High-tech woodworking takes on another dimension as custom woodworkers using design software, CNC machining and laser engravers to keep pace with the demand for wood cases for iPads, iPhones and other smart digital devices.

CHICAGO -- Steelcase introduced additions to its Nurture by Steelcase healthcare furniture line at NeoCon last month.

HIB System AG, a forest products firm based in Messenheim, Germany, has launched a U.S. effort to build a new generation of "Highly Insulated Buildings," known as HIBs. Dovetail and tongue-in-groove holds wall together.

A hardwood check-off proposal now being refined will be submitted to the industry for a vote later this year. If passed as the softwood version just did, it could position hardwoods well and significantly increase future business.

The week's top wood stories: the Consumer Products Safety Commission tablesaw safety hearings continue. (Consumers experienced 600,000 tablesaw accidents last year, says the CPSC.) A Daily Show video shows Swedwood union organizer's complaints, and Hickory Chair's unfavorable pricing comparisons with IKEA.

Nordfab Ducting announced it is now operating independently as Nordfab LLC, and is no longer tied operationally to sister dust-collection company Nederman.

Leggett & Platt CEO David Haffner says his furnishings firm is reluctant to hire , preferring to add hours to its 19,000 employees' workweek. "Until we start seeing more people confident about the ability to get work, I'm holding back," Haffner tells today's Wall. St. Journal.

As Craftsman Tools markets power woodworking tools to total amateurs, a reality show placing an aspiring do-it-yourselfer in a Chicago apartment for boot-camp carpentry training from experts.

Case Design/Remodeling Inc. won two 2011 Chrysalis Awards for Remodeling Excellence.

HGH Hardware Supply announced it will acquire two Wood Finishers Supply locations in the Atlanta metro area, previously operated by Gemini Coatings.