Woodworking is an ancient craft and, as such, has many traditions. The workers of the British Arts & Crafts movement took woodworking methodology - specifically the working and machining of solid wood - to its most refined state. Educator, master woodworker and designer and author Ian Kirby has been recording that methodology in print for many years. He has also further refined those methods within the outline of a Critical Path. The team at woodworking.com has excerpted Ian Kirby's writing into a series of step-by-step online woodworking classes based on the divisions of woodworking's critical path.

We believe that these lessons are the most useful, understandable, comprehensive and internally consistent woodworking instruction available on the Internet. With information of value to the beginner and expert alike, these lessons have the potential to lead a person to woodworking mastery.

The Steps in Woodworking's Critical Path

Harvest the Parts: The goal is the best grain and color combination of each part relative to the efficient use of material. How well you selected is highlighted at the polishing stage because no stains are used to homogenize the grain and color of dissimilar parts. Harvest the Parts distinguishes hand production from factory production. Soundness of stock is important: even a mundane piece deserves better than short grain or knots.

Make the Butt Joints: (Optional) Butt joints are used to make a wide board from narrow boards. It occurs at this early stage mostly to make storage or casegood furniture.

Prepare the Stock: If you prepare stock exclusively by machine, don't imagine that measuring tools are redundant. You should make all the checks required
by hand tool methods - just a lot less frequently.

Mark the Joints: Marking out is vital for hand-cut mortise-and-tenons, whereas most or all marking out is bypassed for machine-cut mortise-and-tenons because the workpiece fits into a prepared slot designed for repetitive cuts. Parts intended to be machine-cut must be made the correct dimension at the Prepare the Stock stage so they will exactly fit the jig.

Cut and Fit the Joints: Hand-cut joints leave little room for variations.  Although there are different techniques for chopping a mortise, they all use a mallet and mortise chisel. Machine-cut joints can follow several paths. For example, using appropriate jigs, you could make a tenon using a table saw, a router or a band saw.

Shape the Parts: The word "shaping" might suggest something curved and carved like a cabriole leg. Not so.  Any alternation of the rectilinear shape of the material as it comes from the Preparation of Stock stage is shaping. For example, even though the tapered inside faces of a leg remain straight and flat, they have nevertheless been shaped.

Clean up and Polish Inside Faces: This step is not followed by all furniture makers, but it can be considered vital because you can more easily plane the surfaces to be finished, which is the preferred practice. If you can't plane, sanding is always simpler before parts are assembled, and the oil or beeswax finish is easier to apply. Glue squeeze-out can be left to cure without fear of staining the wood. The finish behaves like a wax release, allowing easy removal of the glue with a sharp chisel.

Glue Up the First Subassembly: Accurate subassemblies are the key to trouble-free final assemblies.

Alignment and Local Correction: (Optional) If any local corrections are needed, such as flush planing a rail-and-leg joint, it's best done before the next assembly because the simpler the assembly, the easier it is to hold on the bench.

Glue Up the Final Assembly: Careful measurement and examination of the relationships of all the subassemblies. This is a point of no return.

Drawers: (Optional) A handmade solid wood drawer may have 40 - 50 steps, representing its unique critical path.

Doors: (Optional) A variety of door options will each provide their own set of specific steps.

(Final) Clean Up and Polish: This step is the completion of the making process.