Woodworker: William ThomasThomas had been working as a carpenter in the 1970s when his father gave him an NBSS catalog. “As soon as I heard about it, I jumped all over it.” The pace and ambition of the instruction was up to the individual, Thomas remembers. “I built at least 10 pieces in my year and a half there.” A founding member of the New Hampshire Furniture Masters, Thomas continues to build primarily in late 18th- and early 19th-century styles. This mahogany and satinwood cylinder-fall secretary (23 in. deep by 42 in. wide by 102 in. tall), is based on a piece built in Baltimore between 1790 and 1810. The eagle was carved by Michael Dow.