Hillview Tool

Tony Rouleau from New York is applying his machinist's career to make heirloom-quality tools.

- Logan Wittmer

The woodworking community is a wonderful thing. Iwas first introduced to Tony Rouleau through Jamie Harpster (from the non-profit Plane Wellness). Looking at Tony's tools, I instantly recognized them and put two and two together: Tony was the machine behind Hillview Tool.

Give me a little background on Hillview Tool. How did you end up as a toolmaker?

My company and I are located in a small town about an hour north of Albany, NY, called Greenwich, on the edge of the Adirondack Mountains. My shop, located in the walk-out basement of my home, is built on a family farm that was started by my great-grandfather and was run mainly by my grandparents. He named it Hillview Farm.

1 All of the Hillview Tools are created at Tony's home shop.

I've always been a woodworker. Around the age of 11 or 12, I got my first scroll saw, and things blossomed from there. Out of high school, I considered mechanical engineering but stumbled upon machining and fell in love with it. I went to trade school to become a machinist and have been for almost 30 years now. In the machining trades, making your own tools for specific jobs is not uncommon, which I have always enjoyed. In 2012, I took a job in a machine shop where the owner let us use the equipment after hours (which is unheard of in the industry because of the cost of the equipment).