Custom cabinetry trends

The eighth annual Veneer Tech Craftsman’s Challenge announced its three-person judging panel for this international design competition that highlights achievement in the use of natural wood veneer products.
Members of the 2012 judging panel are Michael Bell, president elect of the Architectural Woodwork Institute and a senior manager with Allegheny Millwork; Tim Fixmer, member of the WoodLINKS USA board of directors and publisher of CabinetMaker+FDM; and studio furniture maker Alfred Sharp, current president of The Furniture Society.
Michael Bell is director of estimating at Allegheny Millwork in Lawrence, Pa., and has 38 years experience in the industry. He started as a cabinetmaker after studying with Buckminster Fuller at Southern Illinois University, and since, has worked in every aspect of architectural woodwork–office, plant and installation. He was deeply involved in the AWI/AWMAC/WI project that resulted in the first edition of Architectural Woodwork Standards (AWS). He conducts seminars and presentations on the AWS for the design and woodworking communities.
Tim Fixmer’s involvement in the industry started with a position in a hardwood plant in Wisconsin. After graduation from the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater, he joined Johnson Hill Press and was publisher of Furniture/Woodworking Product News that later became Wood Digest. He formed CCI-Media, and acquired CabinetMaker+FDM in 2011. As a WoodLINKS representative, he advocates for and promotes industry and education working together to train the future workforce.
Alfred Sharp is a native of Nashville, Tenn., who dropped out of Vanderbilt University’s Law School when he realized his heart’s calling was working with wood. He segued from operating a 25-worker production shop to concentrating on museum-quality commissions including pieces made for The Hermitage (Andrew Jackson’s home) and the Tennessee State Capital. He is an instructor at O’More College of Art and Design, Marc Adams School of Woodworking, and the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockport, Maine. His work has been featured in many home design and woodworking magazines.
The 2012 Craftsman’s Challenge competition is co-sponsored by CabinetMaker+FDM. Competition entries are accepted through June 1, in categories including: Architectural Woodworking, Cabinetry, Furniture, Specialty Products, Store Fixtures and Student Design. Entry materials are available online through www.veneertech.com or by calling 800.593.5601, and from Veneer Technologies sales representatives and distributors.
A cash award of $3000 will be made to the creator of the grand prize winning entry. The distributor of the veneer for the grand prize winning entry will receive $2000 and the corresponding distributor salesman will receive $1000. Category winners receive $1000 each. There is also an additional $1000 award to the grand prizewinner for early entry by March 31, 2012. Awards will be announced at IWF-Atlanta, August 22-25.

Virginia Tech and CabinetMaker+FDM are conducting a reader survey about lightweight panels. Lightweight panels are used in a variety of products in Europe, but North American wood products manufacturers and consumers have remained cool to the technology. Improvements in lightweight panel manufacturing techniques, better connecting hardware and the surging cost of energy to move heavy products have caused many manufacturers to take another look. But information on perceptions of this technology and what manufacturers need is incomplete. What do you think about this technology? What characteristics would you like to see in lightweight panels? What are your perceptions of this product? Which markets and product applications are best suited for this technology?

Click the following link to take the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/78KLTZW
The results of this survey will appear in CabinetMaker+FDM magazine.

"Georgia Girl," winner of the Craftsman's Challenge, features cherry sheet veneer cabinetry.

The Veneer Tech Craftman’s Challenge named a sportfishing yacht entry from Paul Mann Custom Boats as the competition’s cabinetry category and grand prize winner.
The Manns Harbor, N.C., boat builder received a total of $4,000 in prize winnings for the 81-foot “Georgia Girl.” Hand-selected, plain-sliced cherry sheet veneer accented with figured cherry were used for the custom countertops and cabinetry throughout the yacht. Sales representative, Jack King, from the yacht’s veneer supplier.
Atlantic Veneer Mill Outlet was the supplier of veneer for the project. Sales representative Jack King receives $1000 in recognition of his participation in the supply chain.
“Overall the quality of the work was remarkable,” said Keith Yow, one of three competition judges. “The scope of the projects was tremendous, particularly in the Specialty Items category. The marquetry in many pieces displays incredible artistic visions and abilities; it made judging difficult. The craftsmanship was exceptional, especially in the case of fitting cabinets with so many radiuses into the cabin of a yacht.”  Yow is department chair of the Career Technical Education Program at Cedar Ridge High School, Hillsborough, N.C.
The other category winners in this year’s competition, each receiving $1000, were: Architectural Woodworking, Fetzer Architectural Woodwork, Salt Lake City, Utah, for Montage Hotel and Resort; Furniture, Craig Thibodeau, CT Fine Furniture, San Diego, Calif., for Dogwood Cabinet; Specialty Items, two winners, Rob Milam of VeneerImages, Atlanta, Ga., for Self Portrait 3, and Paul Schurch, Schurch Woodwork, Santa Barbara, Calif., for Bustier de Bois–The Sassy Zebra; and in Student Design, Christian Seifert, College of the Redwoods, for Danish Sideboard.
Eight entries earned honorable mention: Abdolhay Parnian, Parnian Furniture, Scottsdale, Ariz., for Custom Kitchen, cabinetry; Chris Boulé, Boulé LLC, Haddam Neck, Conn., for Boulé Boy, furniture; Doug Forsha, De La Madera LLC, Scottsdale, Ariz., for Curved Mappa Burl Armoire, furniture; Gregg Novosad, Click Devine, Palatine, Ill., for Reception Table with Faux Magazine, furniture; Dennis Zongker, Zongkers Custom Woods, Omaha, Neb., for Music Box 72 Note Movement, specialty item; Dušan Rakić, Prometheus065, Temerin, Serbia, for three marquetry interpretations of old masters and a photographer, St. Jerome on His Knees Before a Crucifix–Bernini, Calvary Skirmish–Vasari, and She–Demiralay, specialty item; Stanislav Karmalyuk, Dale Jackson Career Center, for The Wave, student design; and Weston Gallo, Dale Jackson Career Center for Sinusoid, student design.
Impartial third-party experts from the fields of woodworking media, education and architectural woodworking judge the Veneer Tech Craftsman’s Challenge. Along with Yow, the 2011 panel included Robert Lang, executive editor, Popular Woodworking, and Bill Esler, associate publisher for Vance Publishing.
“In this contest, entrants could submit several photos, and the pieces that won (or were in the running) showed the completed pieces from a couple of different angles and included close-ups of relevant details. As we moved closer to determining a winner, this became more of a factor,” wrote Lang in his blog entry “Inside the Judges’ Chambers.” Lang encourages entrants to take as much care in photographing their work as is put into the creation of their projects.
John Varner, Veneer Tech vice president, says that a key purpose of the Craftsman’s Challenge is to recognize all the people in the veneer distribution chain as well as the designer. “This is an excellent way to promote industry creativity and strengthen supply relationships.”
All entries can be viewed on Veneer Tech’s website at www.veneertech.com. There also is an archive of 2005-2010 entries.The Veneer Tech Craftsman’s Challenge entries for 2012 will be accepted beginning Sept. 30, 2011. The results of the 2012 competition will be announced at IWF in Atlanta.

CCI Media, LLC, based in Fort Atkinson, Wis., announced its acquisition today of the CabinetMakerFDM Woodworking business unit from Watt Publishing Co., headquartered in Rockford, Ill. 
“We are very pleased to reach this agreement with Watt,” said Tim Fixmer, President and CEO of CCI Media LLC. “Our business strategy is to maximize the potential of the industry-leading CabinetMakerFDM brand as the cornerstone of the CCI Media portfolio. We have a long-standing involvement in, and affinity for, the woodworking industry, and are very enthusiastic about bringing these strong brands under the CCI Media umbrella. These are historic brands serving a crucial market with strong potential for future growth.  The readers who comprise the industry are innovative entrepreneurs who are reinventing themselves and who need a voice like CabinetMakerFDM to help guide them into the future.  We plan to support them through the economic recovery of the woodworking industry with our multi-media channels including magazines, websites, e-media and conferences in specialty B2B markets.” 
Greg Watt, President and COO of Watt, said, “We have a long standing business relationship with our colleague Tim Fixmer. Tim and I have worked together on a number of business–to-business media initiatives. We are pleased to have authored this agreement as mutually beneficial for the long-term growth potential of both companies.” 

Woodworking market leader CabinetMakerFDM is now part of CCI Media, LLC.
Watt Publishing Co., founded in 1917, is an industry leader in delivering business information through multi-media channels including magazines, newsletters, online directories, expo guides, forum events and social media to industry readers in the petfood, poultry, pig, animal and feed industries. Over the decades, Watt Publishing Co., has launched, acquired and recast its publishing and information services to serve an ever-changing audience in the domestic and international markets. 
CCI Media, LLC, based in Fort Atkinson, Wis., was formed in 2010, with the intent to acquire solid B2B media brands that are essential to their market segments and possess significant growth potential. Fixmer’s experience spans more than three decades as a B2B media executive with companies including Johnson Hill Press, Cygnus Business Media, Nielsen, Duke Communications, and most recently Stamats Business Media, where he served as president. Learn more about this dynamic, young company through their company website at http://ccimedia.net. 

Scott Grove of Green Grove Design, Rochester, N.Y., earned the Grand Prize and took the Cabinetry category for his Ski Media Cabinets in the Sixth Annual Veneer Tech Craftsman’s Challenge sponsored by CabinetMakerFDM magazine. Grove’s cabinets feature a variety of veneers including amboyna burl, quilted maple, sapele and wenge.
2010 Veneer Tech Craftsman’s Challenge Woodworking Competition winners include:

Grand Prize/Cabinetry

• Scott Grove, Green Grove Design, Rochester, N.Y.
• Distributor, Certainly Wood of East Aurora, N.Y.; Sales representative, Greg Engle

Architectural Woodworking

• Albert Grant, Albert S. Grant Fine Woodworking and Design, Melrose, Conn.

Furniture

• Abdolhay Parnian, Parnian Furniture, Scottsdale, Ariz.

Store Fixtures

• Abdolhay Parnian, Parnian Furniture, Scottsdale, Ariz.

Specialty Items

• Rob Milam, VeneerImages, Atlanta, Ga.

Student Design

• Christy Oates, San Diego State University

Honorable Mention

• Mark Bernhard, Bernhard Woodwork, Northbrook, Ill.
• Tom Knoebel, Beach Cabinets, LLC, Melbourne, Fla.
• Pattrick Loew, Hastings High School, Hastings, Mich.
• Malcolm McDowell, Tunnicliffe, Art Lights, Torreon Co., Mexico
• Earl Kelly, Earl Kelly Furniture, Pensacola, Fla.
• John Harper, EMC Woodworking, Phoenix
• Ramon Valdez, Exotic Woodworks, Bloomfield, N.M.
• Chuck Sharbaugh, Holly, Mich.
• Scott Grove, Green Grove Design, Rochester, N.Y

There’s still time to make it to the International Woodworking Fair 2010 to be held Aug. 25 to 28, 2010 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Ga. Here are some recent updates on the show:
–IWF reports that the number of exhibitors has been increasing, and topped the 950 mark in recent days. It’s been encouraging that the number of exhibitors has increased over the past few months as the show dates approach. “The commitment of over 950 exhibitors…proves the industry is moving in the right direction,” says Riccardo Azzoni, IWF 2010 chairman and president of Atlantic Machinery Corp.
–All-day sessions begin Tuesday, Aug. 24, the day before the exhibit hall opens. Symposiums include: Selling Closets from A-Z: The Perfect Niche for Today’s Economy; Cabinet to Countertops: Turning Opportunity to Profit; Surviving in the Upholstery World of Over-Supply; and Finishing Technology and Sustainability: The Pathway to Profits.
–IWF is also offering a special deal on technical session registration. In addition to the four symposia, there will be 23 sessions to choose from. Attendees that register for any symposium can receive a free technical session registration of their choice. If they register for any technical session they will receive a second session at half price.
–New IWF online planning tools allow attendees to arrive at the show floor knowing exactly which exhibutors they want to see and where they are on the floor. Attendees can add exhibitors to their personalize “my show” planner. For more information on any of these items, go to IWF Atlanta.

Still the place to be
IWF is still the place to be, the place to compare hundreds of new woodworking products, see dozens of technical seminars and mingle with thousands of other woodworkers.
“IWF is the largest wood industry trade show in the western hemisphere,” said Chris Hacker, vice president of Taylor Manufacturing and JLT Clamps, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and chair of the IWF Task Force, a group of WMMA and WMIA member company representatives that are seeking to expand the show. “Nowhere else in North or South America can buyers see and evaluate more exhibitors in one place. These manufacturers and suppliers will be showing their advanced products and technology,” says Hacker.
Patrick LaFramboise, IWF president and CEO, said, “The purpose of IWF is to promote the industry and provide a platform for suppliers in the industry to make their products available to the industry in a face-to-face environment. IWF is also where industry professionals get the education they need through our conference program.
“Most importantly, IWF is the meeting point for the industry. There is no substitute for the value of networking with your peers in the environment of a trade show.”

Challengers winners announced soon
This year’s IWF features full list of participants in the Challengers Distinguished Achievement Award. This year, 65 companies entered 80 products for the competition. See the complete list.
“The Challengers Award and IWF are the platform for innovation and new product introduction,” said Riccardo Azzoni, IWF 2010 chairman and president of Atlantic Machinery Corp. “Our industry continues to invest in the future. Industry professionals will have an unique opportunity to see some of the most advanced new products available.”
New for 2010, the Challengers Award finalists and winners will be recognized all four days in a visible display area on the show floor. The special area will provide buyers and the media information about the 2010 finalists and winners. See the updated list of finalists. The award recognizes advancements in technology or significant contributions to environmental improvement and it focuses on companies that have distinguished themselves by developing innovative technology in products, services or manufacturing techniques.

Technical sessions
The 2010 education conference includes four symposiums and 23 sessions. The technical conference schedule includes lean manufacturing, regulatory issues, managing expenses, maintenance excellence, recruiting the right people, green/sustainable workshop, estimating, eliminating waste, competitive finishing and many others. Be sure to leave time to attend a session on social media and marketing with CabinetMaker+FDM’s Bruce Plantz at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 27. A complete list of technical sessions.

Meet us on the roof!
Follow CabinetMakerFDM up the ladder to the roof! We will be hosting informal evening get-togethers during the first three days of IWF, Aug. 25, 26 and 27 on the rooftop of a nearby sports bar called Stats. It is located at 300 Marietta St. N.W., 404.885.1472 . It’s about one block from the Hall A entrance of the Georgia World Congress Center and it is across the street from the Hilton Garden Inn and Embassy Suites.
Stats features 70 high-definition televisions, popular American cuisine and beer that pours from specially made table taps. There will be free appetizers and a paid bar. We’re planning a night for Sawdust Soup participants, a night to meet editors Karl Forth and Will Sampson, and a social media night. This is a great opportunity to network in an informal setting. If you’re attending IWF, come by and see us at Booth 4465 for last-minute details.

Grand Prize and best marketing video: MacDonald and Owen Lumber Co. 

Best training video: R.D. Mueller Custom Cabinets

Best plant tour: H. Gerstner & Sons Inc

Most entertaining:B.C. Saw & Tool

Other entrants:

• TaylorCraft Cabinet Door Co. I
• TaylorCraft Cabinet Door Co. II
• Jack-Bench.com
• Laminate Works Inc.
• R.D. Muller Custom Cabinets I
• R.D. Muller Custom Cabinets II
• B.C. Saw & Tool II
• Century Porch Post Inc.
• Spectrum Industries Inc. I
• Spectrum Industries Inc. II

Everyone recognizes the power of video to inform, sell, educate, and entertain, so it’s no surprise that winners in the first CabinetMakerFDM video contest are strong in all of those categories.
We asked our readers to send short (under 10 minutes) videos in four separate categories: marketing, training, plant tour, and most entertaining. The results were a wide-ranging selection from do-it-yourself fun to polished professional productions, but all added a new dimension to presenting woodworking information. Check the links on this page to see the winners yourself.

Top winner

Grand Prize for the best video overall goes to the winner of the marketing category, MacDonald and Owen Lumber Co. Their video, “Hardwoods Done Right,” is a fast-paced, well filmed, and smoothly produced video. In less than two and a half minutes it gives viewers a broad sense of the company.
There are interviews and testimonials from both company officials and customers. There are dynamic scenes of the factory floor showing lumber being processed in a variety of stages. Excellent lighting and creative camera angles add energy and a good music sound track pushes the action along without getting in the way. The result is a powerful message that can’t help but encourage you to do business with the company.

Best training video

R.D. Mueller Custom Cabinets was the standout winner in the best training video category with a succinct video explaining the use of the Festool TS55 plunge saw and a shopbuilt work table designed to get the most from the saw. Coming in at just under the 10-minute limit, the video is the kind of straightforward see-and-do project that shows the power of video for education.
In the video, veteran woodworker Roger Mueller shows how he cuts up sheet goods, including heavy MDF, all alone and without benefit of a panel saw by using the Festool TS55, parallel guides, and a special table. There’s nothing fancy about the video, but the information is just what you need to get the job done.

Best plant tour video

H. Gerstner & Sons Inc. is famous for their solid wood, multi-drawer tool boxes that have been revered by machinists and woodworkers for more than a century. This winning plant tour video is an example of letting actions speak louder than words. There is no narration, just a pleasant acoustic music soundtrack and the sounds of machines in the background as you watch every stage in the manufacture, assembly and finishing of a Gerstner tool chest.
With good angles and lots of close-ups, the video emphasizes the craftsmanship and attention to detail, right down to carefully screwing on the hardware. The stars of the show are the employees, who all stand out as individual talented crafts people, all putting their special touch on a fine work in wood that all can be proud of.

Most entertaining video

When we established the most entertaining video category, we weren’t sure what we would get in response, but we hoped for fun and creative entries. The winner was just that. B.C. Saw & Tool set a tour of their saw sharpening process to the lively tempo of the Black Eyed Peas’ “Rockin to the Beat.”
Who would have thought that precision industrial saw sharpening could be set to music? In this video, “Tour to the Beat,” not only is the sharpening on beat, but there are even playful moments where the blades back up and shift right along with the music, much like a rap DJ back-spinning a disc to get a unique sound (watch for the back-spinning saw blades!).