Woodworking is the process of building, making or carving something using wood.

Along with stone, mud and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked by early humans. Microwear analysis of the Mousterian stone tools used by the Neanderthals show that many were used to work wood. The development of civilization was closely tied to the development of increasingly greater degrees of skill in working these materials.

Among early finds of wooden tools are the worked sticks from Kalambo Falls, Clacton-on-Sea and Lehringen. The spears from Schöningen (Germany) provide some of the first examples of wooden hunting gear. Flint tools were used for carving. Since Neolithic times, carved wooden vessels are known, for example, from the Linear Pottery culture wells at Kückhofen and Eythra. Examples of Bronze Age wood-carving include tree trunks worked into coffins from northern Germany and Denmark and wooden folding-chairs. The site of Fellbach-Schmieden in Germany has provided fine examples of wooden animal statues from the Iron Age. Wooden idols from the La Tène period are known from a sanctuary at the source of the Seine in France.

Paul Sellers was born in 1950 and apprenticed in the UK in 1965 . He moved to the US in 1984 and quickly became noted for his ability in traditional woodworking. He has taught thousands of people in the craft of woodworking. He teaches in the USA and the UK for the New Legacy School of Woodworking . Sellers is author to Working Wood which was published in 2011.

Sam Maloof (born Samuel Solomon Maloof, a member of the large Maalouf family) (January 24, 1916 - May 21, 2009) was a furniture designer and woodworker. He was born in Chino, California, USA, to parents who emigrated to the United States from Lebanon. He attended high school first at Chaffey High School in Ontario, California, where he took his first woodworking class and was recognized by his art teacher as having extraordinary skill. Later he attended Chino High School. Shortly after completing high school, he began working in the art department of the Vortox Manufacturing Company in Claremont, California. He was drafted into the United States Army on October 11, 1941. After serving in the Pacific theater and then transferring to a post in Alaska, Maloof left the army in 1945 to return to Southern California.

Maloof married Alfreda Louise Ward on June 27, 1948 and the couple moved into a house at 921 Plaza Serena, Ontario, California where Sam set up a furniture workshop in the garage. Mostly from necessity, Maloof designed and built a suite of furniture for his home using salvaged materials. Commissioned pieces followed, and from 1949-1952 Maloof continued working in the garage of his Ontario home. In 1953, Maloof relocated to Alta Loma, California where he built a studio to continue making furniture.

Chris Grundy (September 24, 1967) is the host of the American television show Cool Tools, which runs on the DIY Network. The program introduces new tools and centers on Chris Grundy's humorous presentation style.

While he currently works as a television host, Grundy has also made notable appearances as a character actor on shows such as "Andy Barker, P.I." and "Help Me Help You". Grundy started his career as a performer in improv comedy groups in the Denver, Colorado area such as Chicken Lips, Impulse Theater, and Rattlebrain Theater. He later moved on to perform with The Second City.