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Episode 109

Project #2 - Step Stool: Cutting Pins

July 3, 2008

Length: 10:06

Tommy shows four different ways to remove the material and make the pins: the band saw, jig saw, coping saw and blue blade.

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Ask The Masters

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

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Episode 108

Project #2 - Step Stool: Dove Tail Pin Layout

July 1, 2008

Length: 16:57

Tommy’s girlfriend, Rachel, makes her first appearance. After a couple of attempts at a proper introduction, Tommy gets to work drawing the layout of the dove tails for the Shaker step stool.

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Episode 107

Project #2 - Step Stool: Matching the Grain

June 20, 2008

Length: 14:32

The pieces are milled and ready to be cut. Tommy reviews the layout of the boards and ponders the challenge of blending the wood grains together to make one solid piece. After cutting, Tommy shows his terrible mistake.

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Episode 106

Project #2 - Step Stool: Intro

June 19, 2008

Length: 18:16

Tommy introduces the next piece he will build, an elegant Shaker step stool. Tommy runs over the selection, layout and cutting of the wood for the project.

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AboutThomas J. MacDonald (AKA T Chisel)

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 finished the program in 1989 earning his journeyman’s certificate and then his Massachusetts supervisors license in 1991. He continued to work in construction in the carpentry field. Then, in 2000, Tommy was accepted to the North Bennet Street School in Boston’s North End.

Tommy excelled in school and, in his second year, replicated a secretary from a picture of a Chippendale style piece, originally made in Salem, Massachusetts.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 - watch episode) and showcased Tommy's period-appropriate furniture in the final walk-through of that season’s Modern Colonial project.

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.

For More information about Tommy MacDonald visit his Official Website - Click Here