1.1: Welcome to WMT 101
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- 67161
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1.1 Welcome to WMT 101
Welcome to WMT 101: Introduction to Woodworking.
Woodworking combines material knowledge, technical skill, problem solving, design, and craftsmanship. In this course, you will learn how to work safely with common woodworking tools and machines while building projects that introduce the fundamental processes used in furniture making and woodworking manufacturing.
The Woodworking Manufacturing Technologies Department at Cerritos College is committed to excellence in woodworking education through creativity, craftsmanship, technical skill, safety, and lifelong learning. Our goal is to provide a learning environment where students from different backgrounds and levels of experience can learn, experiment, and develop confidence in the woodshop.
What You Will Do
During WMT 101, you will learn to:
- Work safely in a professional woodworking environment.
- Measure, identify, select, and prepare lumber.
- Operate common woodworking machines.
- Mill rough lumber accurately.
- Cut, shape, join, sand, and finish wood.
- Read and develop basic woodworking drawings.
- Plan a project using a bill of materials and plan of procedure.
- Build several projects that develop increasingly complex skills.
You do not need previous woodworking experience to begin this course. What matters is a willingness to learn, follow safe procedures, ask questions, and practice.
Read It, See It, Do It
This resource is designed to prepare you for work in the lab. Most sections are intentionally short.
Read the assigned material before class so that terms, machines, and processes are already familiar when your instructor demonstrates them. The reading introduces the idea. The demonstration shows how it works. Your time in the shop is where you develop the skill.
Safety Comes First
Woodworking machines make accurate, repeatable work possible, but they must be understood and used correctly. Students must receive instruction in the safe use of a machine before operating it.
This resource supports that instruction, but it does not replace the WMT Woodworking Safety Manual, safety test, instructor demonstrations, or individual machine checkouts.
If you are ever unsure about a tool, machine, setup, or procedure, stop and ask your instructor before proceeding.
Welcome to the Shop
Woodworking is learned by doing. You will make mistakes, solve problems, develop better judgment, and become more accurate as your experience grows.
Take your time. Work safely. Pay attention to the process.
Let's make something.


