Hardwood Floors April/May 2019

e identical panels on the le and right of the center section were made using 10x10 parquet blocks of Honduran mahogany and Brazilian ebony. “ e sanding of these two species posed a bit of a challenge because of their di erence in hardness,” shares Hall. “ e mahogany is super so , and the ebony is super hard.” Ri sawn white oak was used in between the 10x10 blocks. e border of these sections required special expertise. “In talking with the students about what we should do on the border, we came up with the idea to include the Bona ‘100 Year’ tagline ‘Bringing out the beauty in oors since 1919’ in Morse code,” says Hall. “ e ebony became the dots and dashes, the mahogany became dot-dash separators, and a third species, merbau, became le er- and word-separators. To mark the start of the tagline, we used two coins.” ese sections were coated with Bona DriFast Sealer and nished with Bona Tra c Satin. Lastly, the four identical corner panels are a combination of 5” American cherry and 3” Brazilian cherry. “To create a 3D e ect, the American cherry was run on a diagonal, and the Brazilian cherry was cut on a 45-degree angle repeatedly to change the orientation of the Brazilian cherry relative to the American cherry,” adds Hall. e perimeter of the corners was made using walnut and maple. e corners were nished with one coat of Bona IntenseSeal and one coat of Bona Semi-Gloss. “It was amazing to see this oor come together,” shares Hall. “From St. Louis to my shop in Florida, and then to Charlo e, many hands and minds played a part in creating this masterpiece.” PANEL TWO e second panel was created byWayne Highlander, Bona Adhesives National Sales Manager, and Jeremiah Strong, Bona TerritoryManager for Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. “I was originally going to teach this at the Bona Expert School that happens every two years at Bona headquarters,” shares Highlander. “When I thought about the Bona Convention coming up, I thought this could be a cool place to present it.” With two scroll saws and only weekend hours, Highlander and Strong brought this beauty to life, cu ing countless leaves, sh, a raccoon, and a bald eagle. “ ere are about 15 species of wood in the inlay,” says Highlander. Among these 15 species are two live edge planks, complete with a snake inlaid¼” into the panel.

With epoxy becoming increasingly popular with hardwood, Highlander and Strong decided to put it to the test and see what they could accomplish. “We used EcoPoxy on the blue side and Turtle Feathers on the black side,” adds Highlander. “ ey’re both a stable product – I did a oor ve years ago, and it has stayed in place since then. “Living in Tennessee, I’m an avid sherman and lover of the fall colors,” says Highlander. “ ose things are what inspired this oor.” g

the magazine of the national wood flooring association

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