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Episode 112

Ask the Masters - Work Bench & Pallet Maker Award

July 18, 2008

Length: 15:00

Tommy and Al name the winner of the International Brotherhood of Pallet Makers Local 207 monthly award and detail the Brotherhood's membership requirements. Tommy then reviews how he constructed his workbench.

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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 111

Project #2 - Step Stool: Cutting Dove Tails

July 11, 2008

Length: 17:11

Real woodworkers don't need no stinkin' router. In this next part of the Project #2: Step Stool series, Tommy shows how to clean up the pins on the dovetails and the essentials needed to get the perfect pins.

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Episode 110

Bombe Series - Cradle & Drawer Layout

July 11, 2008

Length: 12:58

Tommy likes curves. Maybe that's why he wanted to tackle the complex Bombe and all its lower-cabinet curves. With this much math, Tommy calls on expert Steve Brown from the North Bennet Street School to help demystify the patterns needed to shape this piece.

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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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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Tommy excelled in school and, in his second year, replicated a secretary from a picture of a Chippendale style piece, originally made in Salem, Massachusetts.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