-day workshop will teach you and your child how to make a rustic stool together. It’s a great way to create a piece of furniture for your home while also helping kids to gain confidence and new woodworking skills.
The workshop is best suited for children aged 11-16 and must be accompanied by a parent or guardian who is willing to work alongside their child.
Course name: Kid and Parents: Make a Rustic Stool
Run by: Green Woodwork Ireland
Address: Minnowburn, Ballynahatty Road, Belfast, BT8 8LE
Duration: 1 day Price: £100 per adult and child couple BOOK HERE
NEWRY: Neolithic pendant carving experience
Learn the ancient craft of woodturning from expert Padraig Carragher and create a personalised Celtic Pendant from native Irish trees. Using locally sourced wood from Padraig's private 26-acre woodland, you'll learn how to use the lathe, sand, and polish to create your pendant.
Your birth month will be translated into Ogham and etched onto the pendant before it's presented in a beautiful box to take home. The experience includes full tuition, use of equipment, a woodland walk and talk, and light refreshments such as tea, coffee, and homemade scones.
Course name: Neolithic Pendant Experience
Run by: Bluebell Lane
Address: 49 Tullymacrieve, Newry, BT35 9RE
Duration: 3hrs Price: £80 per person BOOK HERE
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