Hello-my name is Thomas MacDonald and I’m a furniture maker in Canton, MA. I’ve been building furniture since 2002 when I graduated from North Bennett, and this is one of my latest projects. Its a bombe secretary and it took nearly 14 months to build. I documented all the stages of the build from starting from two large slabs of mahogany to the final piece of furniture in my podcasts if you’re interested. Here’s a few pictures of it. The joinery is hand cut dovetails.

Finished with colored water stains and a sprayed lacquer protectant and hand rubbed wax. Dimensions: 4-by-12-feet, seats 14 to 18.

1760 – 1780
The chair has a rosewood oil stain, protected by a hand rubbed French polish shellac finish. Dimensions: 38-1/2-inches high.

The sideboard design inspired by John Seymour is constructed with mahogany. Features include a D-shaped sideboard with spade feet, graduated bellflower drop, curly maple banded borders, oval ivory escutcheons, corner brackets in the center arch, side carrying handles and a superb selection of choice mahogany which retains a fine bronze patina.
Dimensions: 40” high, 5’8” wide, 26 “deep

This breakfront was inspired by one built around 1810 (builder unknown) constructed out of solid mahogany. The sides, bottom and top are dovetailed together for superior strength. The middle supports are fastened with dovetails on the bottom through tenons with wedges at the top. The legs have matching graduated bellflowers and stringing and the spade feet are cut out from a solid leg blank. The doors are solid 1/4 sawn clear pine counter veneered with mahogany, face veneered with an exceptional crotch mahogany veneer, and boasts two book-matched left and right doors. The ovals are inside hand made black and white banding. The drawers are built out of solid mahogany counter and veneered with the same crotch wood book-matched out with maple stringing solid pine sides and bottoms. The top drawer oval is made from a piece of book-matched veneer surrounded by the same black and white banding.

This desk and bookcase was inspired by a distinct group of exceptional case pieces made in Salem, Mass., in the late 18th century. It features period correct proportions, hand-carved details, blocking profiles, ball-and-claw feet, moldings, and interior layout. In the construction of the piece, the grain patterns and color of the four lower drawers, lid, writing surface, book matched doors, moldings, and pediment details were purposely chosen in relation to their original location in a single 2-inch thick, 42-inch-wide-by-14-foot-long mahogany board. The sides were chosen in the same fashion from a 1-1/4-inch thick mahogany board measuring 30-inches-wide-by-12-feet long. The hand-shaped wood inside the desk and bookcase was chosen with the same attention to grain and pattern. The finish is a hand rubbed shellac French polish, color matched to give it a warm, rich, glowing patina through the entire piece. Bold brass hardware, typical of the period, finishes the secretary. Dimensions: 103-inches high, 45-inches wide, 24-1/2-inches deep.

This is a project I built for The Rough Cut forum guys and I have a series of podcasts to go along with it. You can see the videos on my forum at tchisel.com but they’re better viewed on iTunes (free download at itunes.com – for both mac and windows).

I built this originally as a learning project for the guys on Tchisel.com and Fine Woodworking Magazine just covered it for issue 203 January 2009. Its a good project for learning how to cut through dovetails by hand and it doesn’t require a lot of wood. Thanks for looking

Hi guys. i know alot of you are not into the old styles I love so much, so i figured I would let you know that I know how to make other styles too. I love this figured cherry. Its not much fun to work, but I think its worth all the sharpening of my planes, chisels and scraper. Mitered corners are mitered dovetails. Blanket chest, ladies dresser and tall dresser.