Wood Theory

Welcome to the WCA Wood Theory online training course. This course will teach you the foundational knowledge you need to understand the primary material used in woodworking; wood, also called lumber. You will dive deep into wood theory and how the various properties of wood affect subsequent woodworking operations.

This course relies heavily on the information in the famous textbook on wood theory: Understanding Wood by R. Bruce Hoadley as well as information in Modern Cabinetmaking by William D. Umstattd, Charles W. Davis, and Patrick A. Molzahn. Reading is assigned out of both books in this course, so it is highly recommended to have a copy of both books handy, especially Understanding Wood.

To take this course, you must be logged into this website and be in possession of a WCA Individual Membership. If you are not able to access the course, please contact us for help.

Get started by clicking the “Take This Course” button in the upper right. You will be asked to purchase the course, which is free, but you still need to go through the checkout process to access the course. Once we mark the order as Complete, you will get an email notification indicating that you now have access to the course; until then, you won’t have access.