As the name suggests, woodworking machines are used to work on wood. Be it carving, cutting, scraping or building, there is a woodworking machine to do the job. Woodworking machines can be manual or electrical.

Stationary and handheld woodworking machines
Hobbyists and professional woodworkers use woodworking machines to process timber and composite materials. With stationary woodworking machines, the piece is moved over the machine. A handheld tool allows the woodworker to move the machine over the piece.

Various types of stationary woodworking machines are:

• Double side planer: This machine joints one side of wood and planes the other.
• Drill press: This woodworking machine sands, hones or polishes wood.
• Drum sander: A drum sander sands wood of varying lengths and types without sniping ends.
• Band saw: It rides on two wheels on the same plane, and has a metal blade with teeth to cut wood uniformly in any shape.
• Combination machine: This cost and space saving woodworking machine combines the functions of two, such as a saw with mounted jointer, jointer-thicknesser, etc.
• Panel saw: It cuts wooden sheets into sized parts for cabinets, etc.
• Pin router: This machine hollows out wood and allows automatic template copying.
• Radial arm saw: It cuts long pieces of stock to length.
• Scroll saw: The scroll saw carves out intricate curves with edges, even within surface boundaries.
• Tenoner: This woodworking machine cuts tenons in wood.
• Thicknesser: It produces boards of even thickness and flat surfaces.
• Bench grinder: It sharpens cutting tools and roughly shapes wood before working on the piece.
• Jointer: It planes a wooden board's edge surface prior to joining it edge to edge.
• Wood lathe: It is used in woodturning to make bowls, plates, etc.
• Mortiser: This woodworking machine cuts out rectangular or square holes in wood.
• Wood shaper or spindle molder: It molds profiles into pieces of wood.
• Table saw: This electrically motored woodworking machine is a versatile cutting contraption and an essential tool in all woodworking sites.
• Round pole milling machine:  It shapes round poles in woodworking projects.
• Round pole sanding machine: It sands straight or tapered round bars.

Types of handheld woodworking machines available in the market are:

• Hand-held sanders: Sanders smooth out wood surfaces with sandpaper.
• Biscuit joiner: This woodworking machine glues two pieces of wood in a strong bond.
• Reciprocating saw: This machine cuts wood with a push and pull reciprocating stroke.
• Hand-held circular saw: It has teeth on its edges to cut wood while the disk spins.
• Electric drill: It drills holes into wood.
• Jig saw: This woodworking machine creates artistic designs on wood as it allows cutting arbitrary curves.
• Domino jointer: This is a mortise and tenon joining tool that does the job quickly and with stronger results.
• Chain saw: This woodworking machine is used to fell trees and branches, limbing, bucking and harvesting firewood.
• Nail gun: It drives nails into wood.
• Miter saw: It cuts accurate miters and crosscuts into wood.
• Rotary tool: This multifunctional woodworking machine can cut, polish, carve, sand, and more.
• Router: It gouges out small areas from pieces of wood.
• Plane: It smoothens, shapes and reduces the thickness of wood slabs.

Panel line woodworking machines

These machines are used in the production of cabinets and panel products in large scale manufacturing units. They are categorized as:

• Panel surface processing machine: This machine produces effects on the outer surface of panel products.
• Panel dividing equipment: Used in wood partitioning, these machines are characterized by the number of beams, saw carriage rate, and loading method.
• Panel edge processing equipment: These woodworking machines vary based on conveyor speeds.
• Panel automatic equipment: It handles bulk packaging of woodworking pieces.
• Double end tenoner:  Variations are based on conveyor type.
• Panel boring equipment: Variations are based on number of boring heads such as multiline and single line boring machines.

There are many woodworking machines to choose from. Assess your own needs and verify product reviews and references to select the right tool for your woodworking project.