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Welcome to my website. I am a furniture designer, maker and tutor. Since completing my training at Parnham College in 1979, I have run my own business designing and making bespoke furniture to commission for individual clients. I now mainly teach, running weekly furniture making classes from my workshop in Somerset. In addition to this I run short courses from West Dean College in West Sussex, and am a regular visiting instructor at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Maine, USA.
Over the past 45 years or so, I have also undertaken work for a number of different designers such as Wales & Wales and Illingworth & Partridge. In particular, between 1990 and 2001, I was senior craftsman in the John Makepeace Workshops at Parnham House. Here I was able to develop new techniques and skills whilst working on a wide variety of John’s designs.
I have also had the privilege of working in collaboration with highly skilled craftsmen from other disciplines, such as the clock maker Julius Schoonhoven. Together we made contemporary longcase clocks, such as ‘Grace’, with handmade movements in brass.
‘Grace’, my ‘Somerset Chair’, and a display cabinet made for the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers have all received Guild Mark awards from the Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers. You can see these pieces and other work that I have made, in the Gallery of Tom’s Work.
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Short Courses
Furniture Making for Beginners – A Side Table
Venue: West Dean College, West Sussex
Ability Level: Beginners
Date: 4th – 9th October 2026
This course is aimed at anyone wishing to acquire the skills to work with hardwoods, as a stepping-stone to making your own furniture. With step-by-step guidance and demonstrations from Tom, you will be introduced to the use of hand planes, chisels, and other essential tools required to make the side table.You will learn how to sharpen these tools, and alongside other processes, will be shown how to set out and cut mortise and tenon joints and edge joints. Suitable timber is supplied at cost and all essential tools are provided by the college.
Weekly Classes
Tailor Made Classes
The furniture making classes that I run each week from my workshop are designed to be flexible and are tailored to meet student’s individual requirements, whether an enthusiastic beginner or a more experienced woodworker. Many of the students who come started out as complete beginners, but they are now able to design and make accomplished pieces. You can see some of the furniture made by my students, from both the workshop and the colleges I teach at, in the Gallery of Student’s Work.
The weekly classes are ongoing throughout the year and are run from my workshop at Boundary Barn, on the edge of the Blackdown hills near Ilminster in Somerset. I also run short courses, as detailed above, from other venues and colleges.
If you are interested in the weekly classes do feel free to contact me to have a chat.
Gallery of Tom’s Work
Gallery of Student’s Work
Contact Tom
Tom can be contacted directly by completing and submitting the form below. Visits to his workshop are welcome by prior appointment only. (If you appear not to receive any replies, please check your spam/junk folder)
Tom Kealy
Boundary Barn,
Hare Lane,
Buckland St Mary,
Chard,
Somerset.
TA20 3JS
Tel No. 07780 690325