1 Padauk and Ash Table Tennis Table with Paddles Alan Harp Design Student: Greg Moore

Grade: High School

Ranking: First Place

Category: Tables

School: Appleton City High School

Where: Appleton, MO



My goal was to take the idea of a common sport table and create a functional yet eye-catching woodworking masterpiece. I used solid wood padauk and veneer core ash plywood for this table. Many special techniques and jigs were used to accomplish various parts of this table. Segmenting the legs and then gluing them back together true enough for turning on the lathe required several jigs; routing the inlays accurately enough with a straight bit and a plunge router required homemade clamping devices and other jigs.



A challenge I experienced was with the inlay of the padauk and ash. I had to make special jigs to clamp it down. Developing the clamps to hold the inlay down evenly was almost impossible. I used a catalyzed lacquer finish to resist scratches, dents and other defects. To get a smooth finish on the table, the sanding was necessary because a smooth finish is the most important part. I wet-sanded with 400 grit and buffed it back to a shine with a polish. The legs and net are removable so that it can be transported easily and used as a dining table (covered with a tablecloth). The ball doesn't really function–no bounce–but I chose to make it and the paddles to complete the project.

2 Anne Boleyn's Writing Desk Alan Harp Design Student: Lance Smith

Grade: Post Secondary

Ranking: First Place

Category: Tables

School: Center for Furniture Craftsmanship

Where: Rockport, ME



As someone coming to the world of furniture-making as a way of satisfying my long-suppressed inner need to find a creative and concrete way of expressing myself, I want every piece that I make to convey a story upon first sight. Who would own this? How would it be used? Why would it be here? What does this say about its owner?



This piece was designed to show elegance in simplicity and to allow the wood to be the major design component. As such, while the desk consists of very few lines, and a few sensual but subtle curves, the choice of materials tells the observer immediately that this isn't just anyone's writing desk. And the size of the writing surface and presence of only a single drawer makes it equally clear that this isn't a desk one would sit at all day long and use for more than one purpose. The long slender legs suggest that this desk isn't used for paying taxes or grading papers. This desk clearly belongs to someone extraordinary who wants to feel connected to the letters on the desk—the subtle curve at the front of the desk allows her to move closer to the letters.



The unnecessary continuation of the veneer on the bottom where one would normally see the inner workings of the case construction conveys a sense of admiration for the owner by the maker. This is a desk you want to touchónot just to feel the smooth surface but to connect with the desk's owner. This is the kind of furniture I want to make.



The desk was designed to meet a simple design brief—build something with at least one curve and some veneered surface. It has a hard maple core on the legs and a walnut case construction. The entire desk is wrapped in shop-sawn Macassar ebony. The drawer web framing and insides are Birdseye maple. And the top of the desk is actually birch plywood covered in shop sawn thick veneer and commercial burl veneer. The construction proved to be quite challenging for several reasons. The use of Macassar ebony posed problems as the wood began to check as soon as it arrived in the shop. Flushing 1/16-inch-thick shop-sawn veneers to a surface that has commercial veneer was challenging. Wrapping veneer over a drawer pocket and front required lots of numbering. Wrapping shop sawn veneer over the curved legs utilized every small clamp available.



Every step of the construction was challenging for me, but it was exactly what I was hoping it would beóa great learning experience that gave me a piece to be proud of when all was said and done.

3 Bombelicious Alan Harp Design Student: Elias Schultz

Grade: High School

Ranking: First Place

Category: Case Goods

School: Cedar Ridge High School

Where: Hillsborough, NC



The main inspiration for my project is the use of curves and the way one's eye is drawn toward them. I initially developed a sketch of a chest of drawers that consisted of variably curved sides. After trial and error the profile evolved into a manageable woodworking form. After finalizing my plans, I had a professional review them. His response was: "Once you place a curve into anything, the level of complexity increases significantly." I soon came to discover this firsthand.



I chose to use solid maple and poplar, mahogany, curly maple veneer and veneered maple and birch plywoods. To set my project aside from traditional Bombe chest designs, I decided to make the corner transition from the front profile to the sides by making a coopered, solid maple turning, which was quartered to make the two front posts for the case. To delineate the solid wood grain of the case members, I used book-matched curly maple veneer for the side panels, along with a butterfly grain veneer pattern for the top. To harmonize with the case sides the weight of the top is in proportion with the heavy bottom piece. The drawer face dimensions are a play on the Golden ratio and partially the Fibonacci series. The finish on this chest consists of hand-rubbed Danish oil/polyurethane mix, starting with a base of Danish oil and then progressing through, adding higher concentrations of polyurethane to each layer.

4 Miss Peaches Alan Harp Design Student: Bonner Armbruster

Grade: Post Secondary

Ranking: First Place

Category: Case Goods

School: College of the Redwoods

Where: Fort Bragg, CA



Clothed in the beautiful orange-brown hues of Kwila, this cabinet was created to house a few special pieces of servingware and silver. As I continued to work with the Kwila, my focus shifted to showcasing the wonderful color and prismatic qualities of this wood. Other shop-sawn veneers used were Douglas Fir and Maple laid up on Appleply plywood along with solid tan oak and doussie. The pattern on the doors is meant to emphasize their outward curve, and this pattern set the rhythmic tone for the rest of the piece and other elements like the parquetry patterns on the sides and top and the pull placement are a response to the patterns and volumes established by the doors.



When creating the parquetry patterns on the doors, with shop-sawn veneers assembled flat and then bent onto the door core, the joints holding the veneers together were a challenge to bend without snapping. Also, the alignment had to be precise, as any shift in the pattern would result in an uncorrectable mismatch. I resolved this by ensuring that each joint in the parquetry pattern was sound and received sufficient pressure during glue-up. To keep the patterns on the doors aligned, I left extra material on one side of the core to allow room for small countersunk nails that held the veneers in place. The bow front aspect required extensive use of the vacuum press, which was a new machine for me. The bending forms required for the doors, drawer fronts and applied edge bandings was also a new experience. To finish, I applied four sealer coats of blond shellac followed by two coats of oil-varnish mix.

5 Ebony and Ivory Alan Harp Design Student: Brett Stickler

Grade: High School

Ranking: First Place

Category: Chairs

School: Rolla Technical Institute

Where: Rolla, MO



I was inspired by some benches I had seen but wanted to create something that would catch the eye. I was looking for a modern design, and my instructor helped me formulate my thoughts into a solid design. I then started looking at wood types and I came across two, wenge and maple, and thought they would complement the design and make it look exceptional.



The construction of the project was fairly simple. I had to make my frames and panels (the panels were veneered), the arms and feet, and of course I had to come up with a way to save material and time while being incredibly accurate on the top. To make the top, my instructor came up with the idea to glue up strips of wenge and maple and then cut the panels on a diagonal. Then I took those strips and laid them out vertically and alternated the pattern so that we received the intended design.



To construct Ebony and Ivory, I broke it down into different pieces, and then when all those pieces were finished I attached them to each other. First the frames, which made the cabinet part of the bench, then the top, bottom and doors. After all of that was completed, we began the finishing process. All the sanding was done to individual pieces, so when I constructed the bench it would be ready to have the finish immediately applied. To finish, I applied sealant and coats of polyurethane. In between each coat we sanded the finish to make it smooth to the touch.

6 Katana Bench Alan Harp Design Student: Candice Groenke

Grade: Post Secondary

Ranking: First Place, ALSO Best of Show

Category: Chairs

School: College of the Redwoods

Where: Fort Bragg, CA



A desire to push limits brought me to making this piece. And I knew if those limits were to be pushed, I wanted to do it in a manner respectful to simplicity of form and versatility of function. I wanted to take the concept of a Windsor armchair and add some whimsy.



I started by steam-bending the back splats of varying dimensions over the same form. I thought this could give me a vibrancy that a turned member might lack. It would also add the bird cage feel that I had become so attached to. Because of the difference of size, I knew that each would bend differently, but I had no real idea to what degree. Every time I got a blank out of the box and then off the form I knew I had to adapt to it while holding to my overall vision.



The interesting thing that I didn't foresee was how all of these bends and unknowns would affect nearly all of my joinery. By having all of these pieces bend and splay differently, I essentially did away with all my points of reference—I took away my square, my parallel and my perpendicular. This was especially difficult when it came time for the arm joinery. I had to take all of these points in space and create a tangible reference that I could revisit throughout the mortise and tenon of the arm joint.



It was just amazing fun to go through the process of shaping and carving and exactitude to make something that looks so simple and playful. The wood, Eastern walnut, was a dream to work. I finished it with Liberon Danish oil and four coats of Epifanes varnish cut 50/50 with mineral spirits. The design kept me both excited and on my toes throughout.

7 Elk Guitar Alan Harp Design Student: Parker Brimhall

Grade: High School

Ranking: First Place

Category: Open

School: Brighton High School

Where: Cottonwood Heights, UT



Playing guitar, woodworking and outdoor activities are my interests, and they all came together in this acoustic guitar.



I used African mahogany for the back, sides and neck and Indian Rosewood for the head veneer, fret board and bridge. Engelmann's spruce was used for the soundboard. I practiced burning the Elk design on the bottom of the sideboard and then decided that I liked it better on the African mahogany than the spruce. My teacher suggested I burn elk antlers for the rosette. I used a piece of African mahogany and inlaid it around the sound hole and drew some antlers and then burned it.



I had to make special jigs for different aspects of the project. I made a jig for the router to follow for the trust rods as they move down the neck. Attaching the neck to the body was a challenge. I chose to use a mortise and tenon joint instead of a dovetail (as the plans suggested) so that it could be adjusted more easily if needed.



I am very satisfied with the finished product; it came out much better than I thought it would. I love to hear the bright clean sound of it when I play it. A lead guitarist from a band has asked me to make one for him, so I hope to own my own business making custom guitars!

8 Evolving Bench Alan Harp Design Student: Joshua Carson

Grade: Post Secondary

Ranking: First Place

Category: Open

School: Miami University

Where: Oxford, OH



The goal of this project was to investigate the possibilities for furniture to adapt according to how it is used.



It was important to create something that was elegant and finely detailed as a reflection of my personal design philosophy. In the process of design, I focus on the use of objects in inventive ways. For this project, I ultimately utilized fiberglass ice-fishing rod blanks as a catalyst for the movement of a wall shelf. The elasticity and elegant profile of the fiberglass rod complimented the static nature of the walnut, cherry and maple I chose to use in the rest of the piece.



It was, however, challenging to find the proper resistance needed to lift each shelf component using these fiberglass rods. Many factors were involved in choosing the final assemblage. For instance, the point on which each rod glides could not induce too forceful a return. But it also had to provide enough resistance to hold the shelf's position at rest next to the wall. Resolving this was a method of trial and error in scale models.



The most challenging component of the shelf was resolving the connection between individual walnut fingers. The connection required control in axis with the rod that forced against it. The connection also had to adapt to either side of each walnut finger. An interlocking network of pegs and grooves eventually solved this dilemma.



After completing the project I was surprised by its acoustic qualities as it returns to the wall, but this surprise is pleasant and I enjoy what it adds to the shelf as a whole.

9 Dead Ben Drums Alan Harp Design Student: Benjamin Scarborough

Grade: Post Secondary

Ranking: First Place

Category: Production/Contract

School: Danville Community College/Southern Virginia Higher Education Center

Where: South Boston, VA



Drums are primitive. Drums are complex. My journey through building snare drums has been a study in bringing the manufacture of the most ancient instrument up to speed with the advanced manufacturing technologies of today.



There are many caveats in building wooden cylinders, and particularly cylinders that must be as true to round as possible. From holding the parts on the CNC for processing, to gluing components into the round, there were many design challenges to overcome. Planning on the front end sets a project up for success, and yet there will always be the unseen gremlins in any build.



It was my desire to use CNC to mill out the staves for my drums rather than turning them on a lathe. This introduced my first challenge: designing a fixture to hold the drum blanks on the CNC. I designed a fixture to hold the blanks in pockets, using a vacuum to hold the blanks in place. I then found that the fixture needed to be modified to provide positive references for the components that would aid in processes downstream. After indices which allowed for centering staves were incorporated into the blanks, the parts had to be flipped in the fixture. This caused some deflection in the blanks because of the vacuum holding the parts. An insert was designed to compensate for the void which allowed the part to deflect in the first place.

10 Love Rocker Alan Harp Design Student: Christopher Gagnon

Grade: High School

Ranking: First Place

Category: Reproduction

School: Sultana High School

Where: Hesperia, CA



Building the Love Rocker required all of the woodworking skill and ability that I had gained throughout high school.



Building this chair was very difficult in many aspects. Whether it was broken seat joints or design flaws, this chair presented it all. My goal was to build a functional piece of furniture that could accommodate two people. I feel that I have accomplished this far beyond any expectation I had when starting the project.



A major problem I faced was building a seat that could hold two people without having to add a middle rocker or external supports on the seat. I wanted it to be as visually appealing as possible while also being strong. I was able to achieve this using a mathematical approach. After consulting with my woodshop teacher I finally figured out how to reinforce the seat. It was achieved by specific dowel placement throughout the seat. The chair was made with maple and walnut and is finished with natural Danish oil and several coats of tung oil.

11 Comb Back Windsor Chair Alan Harp Design Student: Collin Barker

Grade: Post Secondary

Ranking: First Place

Category: Reproduction

School: Brigham Young University

Where: Provo, UT



My goal in building this chair was to make an authentic reproduction of a comb back Windsor chair using traditional tools and building techniques.



Using conventional tools proved to be a challenge because originals are scarce and newly built ones are expensive. Because of this I decided to make many of the tools I would need myself, including a travisher, spoke shave and a smoothing plane. The seat was carved from a solid piece of dead standing Engelmann spruce (logged by myself and some friends) and the legs were turned green from local Norway maple. The legs are joined to the seat with a tapered through mortise that is also wedged, giving a self-tightening joint.



Traditionally, the spindles are rived from green oak to give maximum strength with a minimum diameter. Since no oak logs were available where I live, I rived the spindles from local ash, which proved to work just as well. The comb and bow are bent from red oak, and the scrolls in the comb are hand-carved using a technique that I learned from a luthier friend.



As was common with chair makers from the period, I intentionally left tool marks throughout the piece. Because I wanted the chair to look like an original Windsor, I used a series of finishes that give it an antique appearance. These finishes are typical of the multiple coats that have been applied over many years to surviving Windsor chairs of the period. The different finishes include multiple coats of green, red and black mill paints, boiled linseed oil, and amber shellac applied in selected areas using a French polish technique.

12 Table For Dali Alan Harp Design Student: Adam Kessler

Grade: Post Secondary

Ranking:Second Place in Tables Category, and overall winner of People's Choice (voted on by AWFS Fair attendees and exhibitors. It received more than 25 percent of the 900-plus votes)

Category: Tables

School: Buffalo State College

Where: Buffalo, NY



Table for Dali was inspired by the surrealist paintings of Salvador Dali. Dali has always been one of my favorite artists; I thought that it would be fun to design a coffee table for him. I combined different elements from his paintings The Birth of Man, The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory, and The Persistence of Memory.



I wanted to create a table that gave the illusion that it was in the process of melting. I decided to use a checkerboard pattern to enhance this illusion. I also oriented all of the wood so that the end grain would be facing up. This added to the melting illusion. I used only wood and glue to construct this table. I began by laminating two pieces of maple and two pieces of black walnut together in a square block. I used a lathe to turn the large wooden dripping pieces and the three supports out of these square blocks. Then I glued many pieces together.



It was extremely difficult to line everything up while clamping it. I carved out the top and bottom using an angle grinder with a carbide wood wheel. I had to be careful while grinding the body of the table to match the gentle curves of the dripping pieces. I am going to use several coats of polyurethane to finish this piece. Table for Dali can also be used upside down, which gives it a surreal anti-gravity appearance. Overall this table is very surreal, complex, unique and durable. I believe that Salvador Dali would truly enjoy this table that I made for him.

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