Sponsor a Lunch & Learn, Presented by AWI

AWI (Architectural Woodwork Institute) is the foremost architectural trade association in the U.S. Together with the Woodwork Institute and AWMAC, it developed a unified standard (AWS), a common language and guide, for architects to follow when specifying.  And it helps woodworkers to quote and to produce with parity.  You want content? Read the standard’s 600+ pages.

Lunch & Learn
But how do you teach this rich, massive standard to architects responsible for a host of other standards and processes? Feed it to them in one-hour, bite-size pieces during a Lunch & Learn (Box Lunch).

Why should an architect take the time?
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) gives the architects the incentive for Lunch & Learn. AIA is “the leading professional membership association for licensed architects.” It requires its members to earn 18 Learning Units of continuing education each year in order to maintain their good standing. And AWI created 16 presentations with AIA credits.

But who’s going to teach on behalf of AWI?
AWI couldn’t stretch its personnel or budget thin enough to reach architects throughout the country. So, it fell upon a novel idea: ask its local members to make the presentations, then train these volunteers in the art of public speaking. It worked! AWI’s website shows over 90 AWI volunteers on its Speaker’s Bureau.

You’ll find a local speaker at Midwest Prefinishing
Midwest Prefinishing employs Todd Burud as a consultant; he’s also an affiliate member of AWI. He just returned from a two-day training session in Dallas for the Speaker’s Bureau and brought home these insights:

• Respect for AWI. Board members conducted the training with professionalism and without personal gain.
• Humility and trust. Public speaking is humbling, but the audience is forgiving when they see effort and sincerity.
• Industry’s capability. Participants included business owners and managers with deeply held knowledge and skill. Also, an afternoon tour of 3 high-tech shops in the Dallas area demonstrated the industry’s bright future.

Would you like to schedule Todd for a presentation?
He’s trained to make presentations to architects on behalf of AWI. Non-AWI businesses and organizations may also request a presentation. Just send an e-mail to AWI or Midwest Prefinishing with the following information:

1. Topic or program
2. Todd Burud’s name
3. Date, time, location of presentation
4. Your contact information
5. Estimated number of attendees
6. Venue, room set-up

The Advantages of Being a Square Peg in a Round Hole

DWM (Window and Door Manufacturer Magazine) recently published its “Annual Product Guide for 2012”. Look for Midwest Prefinishing on page 44 under the heading, “Paints and Finishes”. Product guides like these rarely create a specific category for prefinishing. So, when included, we’re typically wedged into an existing, but incompatible category; we’re the square peg in a field of round holes.

Where should we put you?
In DWM’s guide, we rub shoulders with coatings, window, component, door, screen, film covering, lamination, profile-wrap, and extrusion manufacturers.  The only other prefinisher in the crowd specializes in finishing entry doors. The two of us ought to meet sometime to form our own mini-category. Power in numbers?

Likewise, millwork associations struggle with the square peg too.  “So, you don’t manufacture anything?  You add value to a manufactured product? I’ll talk to the membership board and get back to you.”  Without fail, associations and periodicals demonstrate kindness and flexibility by granting us membership and inclusion.  They’re dedicated to expanding the industry, not limiting it.

The advantage of being different
We’re not complaining. In fact, our square peg status signals an advantage.  It magnifies the element of differentiation, of specializing in a market segment. Jack Trout emphasized this point in his book, Differentiate or Die (apparently, there’s no choice):

When you study the marketing wars, the well-differentiated specialist tends to be the winner. … [T]he specialist can focus on one product, one benefit, and one message.  This focus enables the marketer to put a sharp point on the message that quickly drives it into the mind. … Another weapon of the specialist is the ability to be perceived as the expert or the best. If that’s all they do, they must do it very well.

In one sentence, can you explain how your company is differentiated?
Let’s apply Trout’s advice to Midwest Prefinishing, differentiated as a pure prefinisher, using  high-production, state-of-the-art technology to prefinish mouldings, doors, and  jambs.  Midwest hopes to convert Trout’s theory into a reality: to be Simply the Best (our tagline). According to Trout, that’s not a brag, it’s an achievable goal and sound marketing besides. In this economy, no marketing theory brings unbroken success. But we’re confident in its truth and look forward to the future.

Do you fit into standard categories? How do you differentiate?

Seven seconds into Midwest Prefinishing’s video tour, a stainless steel viscosity cup comes briefly into view.  You’ll miss it if you’re not careful; the snappy music and images move rapidly.  It symbolizes the ever-vigilant, behind-the-scenes, adjustment necessary for a quality finish as temperature and seasons change.

Basic Q&A on Viscosity
Because we’re moving from spring into summer, it’s timely to review some basic information about viscosity.  If you dig too deep, you’ll need a math degree. You may be up to it; but we’d prefer to skip the math.

• What is viscosity?
  Viscosity measures a finish’s resistance to flow, its thickness. The correct flow improves finish application and uniformity.  Plus, it controls product cost.

• What makes it change?
  Temperature, humidity, and atmospheric pressure affect viscosity. When temperature falls, viscosity rises; when temperature rises, viscosity drops.

“Most materials change in viscosity as a function of temperature.  Those normally measured with viscosity cups change in the range of 3-8% per degree Celsius change…” (www.gardco.com)

• How is it measured?
  Dip the viscosity cup into the material. As you lift it out, begin to time how long it takes until you see the first break in the stream. Refer to a conversion table in order to find the viscosity.  For example, if your test totaled 39 seconds using a Shell #2 cup, the viscosity level is 20 centipoise.  Since we’re not doing math, we’ll ignore the origin of the term, centipoise, and its companion terms, poise, stoke, and centistoke.

• Which cup is used?
  Although there’s over 20 cups commonly used, it doesn’t matter which one is used.  A conversion chart will find a common standard of measurement, the centipoise, regardless of the cup.

• Where is the measurement applied?
  The material vendor and/or spray equipment manufacturers recommend viscosity levels for the best performance. If your score doesn’t match, adjust the material accordingly.

Finishing requires a multi-tasker
While monitoring viscosity, other elements demand the finisher’s attention.

“The effects of the weather on the atomization and drying of the finish, the size of the fluid tip, how far away from the surface you are holding your gun, the overall cleanliness of your spray gun, and the shelf life of the product.” (www.highlandwoodworking.com)

Tweaking the right elements within this multi-tasking challenge, requires experience.  Mark Larson, Midwest Prefinishing’s owner, spent the last 23 years perfecting his finishing system.  And the viscosity cup is always nearby.

Kitchen display at Marling Lumber showroom, Janesville, WI

A design brochure published by The Hardwood Manufacturers Association, prefers blending instead of matching stained colors and wood species.  “Don’t try to be a match-maker.  Better to blend~or contrast~ the colors and textures of various American Hardwoods on your floors, furniture, cabinets, and mouldings.”

The brochure directs its advice to architects and designers, not to finishers like Midwest Prefinishing.  It’s our job to color-match to submitted samples.  Color-matching actually becomes more critical and involved with multiple species.  But we’re delighted with the association’s advice; we like to see hardwood showcased in a design scheme, and stain and paint colors applied to the hilt.

Blending and contrast suggestions from American Hardwoods By Design

• Blend:  Apply 2-3 woods in kitchen designs: “medium tones such as oak for the perimeter cabinets, an island in color-glazed wood, and a stand alone-hutch in walnut.”

• Contrast:  The higher the contrast, the higher the energy level; less contrast between floor [doors, trim] and cabinets, more calm.  A dark room needs a lighter floor: a light floor bounces light.

• Stain or paint:  “If it’s woodsy, earthy, or contemporary, think stain….  If you want a more traditional look, paint is great, especially white or cream.  Just beware of creating too much contrast between the walls and the trim.”

More design tips
California Closets, a company specializing in closet and other storage, gives similar advice on its website article, Four Ways to Design With Wood Grains:

1. Relaxing finishes:  A warm, rich wood grain finish “creates a relaxing and inviting environment…”
2. Sophisticated style:  A walk-in closet with dark wood grain “creates a sense of sophistication and elegance….”
3. Lighter color to brighten up small spaces:  Lighter wood grain finishes brighten a smaller, reach-in storage space.
4. Contrast to relieve the eye:  For pantries, offices, and craft rooms, a white system with a darker wood grain finish on counters and shelves is a good contrast and complement.

We’re not designers, but we appreciate the principle of contrast in a simple stained door framed by white-painted jamb and casings.

So, what species are abundant?
Oak (red and white) is the more abundant specie with a combined 52%.  Poplar is second with only 11%, demonstrating the dominance of oak.  Maple, ash, cherry, and alder follow.  Why not start with these six species?

At MMPA’s (Moulding and Millwork Producers Association) March meeting in Santa Monica, CA, Ivan Eastin related both the problems and the potential of the wood moulding market.  Eastin directs CINTRAFOR  (Center for International Trade in Forest Products) and teaches at the University of Washington.

According to Eastin (DWM Magazine), wood moulding sales will grow through exporting.  For example, China imports more solid wood than it imports, and it plans to build 36 million housing units within the next five years.

Now the bad news
He also reported on the decline in wood moulding sales since the recession.  Prior to 2006, moulding sales grew almost 24% or $694 million annually.  After the recession, it fell 12% or $393 million annually.  Housing accounts for much of this drop.  But he also pegged it to a loss in market share to MDF and PVC mouldings.

We can speculate on the practical reasons for this market shift.  MDF is cheaper and more consistent, painted moulding is a popular trend, and PVC does not rot.

But did environmentalism also play a role in this shift?
Practical reasons aside, could environmentalism also affect solid wood sales?  Deforestation is a problem in rainforests, not in America.  Yet, well-intentioned Americans often choose reprocessed over natural wood material out of a sense of environmental consciousness.  Ironically, MDF material is available only as a by-product of solid wood manufacturing.  We need solid wood in order to produce it.

PVC’s core ingredient is plastic, a byproduct of refining fossil fuels, oil or natural gas.  PVC also requires a host of chemical additives:  stabilizers, waxes, lubricants, stiffening agents, impact modifiers, blowing agents, and colorants.

Wood is renewable, abundant, and sustainable
MDF and PVC materials are important innovations and offer value to consumers.  Without MDF, we’d buy less furniture.  But if environmentalism is partly responsible for solid wood’s drop in market share, then we’ve got a public relations problem.  MDF depends upon solid wood manufacturing for its material; PVC is tied to fossil fuels.  Yet, wood is one of America’s most renewable, abundant, and sustainable resources.

Go to the National Hardwood Lumber Association (NHLA) for information on America’s forest industry.  Our Industry Information page includes NHLA’s  Truth About Trees, and Why North American Hardwoods.  At Midwest Prefinishing, we value and enhance wood’s beauty.  We encourage its use and appreciate America’s responsible forest management, assuring this wonderful, God-given blessing to future generations to enjoy.

Midwest Prefinishing developed its ProFinish staining process to accentuate woodgrain and its beautiful variations.  Sometimes, a dye stain or wash coat is specified to assure uniformity.  But the trade-off is often a loss of clarity and vitality.  The wood tends to look like a beige neighborhood.

Does your neighborhood suffer from beige-creep?
During the last housing boom, developers built beige neighborhoods.  They applied beige vinyl siding for its neutral, warm, and earthy color.  Beige fades less than darker colors, producing fewer complaints.  It offends no one (while not exciting anyone either).  It’s safe and salable.  But viewed from a distance, beige-creep is dull, lifeless, and even a bit unreal.  Remember the sameness in The Truman Show?

When is sameness and uniformity required and appropriate?
In commercial and architectural applications, it looks professional.  The wood veneer is select and beautiful.  But the specter of blotchiness looms over any maple, birch, and even cherry veneers, regardless of grade.  So, the AWS Standard, Edition 1 (Appendix B), suggests remedies to mitigate the problem.

Blotching occurs because some wood species exhibit an uneven distribution of large and small pores in their structure.  The occurrence of this is readily apparent in such hardwood species as Maple and Birch and, to a lesser degree, in Cherry.  This irregular distribution of pores usually causes an uneven absorption of stain, hence, an apparent blotchy appearance in the finish.  Reduction of the blotching condition can sometimes be achieved by proper sanding, wash coating…or by choosing non-penetrating pigments, such as dyes, alcohol stains, or glaze.

Unfortunately, excessive sanding removes the veneer; wash coating prevents stain penetration and often produces a lighter hue; and dyes lay the colorant over the veneer’s surface, obscuring the woodgrain.  Nevertheless, these are necessary techniques if uniformity and sameness are the goals.  They’re also necessary when the veneer is sub-par (seen most often on residential, production doors).

Applying the best solution
Midwest Prefinishing always prefers to finish for clarity.  You might say we’re an advocate for wood’s natural properties.  Some uneven absorption can add to a door’s uniqueness.  But to mitigate excessive blotchiness and when specified, we will sand, then apply a dye stain.

In the end, expect some give-and-take when seeking uniformity.  You will give up some woodgrain clarity in the pursuit of uniform sameness.  Whenever possible, we strive to avoid both Beige-creep and the extremes of blotchiness as well.

Learn WDMA Door Standards In Webinars

The WDMA (Window & Door Manufacturers Association) developed two webinars introducing their two newest standards: Architectural Wood Flush Doors (I.S.1A-2011) and Architectural Stile and Rail Doors (I.S.6A-2011).  They’re open to the millwork industry and to the public, and also carry CE credits for architects.  Just go to WDMA’s website, register, and download each webinar.

After completing the webinars and their quizzes, WDMA sends you a PDF file of the standards.  Each quiz is only a few basic questions.  It’s easy and fast.

Changes in the Finishing Section
You’ll notice several changes to the finishing section from the previous versions.  The finishing section is identical in both standards:

• WDMA dropped several finishes (red highlight in the table below) from the old version and added TR-8 (transparent) to the new version.  Architectural and commercial finish systems evolve and improve over time.  What was in favor ten years ago, might be replaced by a better system today.
• System ratings changed, generally improving scores.
• The recommended size of the samples sent by the architect to the door manufacturer or prefinisher is now smaller:  8” square instead of 8” x 10”.
• WDMA inserted a phrase (here, in red) to more carefully explain barber poling, “Barber pole effect in book matched veneers is not a defect, but is a result of tight and loose sides of veneer created during the slicing process.”  In the past, door manufacturers and prefinishers often drew criticism for this natural effect.  Thank you, WDMA, for characterizing it correctly.

As before, WDMA recommends factory finishing (aka, prefinishing).  Midwest Prefinishing offers both TR-2/OP-2 catalyzed lacquer and TR-4/OP-4 conversion varnish finishes.

In a recent DWM Magazine article, Mark Larson, owner of Midwest Prefinishing, listed five essential elements for a quality finish:

1. Quality substrate
2. Prep-sanding
3. Quality coatings
4. Newest technology
5. Multi-coat application

The importance of a multi-coat application
Regarding the multi-coat application, he said, “When you skip, or even scrimp on, an application coat…the finish suffers.  You’ll notice obscured grain, low resistance to moisture and household chemicals, fading and scratching.”

The importance of a sealer
Larson’s standard finish, ProFinish, includes stain, vinyl sealer, and topcoat.  The stain gives the finish its color and definition; the topcoat, its clarity and durability.  The sealer makes its own essential contribution, highlighted in another article by Bernie Bottens, Finishing Editor for Custom Woodworking Business Magazine (July 2011) .

“Think of vinyl sealers as Saran Wrap.  They help to keep in the good and keep out the bad.  Want to keep water out?  Use a vinyl sealer.  Want to seal down contamination?  Vinyl resins can help with that.  They are also sticky.  They help with adhesion. … Look for a sealer that is non-yellowing.  Also, look for one that can be catalyzed to improve its performance.”  (Larson’s vinyl sealer is both non-yellowing and catalyzed.)

Shortcuts sound reasonable; we want them to work.  If they save time and money, we’d be foolish to ignore them.  On the other hand, our integrity and desire to “do it right”, prevent us from taking shortcuts that reduce quality.

A quality finish also requires discipline
Bottens’ article focused more on avoiding specific finish contamination in the shop, than on vinyl sealers.  In addition to Bottens’ suggestions, we’d add a general principle:  a disciplined pride-of-place should prevail.  When  you visit a finishing shop, look for telltale signs of an owner concerned about the quality of his product and business:

• Cleanliness.  Are the walls and floors clean, free of random stain or paint?
• Order.  Is it uncluttered?  Can you make out a disciplined system?
• Ventilation.  Can you breathe with ease?
• Product appearance.  No smudges on the moulding backs?  Careful labeling?
• Office and shop separation.  Is the office and shop clearly separated in both function and appearance?

The National Institute of Wood Finishing
In an age when technology and software dominate the job market, why choose a career in finishing?  Who wants to spend their days mixing chemicals and bearing the frustration of color-matching pieces of wood?  Apparently, the students at the National Institute of Wood Finishing~a program within the Dakota County Technical College, Rosemount, Minnesota~wholeheartedly made that choice.

This program ignores the recession with a 100% job-placement rate for its graduates.

Finishing is “a blend of chemistry and art”
Mitch Kohanek teaches this unique program, “the only certified Wood Finishing Technology Program in the United States.”  He properly describes finishing as “a blend of chemistry and art.”  In other words, it requires professional, resourceful, and creative people.   They adjust to wood’s unique properties with the various chemical tools at their disposal and by applying their knowledge and experience.  You can’t stand back and look at your software with the same satisfaction as a finisher looks at his cherry serving board and its subtle color and sheen.

Finishing enhances the wood.  It requires chemistry, but its application is an art.  In fact, it elevates the piece (furniture, door, moulding, stair parts) itself to a finished work-of-art.  Just as a piece of pottery requires a glaze to be complete, a chair requires a finish.  Mitch says, “Color is the first thing [a person is] attracted to, the first thing they touch.”

Two forms of finishing
The National Institute of Wood Finishing graduates people qualified to work on high-end pieces and in custom shops.  Midwest Prefinishing supports this desire to make something good, something more beautiful.  But Midwest fulfills it in a different form:  the efficiency of high-production augmented with custom booths.  The challenge is to produce a consistent, durable, and beautiful finish in quantity.  And, it must be a value.

The economy needs both forms, each benefiting from the Institute’s work.  So, Midwest Prefinishing salutes the Institute for attracting and training a new generation of people proud to work in the finishing industry.

Is it a service, a process, or a product?  The Made In USA claim applies to concrete products.  A pure service would not qualify.  A Service tab on Midwest Prefinishing’s (MP) website replaces the more typical Products tab found on other sites.  So, at first glance, MP contributes nothing to its customers’ Made In USA claim.

Afterall, homeowners don’t buy a sheet of rolled-up finishing, put it in their shopping cart, go home, and then glue it to their door’s surface.  It’s not a stand-alone,  finished (no pun intended) product.

Three ways of measuring prefinishing’s contribution.  On the other hand, prefinishing is not exclusively a service either.  First, it embodies physical properties.  True, it takes a backseat to the product itself, existing only as its component or attribute.  But it’s a kind of sub-product.

Second, it’s a process, an element of the Made In USA unqualified claim included in the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) standard:

“…all significant parts and processing that go into the product must be of U.S. origin.  That is, the product should contain no-or negligible-foreign content. … The product’s final assembly or processing must take place in the U.S.” (Complying with the Made In USA Standard.)

Third, it adds value to a product.  In an article in the DWM Magazine (First-Place Finishes), Chuck Mierau of Badger Corrugating “estimates the value-added benefit of prefinishing at 35% of a typical pre-hung door order.”  That’s significant.  And, the FTC evaluates “how much of the product’s total manufacturing costs can be assigned to U.S. parts and processing…”

Proud to play a part.  All told, prefinishing justifies its contribution to the Made In USA claim in three ways:  it’s a sub-product, it’s a process, and it adds significant value.  Prefinishers can’t make the Made In USA claim for themselves.  But when MP prefinishes a product Made In USA, it’s proud to be a part of it.