What Is FineWoodworking.com and What Can You Find There?

Updated

FineWoodworking.com is the online home of Fine Woodworking magazine, a long-running publication for woodworkers and furniture makers. The site combines how-to articles, videos, project plans, tool reviews, blogs, and a member forum in one place. It suits anyone from a hobbyist looking for a first project to an experienced craftsperson researching joinery, hand tools, or shop machines. Some content is open to all visitors, while the full archive and digital plans are tied to membership—the site promotes "UNLIMITED members" access rather than presenting everything as free.

What the site covers

The homepage and navigation point to a fairly broad set of content types:

  • Projects & Plans — step-by-step builds and downloadable plans, including curated "Project Guides" grouped by topic.
  • How-To — technique articles and instruction across joinery, hand tools, and shop machines.
  • Tools & Materials — tool reviews and shop-tip style content.
  • Videos and Video Workshops — multi-part filmed builds, such as a cabinet on stand with Tim Coleman, a Queen Anne side chair with Dan Faia, and greenwood bowl carving with David Fisher.
  • Magazine — current and past issues, with online extras. Recent issue listings on the page run from #323 (May/June 2026) through #326 (Tools & Shops 2027).
  • Forum, Gallery, and Blogs — a discussion forum with recent posts and replies, member project galleries, and staff or contributor blogs.
  • Courses — e-learning courses led by named woodworking experts.

Who it is for

The content spans skill levels. A beginner can start with a small project—the site highlights a pocket-size coffin plane by Bill Howes as "a perfect project to start your adventure into wooden hand-plane making." More advanced makers can follow full video workshops on classic furniture forms or dig into the joinery and machine guides. The forum and gallery support the community side, where members post work and ask questions.

What you can access and what requires membership

The site's own promotion states that "UNLIMITED members get it all," listing access to more than 45 years of articles, 100+ digital plans, and hundreds of how-to videos and projects. That tells you the archive is deep, but it also signals that the complete library sits behind a membership. The page includes Subscribe and Log In links, so expect to create an account or subscribe for full access. The available material does not specify prices or whether any login-free trial exists, so check the subscription page directly before assuming cost or free access.

A practical way to start

  1. Pick a goal: a specific project, a technique (dovetails, mortise-and-tenon), or a tool purchase.
  2. Use the top-level sections—Projects & Plans, How-To, or Tools & Materials—to narrow down.
  3. For a build, open the relevant Project Guide to get the how-to, plans, and related video in one sequence.
  4. If you hit a paywall, note which items are member-only and compare that list against what you actually need before subscribing.
  5. Use the Forum to check others' experience with a technique or tool before committing to a build.

The main thing to verify on your own visit is the current membership terms, since the page confirms a member model but not its price or limits.