Tommy and Eli pick it up at Freddy’s shop showing us a quick little break down making lunette banding. Lunette banding was made famous by cabinetmakers John & Thomas Seymour. The Seymour’s known for the beautiful array of Federal furniture, incorporated the lunette banding on several pieces.

Completed Lunette Banding

Lunette Banding Forum Discussion

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For more videos, projects, and an opportunity to participate in The 207 Woodworking Forum check out Major League Woodworking

After graduating from The North Bennet Street School, Eli moves in to the shop and hangs his shingle outside Tommy’s shop. Tommy also spends some time catching up and showing things to come including a cameo with Freddy Roman.

Major League Woodworking

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For more videos, projects, and an opportunity to participate in The 207 Woodworking Forum check out Major League Woodworking

Tommy visits The North Bennet Street School to visit Eli and showcase what he has been doing for the last 2 years at NBSS. Congratulations to Eli for completing course activities and graduating with a certificate from The NBSS Cabinet and Furniture Making Program. Tommy also takes some time to introduce Greg Brown, an up and coming NBSS talent with some real potential.

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For more videos, projects and a chance to participate in The 207 Woodworking Forum, check out Major League Woodworking

Al’s video . . . Tommy fulfills a promise made to good friend Al . . . a tour of his hallowed ground and his vegetable garden in Canton, Massachusetts. Al has been Tommy’s sidekick on the show since the beginning. It should come as no surprise to know that Al is a big fan of the show and a huge Red Sox fan. This is a great chance to get some insight to Al’s world.

Major League Woodworking

Go Sox!

For more videos, projects, and The 207 Woodworking Forum check out Major League Woodworking

Tommy and Al visit their friend Louie in Fall River, Massachusetts at the Nokona Bat Factory. Watch how much work goes into a professional baseball bat as Lou walks the guys through the steps to create Big Pappi’s whomping stick . . . then get ready for big Al’s return to the field of dreams!

Go Sox!

For more videos, projects, and The 207 Woodworking Forum check out Major League Woodworking

Follow along as Tommy visits Red Sox pitching legend Bill Lee at his Vermont home to show us the first steps in creating a Major League Baseball bat. From the woods to the drying shed, we think you will be surprised to see how much hand work goes into the first phases of creating the bats for America’s Favorite Pastime.

Go Sox!

For more videos, projects, and The 207 Woodworking Forum check out Major League Woodworking

The second installment The Shaker Step Stool, a project featured in the January 2009 issue of Fine Woodworking Magazine. In this video, Tommy discusses aspects of milling & the final steps before laying out the dovetails. He also offers some advice on good tool options to get the job done.

In the next video Tommy starts to layout the dovetails!

Woodworking with Thomas MacDonald & Friends

For such a simple appearing project, this step stool has some great points to consider. It is a great bench exercise to practice milling stock and cutting dovetails. As far as the dovetails are concerned, there is the same number of pins on the upper and lower step which helps simply layout. Additionally this project has only one thickness, so you leave your marking gauge set at ¾. You can use ¾ dimensioned stock from a big box store or get some rough stock from your favorite hardwood supplier.

This is a great project to build with your kids or a newbie that you want to introduce to the craft. In this series, I am building the step stool with Rachel. She hasn’t done anything like this before and her step stool turned out great! So, if you want to sit down by yourself and try to execute a perfect build, or get together with your kid, girlfriend, wife, newbie or a woodworking buddy this is a great project to consider.

OK, so here’s the deal. My step stool video series has been re-edited and I want to share them with my fellow Lumberjocks. I have no intention of “flooding” the LJ video section with the series. If you guys express interest in seeing the rest of the series, I will post them slowly over the next couple of weeks.

This little project landed in January's issue of Fine Woodworking Magazine!

Welcome to the North Bennet Street School!

In this video, Tommy takes us on a tour of his home away from home . . . The North Bennet Street School nestled in Boston’s historic North End. Established in 1885, this is where Tommy, and many other craftsman before him studied the art of fine furniture building. Tommy’s close friend, mentor, and regular podcast contributor, Steve Brown joins Tommy as they talk about the NBSS curriculum and what to expect as a student in the Cabinet and Furniture making program. Steve is the Department Head of the Cabinet and Furniture Making Department at NBSS. The North Bennet Street School is about ready to celebrate 125 years of excellence in teaching trades and crafts.

North Bennet Street School

Thomas MacDonald

Tommy’s last video hinted that one of the secrets to fine joinery is sharp chisels . . . or as we say in Boston “wicked shaaaahrp”. This video demystifies the secrets of chisel sharpening and clearly shows that a sharp chisel is more important than brand. While there are endless ways to sharpen tools, Tommy has found a process that works best for him. Bottom line . . . do your research, experiment, and find what works best for you . . . get those chisels sharp and start cutting dovetails!

By the way, JC (TheCarver) . . . thanks for the shout out!

Dovetail Primer

Woodworking with Thomas MacDonald & Friends