Woodwork teaches you to plan, measure, cut, and build with wood. You will learn to care for tools, make useful things, and design your own project. There's a lot of pride in using something you built yourself.
Why it's worth it
There's real pride in using something you built: a box that holds your gear, a shelf on your wall, a birdhouse that actually gets a nest. Woodwork teaches you to plan, measure twice, cut carefully, and fix mistakes, skills that carry over to home repairs, engineering, and any job where you build things. You'll also learn about the trades behind every house and piece of furniture around you.
Start this week
- Check whether you have your Totin' Chip. If not, ask your patrol leader or Scoutmaster how to earn it.
- Ask your Scoutmaster for the name of a Woodwork counselor, and send them a short message with a parent copied to set up a first meeting.
- Look for a workspace and supervision you can use, like a family member's tools, a school shop, or a makerspace.
- Start collecting wood scraps from family, neighbors, or a lumberyard's scrap pile for your six samples.
Plan ahead: Requirement 1 includes earning the Totin' Chip, so do it first. Then build your hand-tool project before designing your own in requirement 5.
Stay safe
- Wear safety glasses, clamp your work, and use hand and power tools only with an adult who knows them.
- Keep your workspace clear and sweep up sawdust; use finishes and glues in a ventilated area.
Requirements · 7
Every official requirement and part, numbered to match Scouting America, in plain language. Sign off against the official wording (opens in a new tab).
- Requirement 1
Safety and first aid
Tips for this section: Learn the hazards of woodworking tools, and earn your Totin' Chip before starting.
- Requirement 1a
Explain to your counselor the likely hazards of woodworking and how to anticipate, prevent, reduce, and respond to them, plus the precautions for using your tools safely
- Requirement 1b
Show you know first aid for woodworking injuries (splinters, scratches, cuts, severe bleeding, shock); explain how to protect your eyes and hearing, and why and when to wear a dust mask
- Requirement 1c
Earn the Totin' Chip
- Requirement 2
Wood and lumber
Tips for this section: Collect six wood samples from a lumberyard or scrap pile and label each one.
Example for this section: Explain how a tree becomes lumber: felling, hauling to a sawmill, sawing into boards, and drying in a kiln or air. Then label six samples, like pine, oak, maple, cedar, poplar, and walnut, with where each comes from and what it's good for.
- Requirement 2a
Describe how trees are grown, harvested, and milled for timber, and how lumber is sized, graded, cured, and seasoned
- Requirement 2b
Collect and label blocks of 6 kinds of wood used in woodworking, and describe each one's main qualities and best uses
- Requirement 3
Tool care
Tips for this section: Ask an experienced woodworker to show you how to sharpen and care for your tools.
- Requirement 3a
Show the right way to use, care for, and store every tool and piece of equipment you have or use at home or at school
- Requirement 3b
Correctly sharpen the cutting edges of 2 different tools
- Requirement 4
Make something useful from wood with a saw, plane, hammer, brace, and bit, cutting the parts from lumber you squared and measured using working drawings
Tip: Make something simple like a box or birdhouse using hand tools, with an adult nearby.
For example: Build a simple toolbox or birdhouse from working drawings, using a saw, a plane, a hammer, and a brace and bit. Square and measure your lumber, mark every cut first, clamp the wood, and check each joint for square as you go.
- Requirement 5
Design and build your own project: make working drawings, list the materials you need, then build it while tracking your time and the cost of materials
Tip: Sketch your design, gather materials, and build step by step.
For example: Sketch a design for something you need, like a small bookshelf or a camp box. Write a cut list and materials list, estimate cost, then build it step by step and note what you'd change next time.
- Requirement 6
More woodworking projects. Choose 2 of 5
Tips for this section: Choose two projects that challenge you a bit more, like one with rounded edges or a box with a hinged lid.
Example for this section: Two options could be a project with a joint you haven't tried, like a dowel or miter joint, and a small box with a lid set on inset hinges. Make working drawings first, then build each one.
- Requirement 6a
Make working drawings for a project with beveled or rounded edges, then build it
- Requirement 6b
Make working drawings for a project with curved or incised cuts, then build it
- Requirement 6c
Make working drawings for a project with miter, dowel, or mortise-and-tenon joints, then build it
- Requirement 6d
Build a cabinet, box, or other piece with a door or lid attached with inset hinges
- Requirement 6e
Help make wooden toys for children, or help with a woodworking service project for a charity that your counselor approves
- Requirement 7
Talk with a cabinetmaker or finish carpenter about training, apprenticeships, career opportunities, working conditions, hours, pay, and unions for woodworkers in your area
Tip: Ask a cabinetmaker or carpenter about their work and how they learned their trade.
For example: Before talking with a cabinetmaker or finish carpenter, write down questions about how they learned the trade, what tools they use most, and what makes a job go well. Have a parent with you and take notes.
Places to visit
Ask an adult to set it up, and go with your family, den, patrol, or crew.
A school shop, makerspace, or community woodshop
You can use tools you don't have at home with experienced people nearby.
How: Have a parent or leader ask about open shop hours, youth classes, or a supervised session for your patrol.
A sawmill or lumberyard
You'll see how logs become boards and learn how wood is graded and dried.
How: Have a leader call and ask about a group tour, and confirm safety rules like closed-toe shoes and staying with the group.
Where it can lead
- CarpenterBuilds and repairs homes and buildings; often learned through apprenticeships.
- Cabinetmaker or furniture makerDesigns and builds cabinets and furniture with fine joinery.
- Construction managerRuns building projects from plans to finished structures.
- Forester or wood scientistGrows, manages, and studies the trees and wood products we use.
- Shop teacherTeaches students to use tools safely and build real projects.
Ask yourself
- What did you build, and where is it now?
- What mistake did you make, and how did you fix or work around it?
- Which tool did you enjoy using most, and which one took the most practice?
- How did planning on paper help, or not help, when you started building?
- What would you like to build next, and what skill would you need for it?
Good questions to ask a cabinetmaker or finish carpenter
- How did you learn your trade, and how long did it take?
- What's a project you're especially proud of?
- What mistakes do beginners make that you still remember making yourself?
- Which tools should a beginner learn first?
- What's changing in your trade, like new tools or materials?
Helpful reads
- Earning a merit badge, step by step, From picking a badge to getting the final signature: how to find a counselor, set up meetings safely, work the requirements, and keep your progress., Youth · Families · 6 min read
- Contacting counselors, experts, and organizations, Email and phone scripts, who to ask for, how to follow up, and how to say thanks, with a parent copied every time., Youth · Families · 7 min read
- Choosing your next merit badge, How to pick a badge you'll actually finish: start with what you care about, balance Eagle-required and just-for-fun badges, and make the most of camp., Youth · Families · 6 min read
For leaders & parents
- Partner with a shop teacher or local woodworker for workspace and guidance.
- Make sure scouts use safety glasses and work with supervision.
People & places that can help
- Merit badge counselor — Talk with them early; they can explain what's expected.
- Local hardware store or lumberyard — Wood samples and sometimes free classes.
- School shop teacher — Can help with tools and projects.
- Forest Products Laboratory (opens in a new tab) — The U.S. Forest Service lab that studies wood and how to use it well.
- OSHA: Woodworking (opens in a new tab) — Safety hazards and protections in wood shops.
- SkillsUSA (opens in a new tab) — Student competitions in carpentry, cabinetmaking, and other trades.
Pairs well with
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Tips, examples, and questions are ideas from experienced leaders, not extra requirements. Your unit leader or counselor decides when a requirement is complete.