WCA Overview
Please watch the narrated presentation below to learn what the WCA is and how the credentialing process works…
Video Length: 23 min, 48 sec
02.5 – Enrolling Your Students or Employees
As mentioned in the previous lesson, all students or employees who wish to be assessed for any credential must first join the WCA by purchasing an Individual Membership at a cost of $55.
The bulk membership purchase requires you to download an ordering spreadsheet that you will fill out with the names, emails, and other information for all of your students and employees which is then uploaded to our server to complete the purchase. The required emails are typically the student’s school issued emails, but can be their personal emails. For privacy reasons, we encourage the use of school emails. The instructions for completing the process are outlined on the bulk membership purchase page in the Marketplace. The purchase can be completed using a credit card or check.
The reason for using the bulk membership is to ensure that the data can be checked for accuracy and to make sure that your students or employees get attached to the correct company, organization, or school. In the past, when candidates would order their own Individual Memberships, there would often be typos, incorrect email addresses or other information, and incomplete company or school information. Once this incorrect information is in our system, it’s difficult to change, so it’s easier for the WCA to validate the information in the spreadsheet manually and input the orders in bulk. In the end, an order for each student’s Individual Membership is created in the system and they’ll receive an order acknowledgement at their email address. At the same time, an account will be created for them on our website using their email as the username and a temporary password of “changeme” will be used to access their account. As the temporary password implies, it should be changed as soon as possible to something private to the candidate.
06.5 – Core Credential
If your program allows students to accumulate at least 120 experience hours, then you might consider testing them to the Core Credential. In addition to the experience hours, the candidate will need a total of 20 skill points, 10 more than is required for Sawblade, which is an additional five tool operations at level 2. Ten Assessment Credits come with an Individual Membership, so the Core Credential would require 10 more credits for a cost of $50.
Testing to the Core Credential is the same as the process for the Sawblade Credential; the candidate is still required to pass the Layout and Measurement pre-requisites and go through the Sawblade Certificate testing, including the online test, then be tested on 5 additional tool operations, assuming they have also accumulated at least 120 experience hours. Scroll down for a list of the required Sawblade Operations, plus the operations we strongly recommend for the 5 additional operations. Note that, collectively, these 10 operations also encompass all of the Milling 4 Square operations which is an important skill to learn.
All Sawblade Operations:
Tablesaw – Ripping
Jointer – Edge Jointing
Tablesaw – Rabbet
Sanding – Random Orbit Sander
Drill Press – Drill Holes Partial or Thru
Additional Operations:
If you do not have one of the tools on this list, or have another reason to substitute a different operation, please submit your alternative operation(s) to us for approval before proceeding.
Planer – Planing to Thickness
Jointer – Face Jointing
Portable Power Miter Saw – Square Crosscut (90º Miter)
Router Table – Edge Shaping
Band Saw – Rough Saw Parts From a Pattern
Special Note for Wisconsin Schools: Please note that the rules have changed for Wisconsin schools. In the past, schools could receive compensation for each student that earned the Sawblade Certificate; the new rules require a Core Credential to qualify for compensation.
Circular Sawblades
In this lesson you will learn about circular saw blades, including their characteristics, use cases, and care and maintenance. Circular saw blades are used on tools such as table saws, sliding table saws, power miter saws, portable circular saws, radial arm saws, and other specialty saws that require a round, spinning blade. It is strongly recommended that you do the required reading prior to watching the video…
Associated Reading: Modern Cabinetmaking, Pages 412 – 414
Video length: 41 min, 28 sec
Understanding Wood Movement
In this lesson, you will put everything you’ve learned to this point to work understanding how wood moves. The concept of wood movement affects everything we do as woodworkers, so it’s important we understand how and when wood moves, how much, and what the rules are. We also learn how to recognize in what situations the movement of wood will cause a joinery issue. It is strongly recommended that you do the required reading prior to watching the video…
Associated Reading: Understanding Wood, Chapter 6 : Modern Cabinetmaking, Pages 189-190
Video length: 20 min, 20 sec
Rough Milling
In this lesson, you will dive deeper into the Rough Milling process and learn more about each of the steps. Watch the video below before moving on to the additional topics covering the individual tools involved in the rough milling process.
Milling “4 Square” Exercise
In this final exercise, you will practice milling boards 4 square under the supervision of your in-house Mentor/Evaluator. When both you and your Evaluator feel you are ready, you will be evaluated against the WCA Skill Standards to show your proficiency. Click on the Materials tab above to view/download the relevant standards as listed below:
- 3.1.1 Jointer – Face Jointing
- 3.2.1 Planer – Planing to Thickness
- 3.1.2 Jointer – Edge Jointing First Edge
- 2.1.1 Tablesaw – Ripping
- 2.1.3 Tablesaw – Crosscutting
- 2.3.1 Portable Power Miter Saw – Square Crosscut (90º Miter)
Note that you will choose just one of the last two crosscut options after consulting with your Evaluator. You may do both if you choose to, but you will need to purchase extra assessment credits for one of them if you want it recorded in the WCA records.
Your Evaluator will videotape you performing the operations while doing the evaluation. These videos will be uploaded to the following link for auditing by the WCA:
https://www.dropbox.com/request/CMC0IH0dCuTaQx87XQPq
After successfully passing the five milling tool operations, you will have earn the WCA Sawblade Certification; the first level certification that the WCA offers. Congratulations!
Final Milling
In this lesson, you will dive deeper into the Final Milling process and learn more about each of the steps. Watch the video below before moving on to the additional topics covering the individual tools involved in the final milling process.
Machining and Milling Overview
In this lesson, you will be introduced to the Machining and Milling process, with a focus on milling lumber “4 Square”; one of the most fundamental skills for woodworkers aspiring to do high end work.
Milling “4 Square” involves taking rough lumber and turning it into pieces (or blanks) with flat, parallel faces and straight, parallel edges that are square to the faces with clean cut ends that are square to the faces and edges. The resulting piece should measure within +/- 1/64″ of the target dimensions in thickness, width, and length. Watch the video below for more information:
Introduction to Wood Theory
What makes a high quality woodworking project? There are, of course, many answers to this question. One obvious answer is that the craftsperson must have the necessary joinery and tool skills and attention to detail needed to create a top notch piece. The less obvious answer is that he or she also needs to have a deep understanding of the materials needed to build the project; in this case, wood (also called lumber).
Wood is unlike other materials, such as metal, in that it shrinks and expands due to humidity in the air, sometimes significantly and it does this throughout it’s entire life. While it’s possible to build projects without the knowledge of how wood moves and reacts over time, this can be a recipe for disaster in that over time the joinery can fail due the failure to consider wood movement when designing and building a project. The most skilled woodworkers fully understand the properties of wood and how to design joinery to accommodate that movement. When designed and built properly, there’s no reason your projects can’t last for generations.
The good news is that woodworkers have understood the properties of wood for thousands of years and have developed many techniques to accommodate wood movement, so no need to re-invent the wheel. The best part is that you don’t need to memorize hundreds of joinery options. Once you understand a few simple rules regarding wood movement, you will easily recognize problematic situations allowing you to research the best way to solve the problem.
Preparation
Peter Korn said it best in his book, “Why We Make Things and Why it Matters – The Education of a Craftsman
“In furniture (and cabinet) making, beginnings are critical. For a simple frame-and-panel door to stay flat over the long haul and not become too tight in summer or overly gapped in winter, success starts with the choice of timber. Not just what species or which plank, but also from which part of the board one saws the stiles and rails, how dry the wood is, the method by which it was dried, and how it was stored and handled. All this before the actual work of milling the timber flat and square, laying out and cutting the joinery, making and fitting the panel, assembling, trimming, fitting, hinging, latching, and finishing.
Throughout the entire process, the quality achievable at each stage is utterly dependent on the care with which the craftsman has accomplished every previous step of the way.”
— Peter Korn, longtime woodworking educator and furniture maker
The last quote is particularly important; when building anything, every step matters and problems can cascade if care is not taken at each stage. In our case, it all starts with wood and it’s preparation, so let’s dive in…
Some notes about the course: Each lesson consists of outside reading from Understanding Wood and/or Modern Cabinetmaking, a video, and a quiz. You must progress through each lesson in order and pass the quiz before moving on; you may take each quiz up to three times to obtain a passing grade of 80%. It is strongly recommended to do the outside reading before watching the videos.