This is the new online project from the Rough Cut Show. Watch Tommy break down this simple but impressive reproduction of a Pligrim chest made over 300 years ago.
To view the procedure list, material list and more click here
Latest Project Videos (View All)
Bedroom Set: Tall Chest Drawers
Tommy needs to clean up the moldings, giving him a chance to show off his new plane. He then moves to making the doors and shows how make a cove cut with a table saw.
Watch Video
Bedroom Set: Tall Chest Talk
Moving on to the tall chest of the bedroom set, Tommy lays out the boards to find the sapwood in the material so he can accentuate it. After presenting his general plans, he cuts and labels the boards. When he finishes, the chest and dresser fronts will (hopefully) match up.
Watch Video
Bedroom Set: Drawer Facings
Tommy reviews the work so far on the dresser, including the dividers and the drawers. He then shows how he worked the drawer facing.
Watch Video
|
 |
You watch the podcast, now talk to the man. Furniture maker Tommy MacDonald, AKA T-Chisel, host of "The Rough Cut Show," will answer your questions about his art, tools and work or about your own woodworking projects. Ask away
|
 
|
Thomas J. MacDonald studied carpentry at the Blue Hills Technical High School in Canton, Massachusetts. After graduation, he joined the Carpenters union in 1985 and began a four year apprenticeship program at the Robert D. Marshall training center in Millbury, MA.
Tommy excelled in school and, in his second year, replicated a secretary from a picture of a Chippendale style piece, originally made in Salem, Massachusetts. That spring, Bob Vila came to film the school for an episode of his seminal home improvement show, Bob Vila's Home Again. He saw the secretary and was so impressed with it that he profiled Tommy in the segment that he was filming on the cabinetry department. He also invited Tommy to demonstrate shell carving on one of his shows (Modern Colonial - 
Since his graduation in 2002, Tommy has been designing and constructing custom furniture pieces. Most recently, he has expanded his operations to a Main Street Studio located in Canton, Massachusetts.