About three weeks ago, members of our
staff attended the
Association of Woodworking & Furnishings Suppliers (AWFS) Fair in Las Vegas — it's one of the largest trade
shows for our industry and a great opportunity to see what
manufacturers are up to these days. I never miss it. But for me, the
highlight of that four-day press junket was watching two
young people compete against one another in a three-day, 21-hour
cabinetmaking contest happening live at the show. The contest was called the WorldSkills Cabinetmaking Qualifying Trial, and the winner's prize
was a trip to Leipzig, Germany, in 2013 to compete internationally as
a
WorldSkills Cabinetmaking finalist.
I caught up with the event on the final
day of competition. The Trial's project was a small but intricate
nightstand. While the two competitors each worked on it, I tried to put
myself in their shoes. If you think that old adage about "measuring
twice and cutting once" is important when you're working alone,
just imagine how much concentration it would take to build a complex
woodworking project "on the clock" under the watchful eye
of three judges and a trade show's worth of spectators wandering by.
Then there was me snapping photos just a few feet from their
workbenches.
That's what Kaydee Walters, a 2011
graduate of Tooele High School in Tooele, Utah, and Daniel Berrios, a
graduate of Bethlehem Vo-Tech School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, were up
against. But, these kids had woodworking "chops" to be sure
— both are Gold Medalists in High School Cabinetmaking through an
organization called SkillsUSA. It's a national program serving high
school and post-secondary students who are preparing for some 90
different trade careers. Through chapters organized in participating
schools, SkillsUSA teaches leadership skills, teamwork, citizenship
and character development. Both Kaydee and Daniel have won previous
cabinetmaking competitions at their respective district and state
competitions, then at the national level. Daniel won nationals in
2010, and Kaydee nabbed that victory this past June. Those
competitions qualified them for the AWFS challenge.
I
spoke with Robert Tobias, an associate professor of Cabinetmaking and
Wood Technology at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in
Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Rob was one of three technical experts who were
overseeing the three-day challenge as well as judging the competitor
projects. Part of Rob's role for SkillsUSA is also to help prepare
competitors for the WorldSkills competition in 2013 as well as coach
them there. Rob admitted that he developed the initial plans for the nightstand
project Kaydee and Daniel were building.
"I also helped organize this WordSkills
Cabinetmaking Qualifying Trial, and it's the first year AWFS has
hosted it. But, it required a great team effort to put this all
together, which included Adria Torrez, AWFS's Education Manager for
the event, and Ada Kranenberg, who coordinates the SkillsUSA
Worldteam. Charles Wilson (Charles Wilson Millworks, Cedar City, Utah)
and Saul Martin (shop superintendent of Architectural Woodworking
Company, Monterey Park, California) were my fellow competition judges. I also
need to thank Kent Gilchrist, who chairs a technical committee that
helps develop the SkillsUSA district, state and national competitions
through the Architectural Woodwork Institute."
I was impressed by the
complexity of the cherry nightstand. It seemed an elegant but
demanding amalgamation of joinery styles, millwork exercises and
casework details. A copy of the project plans was on display for
spectators to study.
Rob explained that, according to rules
established by the WorldSkills organization, the Cabinetmaking
Qualifying Trial project was required to have a hand-dovetailed
drawer, some veneer work and a door. It also needed to be build-able in a 21-hour time time frame, over three seven-hour
workdays. Rob based it loosely on a plan he's used for college
courses at Thaddeus Stevens, but the final design changed
significantly to satisfy guidelines set forth by WorldSkills. "There
were other project suggestions besides mine. All of the submissions
were presented to a technical expert forum six months before the AWFS
competition. Our forum voted on the top three submitted plans, and
then mine was selected at random from those three one month before
the competition. Saul Martin took my original design and turned it
into excellent CAD renderings."
Daniel and Kaydee received the
preliminary nightstand plans three weeks prior to AWFS so they would
have a chance to study the drawings. But, in order to ensure
transparency and fairness, which Rob says are adamant priorities of
WorldSkills competition, a few days before AWFS the plans were
modified another 30 percent by half of the members of the technical
expert forum. These final changes would make the nightstand project
unique to the two finalists going into the competition. "It
guarantees that neither competitor could actually practice building
it ahead of time."
Once the competition was underway, Rob
and his fellow judges evaluated the projects at various stages of
construction, using a point distribution system established by
WorldSkills that mirrors the evaluation methods followed at the
international competition. "About half the points were based on
our subjective judging and the other half were awarded for objective
criteria. An example of 'subjective' was the condition of the drawer
joints before gluing. We three judges individually scored the drawer
dovetails on a scale of 1 to 10 based on quality. We averaged our
scores and awarded that percentage of points to each competitor. In
terms of objective points, we were measuring various identified and
agreed-upon aspects of the project in an ongoing way. We also awarded
points for other aspects, such as conformity to the drawings, not
using extra lumber to recreate parts to correct mistakes and points
for completing stages of the project on a given day. For instance,
points for door and drawer layout were awarded on the first day;
dovetail and door joint layouts were given on the second day."
Looking around the competition "shop,"
it was clear that the AWFS WorldSkills Cabinetmaking Trials were
generously supported by tool and supply donations from a number of
manufacturers at AWFS. They included: Amana Tool Corporation (router
bits); Bessey Tools North America (clamps); Bosch Power Tools &
Accessories (trim routers); Colonial Saw Company (Lamello biscuit
joiners); Delta Power Equipment (Unisaws and dust collection); Dixon
Enterprises Inc.; Festool USA (Kapex miter saws with dust extractors
and stands, Domino joiners, sanders, routers and drills); Freeman;
General International (Edge sander and band saw); Grex Power Tools;
Joos USA, Inc. (veneer press); Kreg Tool Company (router table with
beaded face frame setup); Powermatic (jointer and mortising machine);
Rockler Woodworking and Hardware (workbenches, glue and other
supplies); Royal Plywood (sheet materials); Senco (pin nailers,
staplers and compressors); and Woodcraft.
Aside from these donations, Kaydee and
Daniel were allowed to bring personal tools as well. Judges inspected
their toolboxes prior to competition to make sure there would be no
tools or jigs that could present an unfair advantage. "Contributing
manufacturers also gave the competitors technical instruction about
the proper use and safety of their tools," Rob says.
When the competition ended and final
points were tallied, Daniel edged ahead of Kaydee to win the AWFS
Trials and move on to the WorldSkills international competition. In
addition to that honor, he received a Delta Unisaw, Lamello biscuit
joiner, Festool drill, Bessey clamps, a Bosch router and a selection
of Amana router bits. His school was given a Delta Unisaw and the
Powermatic jointer and mortiser from the event. As runner-up, Kaydee
received a Woodcraft Pinnacle workbench, Festool drill, Bessey
clamps, a Bosch router, Grex pin nailer and a selection of Amana
router bits. Thaddeus Stevens College received the Kreg router table
and face frame system from the competition.
In the afterglow, Kaydee says she found
the AWFS competition both physically and mentally challenging. "I
did things I had never done before, like hand-cut dovetails and
veneering. But overall, I did my best and I really enjoyed the
competition." She is enrolled at the Utah Valley University this
fall in the cabinetmaking and architectural woodworking program.
Daniel will be transferring from Northampton Community College, where
he's studying CAD, to another institution to pursue a bachelor's
degree in education.
Meanwhile, Rob says Daniel has an
Olympic-class event to look forward to in Leipzig, and he hopes to
accompany Berrios as a coach. More than 800 students from 52
countries will be competing in 40 different skill areas. The
cabinetmaking competition will consist of 25 builders, and Rob
reports that it will be "very competitive internationally,"
with gold, silver and bronze medals awarded to the winners. But aside
from the benefits of competing at this level, Rob feels one of the
greatest assets of WorldSkills is the way it promotes the value of
skilled trades.
"We need to attract more young
people into the trades in this country and put our skilled
craftspeople on a higher pedestal as other countries do. The
SkillsUSA and WorldSkills competitions are huge events nationally and
worldwide ... and that sends a message that this is something worth
being a part of. Students can compete for the chance to represent the
United States at a world competition. Who wouldn't want to be
involved? What an opportunity!"