Basic woodworking courses usually also teach the different types of hardwood that are often used for woodworking. The pieces people are taught to make in these courses are often basic necessities like benches, tables, and cabinets. Woodcarving - for those who are more artistically inclined, wood carving courses teach the use of fine chisels and cutters that allow you to create highly decorative pieces from wood. Wood has long been a staple material for man's many arts and crafts, being used to create everything from homes to toys to tools. Carpentry has evolved over the years with the introduction of power tools which allow woodworkers to make things faster and more efficiently, but the appeal of antique items created the old fashioned way, with chisels, saws, and hammers, have their own appeal to collectors. Popular Woodworking American Woodworker The Woodworker s Journal Fine Woodworking Workbench Wood Woodcraft Magazine Family Handyman Below is an example of a woodwork magazine article that you can t skip. Although this may seem uninteresting for your pulsating excitement over new styles and great projects, this unquestionably is needed to ensure that you get to finish your work. Stocking Up on Woodwork Supplies There was a time that a carpenter relied on a saw, a hammer and a few nails to be able to assemble a table or a chair. There are people who continue to do it the old fashioned way while there are those who use power tools making the job both faster and easier. This is one of the major technological advances in carpentry even though the principles are still the same. Also, a vast amount of Egyptian furniture like chairs, tables, beds, stools and chests have been encased in tombs. Preservation of such materials shows that the ancient Egyptian people were inclined to use wood. Coffins that were located in the tomb were also out of wood. Egyptians used metal for their woodwork. Different types of wood from different regions all have their own unique qualities that make them appropriate for some types of woodwork but lousy for others. For example, coconut wood, known in the Philippines as Bahi, is a heavy fibrous wood type that splinters when broken instead of shattering like some hardwoods are prone to do.