HONORABLE MENTIONS
Category: Architectural
Project: Fireplace Surround with Mantle
Woodworker: One of a Kind Woodworking Inc., Metamora, IL
Materials Used:
FAS 1 cherry lumber was used for the frame and panel of all four faces of the fireplace. A3-grade 1/4-inch cherry plywood was used for all panels. The inset shelving units were built using 3/4-inch A2-grade cherry plywood. There were two sizes of crown moulding made of cherry: 21/4-inch and 51/2-inch. Other shelving was made of 1/4-inch clear plate glass with polished edges. The finish was Duravar Plus catalyzed finish by M.L. Campbell.
Construction Details:
Each face was built as one piece and finished in the shop. The largest piece, 80 inches wide and 12 feet tall, was used on the side with arched openings. All four corners were pre-mitered at the shop and assembled with biscuits on the job. After all panels were in place, the mantle shelf was inserted into a groove around the entire unit. The hearth top was slid under the panels. After installing the hearth top, the face panels of the hearth were installed and crown moulding was applied. A main challenge on this job was the difficulty of getting the large panels around the beams in the room, while keeping the look of a one-piece face.
Category: Residential Furniture
Project: Office Desk
Woodworker: Norseman Designs West, Cody, WY
Materials Used:
The desk top was made from a walnut slab that was 2 inches thick, 49 inches wide and 84 inches long.The legs are juniper. Spalted maple was used for the drawer fronts.
Construction Details:
The apron was dry bent laminated to match the shape of the walnut slab top. There was a 3-inch overhang on top, and the drawer front on the center drawer was also dry bent laminated to match the curve of the apron. The company said it wanted to create a piece that had both a balanced look and a sense of motion.
Category: Residential Furniture
Project: Multi-media entertainment center
Woodworker: Angione's In the Woods, Las Vegas, NV
Materials Used:
Wood species include maple hardwoods and veneers. Hardware includes Blum hinges, Knape & Vogt full-extension drawer guides and Sugatsune catches. Doors for the wall unit are from Decorative Specialties. Mouldings and radiused ends are shop-built; carved columns are from Raymond Enkeboll. Finishing was done with Frazee stains, aniline dyes, sealer and lacquer.
Construction Details:
The unit has four radius corners at the base and crown and four inside radius panels behind the Enkeboll columns used for the corner details. The curved mouldings and trim were designed to be built as one piece by not having more than 4- or 5-foot lengths on either side of a radius. Re-sawn hardwood was glued and clamped to shape in MDF molds. Between the lower 7-foot-tall section of the unit and the upper section, which housed five 27-inch televisions, the company designed an 8-inch-high run of half round tambour sandwiched between two 1.5-inch rails. To accommodate the equipment, the wall unit was built across a corner fireplace at the right end of the 17-foot wall and continues another six feet across the entry of the room. All components are accessible from the rear through a set of four doors in a 60-inch-wide by 109-inch-high face. The 72-inch projection TV required a minimum depth of 61 inches from the wall to the screen. A three-foot corridor between the wall and the back of the cabinet allows access to the equipment through a door crafted into the left end of the unit. The door was made to look like the paneling and is completely concealed.
Category: Residential Furniture
Project: Replica of Aaron Burr's Secretary Desk/Bookcase Desk
Woodworker: Robert Whitley Furniture Studio, Solebury, PA
Materials Used:
The primary wood was American wild cherry, which Whitley himself cut down in 1955. He said he had been saving it for a special, important project.The secondary wood was tulip poplar.
Construction Details:
Since the desk had to be an exact replication, all joinery had to follow the original methods. The top and bottom cases, in addition to all drawers, were hand-dovetailed. The door stiles were mortise-and-tenoned with free floating panels in the grooved frames. Drawer rails were dovetailed into the sides of the cases. Both cases were rabbeted at the rear to receive the 1/2-inch solid wood backs. In addition to automated machinery, Whitley used many hand tools which he inherited from his grandfather.
Category: Specialty Products
Project: Decorative Vessel
Woodworker: Designs by Joseph, Aguanga, CA
Materials Used:
Wood species included rosewood and Peruvian walnut from South America, as well as domestic holly, maple and birch. Titebond/Franklin International glue was used. The finish was Deft.
Construction Details:
This vessel was assembled from 272 individual pieces. The main lower body was constructed from 12 staves of equal angles and length. Multi-wooded tiers were assembled with 24 segmented pieces. After upper and lower assemblies were united, the vessel was turned and shaped on a wood lathe. The vessel was then sanded and finished.
Category: Architectural Millwork
Project: Chapman Root II House, Ormond Beach, FL
Woodworker: J.F.V. Designs Inc., Orlando, FL
Materials Used:
The library wall is maple burl and the canopy is quartered ash. The kitchen wall is flat-cut maple, while kitchen cabinets feature quartered anigre, quartered maple and quartered bird's-eye maple. All veneers were purchased from Bohlke Veneer Corp.
Construction Details:
J.F.V. Designs laid up its own veneers using a vacuum bag to pre-form a cold mold substrate arc. Finishes were done according to AWI specifications, using Sherwin-Williams catalyzed lacquer. The owner wanted "something original," which needed to accommodate his private life as well as public entertaining. The architectural firm, Pasanella+Klein Stolzman+Berg, New York City, devised a series of elements to modify the structure's spatial condition, instead of building traditional walls. It created a series of veil-like layers to define the different living areas.
Category: Residential Furniture
Project "Deco You" hall mirror/hall table ensemble
Woodworker: John Blazy Designs, Hiram, OH
Materials Used:
The veneer on the columns and tabletop is fiddleback makore from Certainly Wood. Curved pediments are made of urethane injected and/or ceramic fiber-reinforced polyester resin castings from molds made of fiberglass and silicone. Brushed stainless steel was mounted to the castings and overcoated with Sherwin-Williams basecoat/clearcoat automotive urethane, with a gold pearlescent mist coat over the cashmere beige metallic layer. The tabletop is 11/8-in. MDF sealed for the metallic edge coat with a 100% solids MDF sealer from U.V. Coatings Ltd.
Construction Details:
Void-free curved face and joints were accomplished by heating 1/4-inch PVC sheet and draping it over custom radius forms made of bending plywood. Efficiently smoothing the welds at the corners required a first step of flush trimming with a 1/2-in. by 2-inch flush trim bit in a router. After purchasing a 9-inch inflatable drum sanding head designed to mount on a stationary sanding machine, a machine shop was hired to mill a shaft down the middle arbor hole that had a stem on one end for chucking into a drill and a roller bearing mounted sleeve on the other end to hold by hand.
Category: Laminate Casework
Project: Office Furniture
Woodworker: Weiss-Corde Designs Inc., Pittsburgh, PA
Materials Used:
Laminart laminate was used over a beige melamine substrate with polished brass trim.
Construction Details:
All curves were built and laminated by hand. The desk is cantilevered on both sides, and the front is built up to conceal any clutter on the desk top. The right side of the cabinetry on the back wall houses a bar with an automatic "on" switch. The bar is fitted with a mirror and a stemware rack.
Category: Architectural Millwork
Project: Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, VA
Woodworker: TMS Corp., Richmond, VA
Materials Used:
Quarter-sawn white oak was used for applied mouldings, stile-and-rail doors and window sashes at atrium window walls. For the panel products, TMS used quarter-sawn white oak veneer on a 5/8-inch particleboard core with a mill option backing. The gothic arches in the atrium used quarter sawn white oak veneers. A catalyzed finish was used for all stain grade areas.
Construction Details:
The greatest challenge on this project was managing the sheer volume of materials, including 65,323 linear feet of standing and running trim and 19,840 square feet of veneer paneling. TMS had to reengineer the design of the arches to make them lightweight, due to the immense height of the space. To accomplish this, it used a plywood honeycomb construction with applied veneers. Full-size layouts and mock-up samples were installed to check for dimensional errors. Installing within a confined space also presented a number of difficulties. Two sets of block-and-tackle pulleys were used to hoist the arches, columns and paneling into position. In addition, the materials used in the seminary's rare book archives had to be 100% formaldehyde-free for preservation of the manuscripts and books in the collection, several dating from the 16th century.
Category: Specialty Products
Project: The Grand Toybox Entrance Arch at FunScape, Rochester, NY
Woodworker: Interior Systems Inc., Fond du Lac, WI
Materials Used:
The project combined 3/4-inch maple plywood, 3/4-inch birch, 1/2-inch MDF, particleboard and 3/8-inch bendable plywood. Laminates included Nevamar's "Patriot Blue" and Wilsonart's white laminate. The finish was Benjamin Moore paints and clear coat acrylic.
Construction Details:
The toy building blocks were 22 inches square, constructed of 3/4-inch maple plywood with a natural finish. For sides where dimensional letters were applied, white laminated 1/2-inch particleboard was applied. The alphabet letters were cut out of solid 3/4-inch birch. These finished pieces were attached to the blocks on top of the laminated particleboard. To give the sides a truly dimensional effect, painted solid birch trim pieces were added. The "banner" sign is MDF, airbrushed to look as if it curves and wraps back around at the ends. A main challenge was to produce a structure that is realistic in design and appearance while still keeping the correct scale proportional to other elements in the area. The company also had to make sure that the unit remains a decor element and does not become a play structure.
Category: Residential Furniture
Project: "Continuum" Rocker, part of the "Throne" Series
Woodworker: Robert Whitley Furniture Studio, Solebury, PA
Materials Used:
The seat and back are American black walnut. Both utilize the figured crotch grain of a tree that Whitley cut in 1968 (it was going to be cut for firewood). The arms, rockers and vertical supports are curly maple; the pegs are ebony with dogwood centers.
Construction Details:
Whitley devised an innovative technique which uses splining and excavating to give the impression of a continuous construction without a visual break in the design (hence the name "Continuum"). Splines go through each joint on the side constructions. The verticals encase the seat and back and are pegged and screwed. The sides are held by dowels and screws to the back at the top. "In my opinion, this piece is a sculpture as well as a practical rocking chair," Whitley said.
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