Easy Weekend Woodworking Projects for Students

September 18, 2022

No one can leapfrog from a beginner level to an expert woodworking level without passing through the intermediate woodworking levels. It would be best to learn incrementally unless you are gifted in woodworking. So, if you’re aspiring to be an expert woodworker, you need to start by being a beginner, learning the basics of woodworking. Once you’ve learned the rudiments of woodworking, you can transition to more challenging woodworking tasks. 

In the past, if you were a beginner in woodworking, you needed to undergo apprenticeships. You would also need to start with easy woodworking projects to learn how to cut correctly and connect pieces. Once you learned the basics, you could engage in more complicated tasks. Nowadays, however, you have more powerful tools. So, you will not spend more time and effort cutting wood. You only need to be very careful with the use of power tools. 

14 Easy Woodworking Projects for Students

You can now enroll in woodworking tutorials or learn from video tutorials online. Yet, as mentioned above, you should start with easy projects. Below are some of the easy woodworking projects students can engage in:

1) Modern Bookshelf

You might be thinking of learning how to make joinery, and one way to develop your joinery-making skill is by making a bookshelf. If you got many books, you could have these books arranged by creating a modern bookshelf. Of course, making a bookshelf will also improve your cutting skills while improving your skills in applying stains or paint. 

2) Magazine Storage Containers

Another excellent project for beginners is a magazine storage container. Making these containers will hone your cutting skill and joinery-making skill. The basics of woodworking, of course, require you to learn how to cut correctly and precisely. It also necessitates learning how to measure well. 

3) Portable Small Bench

Another excellent project you can indulge in is making a small portable bench. As an aspiring woodworker, you need to build your skills slowly. But it will be best if you also build your confidence as a woodworker. So, it will help if you start with simple projects like a small portable bench. 

If you do well with this simple project, you can be ready for more challenging woodworking projects. But if you can’t even do well on a small project like this, you might try to improve your basic skills. 

You will enhance your woodcutting skill and measuring skills when building a small bench. Plus, you can improve your designing skill with this small woodworking project. 

4) Simple Birdhouse or Feeder

To delight your daughter, you can make her a small birdhouse for her avian pet. Although making a birdhouse seems to be a minor project, building it can help you improve your woodcutting and measuring skills. Plus, you can enhance your design talent and creativity.

5) Step Tool

Building a step tool requires more measuring and time. Yet, it is still a basic project that could hone your skills in basic woodworking. Although you won’t need elaborate joinery for this project, it will help learn how to cut well and paint well. 

A step tool, of course, is an essential accessory at home. You can move to more complicated projects requiring elaborate joinery and cutting if you do it well.

6) Photo Holders

A photo holder is another easy project you can engage in as a beginner. Of course, you might frown at the idea, but if you aspire to become an expert woodworker, you must learn how to make those bevel and angle cuts. You also need to know how to join the different pieces together. In the case of a picture frame, to create a perfect photo holder, you need to use clamps and ensure that the joinery is perfectly angled. You also need to make those angled cuts on your wood.

7) Serving Tray

You can also make a serving tray as your first woodworking project. A serving tray can help you serve breakfast even when someone is in bed. A serving tray is not a complicated project. But it will require you to make precise measurements and cuts. Besides, it will make you create joinery. So, it will give you a good idea of making accurate measurements, cuts, and joinery.

8) Wall Hooks

You can buy wall hooks, and they come in various styles and designs. Yet, if you want to become an expert woodworker, you can also make wall hooks to improve some of your basic woodworking skills. 

For example, you need to make precise cuts when making wall hooks. You also need to mount it on the wall and install a wooden backplate. Besides, you will need to use a power drill for this project. Lastly, you need to paint or stain the wood to make it more delightful to look at.

9) Pencil or Pencil Holder

Another easy project to make is a pen or pencil holder. Completing this project will help you organize your pen and pencils and easily access them. 

You can use your imagination to create something artistic. But the benefit of doing this project is you improve your cutting skills and hone your use of drills.

10) Mail Holder or Key Holder

The uncomplicated projects you make let you hone your woodworking skills and prepare you for more challenging tasks. One project that can help you hone your skills is making a mail holder or key holder. 

You will need to cut precisely and join pieces together to achieve this project. Likewise, you need to make irregular cuts for this project, depending on your design. Moreover, you will learn how to use glue and join pieces.

11) Candle Holder

You might not think of making a candle holder as a beginner’s project because it might not be easy. The reason is that the difficulty of doing this project depends on the design you would like to make. 

To create an excellent candle holder, you might be required to punch out holes on your chosen wood. It will also require you to carve the wood for more aesthetics. It will also test your ability to make precision boring. 

You will also taper the hole to keep the candles in place. Besides, you need to learn how to sand well and stain the finished project.

12) Tablet Holder or Book Holder

Another simple project you can engage in is the tablet holder or book holder. Such an accessory is essential nowadays because most of us use tablets or computers. This project can help you hone your cutting and measuring skills. 

It can also help you improve your joinery-making skill. Plus, you need to paint or finish the wood and grasp which stain or paint is best to use.

13) Monitor Stand

Another excellent project for beginners is the monitor stand. In this project, you will need to measure well the dimensions of your monitor and the wood you will use for the stand. You also need to cut precisely and learn how to sand to smoothen the wood’s edges. 

Plus, you need to install plates for this project. So, in a way, you will get a chance to hone your basic woodworking skills with this project.

14) Wooden Spoon

This project might not be on your list of easy woodworking projects. But you can add this to your list. In this project, you can hone your woodturning skills or carving skills. You can start by making a straight handle for your spoon. 

Then, engage in a round cut to make the head of the spoon. You can use your jigsaw, for example, or your bandsaw when doing this project.

Conclusion

If you have a creative mind driven by a passion for learning the basics of woodworking, you can indeed create outstanding woodworking projects. Of course, you need to know the basics of woodworking like cutting wood, sanding, use of power tools, nailing and screwing, joinery, and finishing your projects. 

Without the proper knowledge of these basic skills, you can never become an expert woodworker. So, you need to be patient as a woodworker. Learn likewise from the masters so that you can mimic their techniques. But also learn the safety protocols when engaged in woodworking, for your safety is paramount when using power tools.