WOODWORK
WOODWOR K
BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA
MERIT BADGE SERIES
“Enhancing our youths’ competitive edge through merit badges”
Requirements
1. Do the following:
a. Explain to your counselor the most likely hazards
you may encounter while participating in woodwork
activities, and what you should do to anticipate,
help prevent, mitigate, and respond to these
hazards. Explain what precautions you should
take to safely use your tools.
b. Show that you know rst aid for injuries that could
occur while woodworking, including splinters,
scratches, cuts, severe bleeding, and shock. Tell what
precautions must be taken to help prevent loss of
eyesight or hearing, and explain why and when it is
necessary to use a dust mask.
c. Earn the Totin’ Chip recognition.
2. Do the following:
a. Describe how timber is grown, harvested, and
milled. Tell how lumber is cured, seasoned, graded,
and sized.
b. Collect and label blocks of six kinds of wood useful
in woodworking. Describe the chief qualities of
each. Give the best uses of each.
3. Do the following:
a. Show the proper care, use, and storage of all
working tools and equipment that you own or
use at home or school.
b. Sharpen correctly the cutting edges of two
different tools.
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WOODWORK 3
4. Using a saw, plane, hammer, brace, and bit, make some-
thing useful of wood. Cut parts from lumber that you
have squared and measured from working drawings.
5. Create your own woodworking project. Begin by making
working drawings, list the materials you will need to
complete your project, and then build your project. Keep
track of the time you spend and the cost of the materials.
6. Do any TWO of the following:
a. Make working drawings of a project needing
beveled or rounded edges and build it.
b. Make working drawings of a project needing curved
or incised cuttings and build it.
c. Make working drawings of a project needing miter,
dowel, or mortise and tenon joints and build it.
d. Make a cabinet, box, or something else with a door
or lid fastened with inset hinges.
e. Help make wooden toys for underprivileged
children; OR help carry out a woodworking
service project approved by your counselor for a
charitable organization.
7. Talk with a cabinetmaker or nish carpenter. Learn about
training, apprenticeships, career opportunities, work
conditions, work hours, pay rates, and union organization
that woodworking experts have in your area.
4 WOODWORK
Resources for Woodworking.
Resources for Woodworking
Scouting Literature
Deck of First Aid; Emergency First
Aid pocket guide; Be Prepared First
Aid Book; Scouts BSA Handbook for
Boys; Scouts BSA Handbook for Girls;
Drafting, First Aid, Forestry, Home
Repairs, Inventing, Model Design
and Building, Painting, Pulp and
Paper, and Wood Carving merit
badge pamphlets
Books
Blankenship, Loyd, and Lane Boyd.
Woodworking for Young Makers:
Fun and Easy Do-It-Yourself Projects.
Maker Media, Inc., 2017.
Fine Woodworking. The Basics of
Craftsmanship: Key Advice on
Every Aspect of Woodworking.
Taunton, 2000.
Flexner, Bob. Understanding Wood
Finishing, 2nd ed. Fox Chapel
Publishing, 2010.
Harrold, Jim. Classic Wooden Toys:
Step-by-Step Instructions for 20
Built-to-Last Projects. Spring House
Press, 2015.
Korn, Peter. Woodworking Basics:
Mastering the Essentials of
Craftsmanship. Taunton Press, 2003.
McGuire, Kevin. The All-New
Woodworking for Kids. Lark
Crafts, 2008.
Stevens, Craig. Woodshop 101 for Kids.
CreateSpace Independent Publishing
Platform, 2013.
Wakeeld, David. Animated Animal
Toys in Wood: 20 Projects that
Walk, Wobble & Roll. Fox Chapel
Publishing, 2014.
Magazines
Fine Woodworking
Website: www.newoodworking.com
Popular Woodworking
Website:
www.popularwoodworking.com
Wood
Website: www.woodmagazine.com
Woodsmith
Website: www.woodsmith.com
Woodworker’s Journal
Website: www.woodworkers
journal.com
Videos
Essential Woodworking Techniques.
Woodworkers Guild of
America, 2011.
Popular Woodworking–Videos
Website: https://videos.popularwood
working.com/catalog
With your parent’s permission, visit
the Boy Scouts of America’s ofcial
retail website, www.scoutshop.org,
for a complete listing of all merit
badge pamphlets and other helpful
Scouting materials and supplies.
WOODWORK 5
.Resources for Woodworking
Organizations and Websites
Absolutely Free Plans
Website:
www.absolutelyfreeplans.com
Bureau of Labor Statistics
U.S. Department of Labor
Website:
www.bls.gov/ooh/production/
woodworkers.htm
National Association of
Home Builders
1201 15th St. NW
Washington, DC 20005
Toll-free telephone: 800-368-5242
Website: www.nahb.org
Sawdust Making 101
Website:
www.sawdustmaking.com
United Brotherhood of Carpenters
and Joiners of America
101 Constitution Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20001
Telephone: 202-546-6206
Website: www.carpenters.org
WoodNet.net
Website: https://forums.woodnet.net
Woodworking Masterclasses
Website: https://woodworkingmaster
classes.com/
Woodwright’s Shop with
Roy Underhill
Website: http://www.pbs.org/
woodwrightsshop/watch-on-line/
Acknowledgments
The Boy Scouts of America thanks
skilled woodworkers Michael Rosenberg
and Robert Meunier of the Charlotte
(North Carolina) Woodworkers
Association who so graciously assisted
with the Woodwork merit badge pam-
phlet. We appreciate their knowledge
and expertise on the subject very much,
and we are grateful for the time they
took to help us.
The Boy Scouts of America is
grateful to the men and women
serving on the National Merit Badge
Subcommittee for the improvements
made in updating this pamphlet.
