Chad Hill, of Fredericksburg, Va., has been voted the grand-prize winner of the FWW One-Board Furniture Build-Off Contest. He received a complete shop full of Delta and Porter-Cable tools worth more than $9,000 for his Federal-style hall table.

The three top-prize winners were announced on Friday, August 22, at the IWF 2008 woodworking-industry trade show in Atlanta, Ga.

Meet the Build-Off Winners! Watch the announcement of top prizes and hear what the woodworkers have to say about their entries.

Robert Galusha, of Kingman, Ariz., won second prize for his sinuous armchair. He received Delta tools valued at more than $4,000.

Bent maple chair. Galusha crafted the curves in this chair come using steam and lamination techniques.

Third place went to Michael Harris, of London, Ontario, for a floating-top hall table. He received a package of Porter-Cable tools valued at more than $2,000.

Floating-top hall table. Harris built this table, almost entirely, from book-matched curly maple. The top features a delicate inlay.

Entrants were asked to build a piece of furniture from no more than 17 board feet of maple, the equivalent of one piece 10 ft. long x 10 in. wide x 2 in. thick. We received 140 entries from the U.S. and Canada.

Hill, the grand-prize winner, became interested in woodworking two years ago, while a student at Christopher Newport University, in Newport News, Va. After he graduated, he signed on as an apprentice at a company specializing in architectural millwork and cabinetry. He said in his entry: “I’ve only been woodworking for a little over a year and a half. I started this craft a few months after I graduated from college and I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

Slim design. Hill’s table is just 7-1/2 in. deep.

Building the piece took about a month, he said. “Every part was carefully mapped out of the blank, which dictated the final dimensions. There was a perfect grain pattern on the piece which I used for the top, it almost appears to be book matched. The legs were tapered and I plowed a reveal down the center of all four sides of each. The remaining wood was resawn and used for the different parts of the apron.”

Second-prize winner Galusha retired a few years ago after a 40-year career as a custom furniture maker. He calls his chair “a sculptural exploration of the limits of Maple bending technique.”

He deliberately chose maple without figure to keep the focus on the design. “Using lamination and steam techniques, my purpose was to construct a delicate yet very strong piece with pleasing ergonomics.” Visit Galusha’s Web site for more information and photos about how he constrcted the chair.

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