How to improve your woodworking skills

Whether you are a hobby woodworker or a seasoned professional with years of industry experience, there will always be times when you can improve your woodworking skills. Keeping your skills updated, particularly if you are employed in the woodworking sector, will help to ensure that you are as employable as possible.

Sign up for courses

Woodworking courses are a great place to improve your woodworking skills. Whilst many courses are geared toward those who are just starting out there are plenty of courses for more seasoned woodworkers. Courses will help you to learn new skills but also are a good place to brush up on the skills that you already have. This might help you to be more accurate in some of the things that you do or to improve your techniques to make yourself more efficient.

Practice

It may seem obvious but one of the best ways in which you can improve your skills in any field is through practice. Once you have learned a new skill you need to put in the time to practise it. This will allow you to make sure that you have committed the skill to memory and know exactly how to use it whilst working smoothly and efficiently. Practice will also show you if there is any part of the skill that you are struggling with, and if this is something you can’t work out how to correct yourself you should be able to ask your course tutor or a fellow woodworker for some tips.

Know your materials

The materials that you use when you are woodworking matter. Some woods are more suited to certain projects than others. If your project isn’t working the way you hoped, then it may not be the way in which you are approaching the project itself but rather the wood that you are using. Understanding the difference between different types of wood will actually help you when it comes to improving your woodworking skills.

Understand your tools

As with the wood that you use, it is really important to understand the different tools that you are using. If you understand your techniques but your project isn’t going the way you want it to, then perhaps you are not using the best tools for the job or are not using the right ones correctly. Make sure that you have read any instruction manuals fully and understand all of the adjustments that you may need to make to your machines in order to get the results that you are looking for. 

You should also make sure that your blades are sharp and also your drill bits because if these are blunt then they could have a negative impact on your work. When your tools are in the best condition possible then your skills will show and the work that you produce will have the quality that you are looking for.

If you’re looking to improve your woodworking and think your tools are letting you down, why not take a look at upgrading with us? We have both new and second hand machinery that will certainly make a difference to your next project.