My name is Luke McDonald and together with my lovely wife Rose, we run Cool Hand Woodcraft.  My love for woodworking began with my father.  When we he wasn’t commanding submarines for the US Navy, he was in the garage making cutting boards or furniture for our house.  One of the earliest memories I have is helping him to drill holes in little wooden Christmas trees to hold lollipops.

In 2011 I was hired to be an historic interpreter at Henricus Historical Park. Henricus was one of the earliest English settlements in Virginia and today is staffed by interpreters portraying English colonists.  At the time I started, my woodworking experience had not progressed beyond helping my father with projects in the garage.  As an interpreter, however, I became fascinated with the woodworking of the 17th century.

I learned from fellow interpreter and woodworker Terry Marr, who guided me through my first big project at Henricus- replacing part of a wooden chimney frame.  I read experts like Peter Follansbee and Roy Underhill and over a few years with the hand tools at Henricus learned to build things like boxes, benches, joint stools, gates, and sawyers trestles.  I built a spring pole lathe to turn round objects out of wood and tried my hand at period relief carving.   

At the same time my woodworking interest was taking off at Henricus I moved into a house with a shed in the backyard.  I deemed it a shop and began stocking it with both hand and power tools.  I was often working on one project at Henricus by day and another at home by night and in time it began to feel less like I was experimenting and more like I knew what I was doing. 

In 2015, after a few years of immersing myself in woodworking, Rose and I took a small leap of faith and started Cool Hand Woodcraft.  Seeking to embody the independent spirit of Paul Newman’s legendary character Cool Hand Luke Jackson, we are here to stem the tide of plastic cutting boards and imported factory furniture, making every piece by hand with care and craftsmanship.  We’re here to add character to your home and life in a way that only wood can.  Thanks for visiting our website!