Fine Woodworking

Mack S. Headley, Jr.

Mack S. Headley, Jr. began woodworking as a teenager during the late 1960s in his father’s Clarke County, Virginia, shop. A fourth-generation woodworker, he studied the tools and techniques of 18th century furniture making by repairing and reproducing period furniture in the classic traditions.

In the late 1970s, Headley began working in the historic Hay’s Cabinetmaking Shop at Colonial Williamsburg, where he now serves as master cabinetmaker. The living history museum recreates the daily grind of a busy cabinet shop that did business in the same location between the early 1750s and the Revolutionary War.

Anatomy of a Carved Shell

May 22, 2007

See various period examples and view each stage of the carving process in this excerpt from the DVD 'Carving Techniques and Projects'
Touring the Colonial Williamsburg Shop

February 22, 2007

The living-history museum celebrates a time when furniture was built only by hand
Dimensioning Lumber by Hand

February 22, 2007

Before power tools, 18th-century craftsmen wielded handsaws and planes to four-square lumber for furniture.
How They Did It: Before the Router

February 22, 2007

18th century furniture makers used an array of hand planes to plow grooves and dadoes, and profile edges.
Sawing Before the Bandsaw

February 22, 2007

Handsaws of all shapes and sizes were used to cut curves and rough-shape furniture parts in the 18th century.
Carving a Ball-and-Claw Foot

October 1, 1990

Tracing the techniques of an 18th-century cabinetmaker, Mack Headley, Jr., explains how to carve, shape, and smooth ball-and-claw feet.
Cabriole Knees

October 1, 1988

The tools help design the carving
Carving a Scallop Shell

December 1, 1986

Gouge's sweep determines the curves
Applying Classical Proportions

December 1, 1983

A tea table built to 18th-century rules