Makers make furniture for charity
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This team of prominent makers built the bench/coffee table in the foreground as part of a special finishing training event at Rubio Monocoat USA in Austin, Texas. The table is being auctioned for charity.

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This team built a bartop as part of the Rubio Monocoat USA event.

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The bar features a white oak slab waterfall design with live edge and walnut accents.

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A white oak slab was ripped down the middle and reversed to create this bench/coffee table. White oak cross-bars hold the two parts together.

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A white oak slab was ripped down the middle and reversed to create this bench/coffee table. White oak cross-bars hold the two parts together.

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Brian Graham, right, Woodworkers Club/Woodcraft/Festool, works with Corey Morgan, center, of Corey Morgan Woodworks and Matt Hubbs of Sons of Sawdust as they assemble the bar.

Sixteen prominent craftspeople joined forces in Austin, Texas, to trade skills and make furniture for charity in an event hosted by finish supplier Rubio Monocoat USA.

The participants included a diverse collection of 16 talents from around the U.S. and Canada, many of whom host popular Instagram sites:

Jeff Mack, Jeff Mack Designs, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada;

Lucas Jablonski, Lighthouse Woodworks, Boston, Massachusetts;

Lizzy (Elizabeth) Luder, The House of Timber, Nashville, Tennessee;

Samantha Wooddell, Sam Ryan Designs, Centreville, Virginia;

Matt Anglum, MWA Woodworks, Franklin, Tennessee;

Huy Huynh, Alabama Woodworker, Huntsville, Alabama;

Jason Hibbs, Bourbon Moth Woodworking Co., Albany, Oregon;

Phil Morley, Philip Morley Furniture, Wimberley, Texas;

Matt Hubbs, Sons of Sawdust, Bishop, Georgia;

Mike Osborn, Mikey the Maker, Indianapolis, Indiana;

John Sherwood, Sherwood Woodcraft, Winston Salem, North Carolina;

Ben Shea, O'Shea Woodwork, Lititz, Pennsylvania;

Corey Morgan, Corey Morgan Woodworks, Emlenton, Pennsylvania;

Brian Graham, Woodworkers Club/Woodcraft/Festool, Rockville, Maryland;

Stevie Estler, Built by Stevie, Nashville, Tennessee;

Markis Hunt, The Reformation Wood Shop, San Angelo, Texas.

 

They were divided into two teams that, under the guidance of experts from Rubio Monocoat and Festool, designed, built, and finished two pieces of furniture in just two days. One piece was a coffee table made from a single white oak slab that was first ripped down the middle. Then the pieces were reversed and joined together using white oak splines. The other was a continuous grain waterfall bar top made from a white oak live-edge slab with walnut accents.

The event also served to inaugurate Rubio Monocoat’s finishing school for furniture. The company has previously hosted classes for finishing wood flooring, but Keith Hardisty, marketing manager, said this was the first time they offered formal on-site instruction for furniture making. Allan Nery and Johannes Boonstra from Rubio Monocoat USA were the class leaders.

Rubio Monocoat USA supplies a line of environmentally friendly oil-based finishes developed in Europe. The finishes are designed to molecularly bond with the wood and provide durable color and protection in a single layer while not emitting and volatile organic chemicals and not using water, which can raise wood grain.

The finishing process for the coffee table had the top finished in Rubio Monocoat Oil Plus 2C White, and the bottom was done in Precolor Easy Intense Black with Oil Plus 2C White used to highlight the grain.

For the bar top, white oak sections were finished in Oil Plus 2C Oyster and the walnut was finished in Oil Plus 2C Pure. The back of the piece was signed by each maker who participated in building it.

Festool contributed tools and instruction for the event, under the leadership of Brian “Sedge” Sedgeley.

Delta Millworks, of Austin, Texas, donated a variety of slabs that were used to make the furniture. Ramia Workbenches donated two work benches, and TableLegs.com donated a variety of table legs.

The two pieces are being auctioned on line with all proceeds to benefit TreeFolks (treefolks.org), which works to restore forests after devastating fires and floods. The organization also sponsors public tree plantings, offers education, and partners with the city of Austin to give trees to qualifying Austinites in the urban core. You can learn more about the auction at bit.ly/rmc-auction.

 

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About the author
William Sampson

William Sampson is a lifelong woodworker, and he has been an advocate for small-scale entrepreneurs and lean manufacturing since the 1980s. He was the editor of Fine Woodworking magazine in the early 1990s and founded WoodshopBusiness magazine, which he eventually sold and merged with CabinetMaker magazine. He helped found the Cabinet Makers Association in 1998 and was its first executive director. Today, as editorial director of Woodworking Network and FDMC magazine he has more than 20 years experience covering the professional woodworking industry. His popular "In the Shop" tool reviews and videos appear monthly in FDMC.