Unfinished Balusters in our New Orleans mill shop

The project requires over one hundred and fifty Spanish cedar balusters.  This would be a daunting task for any shop carpenter to turn by hand, however our recent acquisition of a Diehl TL 42 hydraulic automatic lathe came at a great time.

First, the wood comes to us as rough sawn lumber which is then milled to the required dimensions by several machines including a planer and a joiner.  This project’s spindles were four inches thick so they required the Spanish cedar to be laminated together.

Laminating is the process of joining two or more pieces of wood to achieve a desired thickness or width, and like metal welds this joint is often stronger than the material itself.  This process leaves us with rectangular blocks of solid Spanish cedar.

To cut the spindles the machine loads the blank of wood into a carrier and hydraulically forces it against the machine’s interior arbor.  The arbor has a series of hand cut knives which are loaded on to it and sheer away wood leaving the desired spindle profile.  The challenge was getting the knives ground to the correct profile and set at the proper angle.

The use of computer aided drafting programs allowed us to draw the machine and spindle three dimensionally and extrapolate a knife template. The knives were then grinded to match.  This machine will prove to be very useful to complete large orders in the future, however, due to the complex set up process it is still more efficient to turn small orders by hand.

If it is time to upgrade your interior and exterior railing or stairs, then come see what our craftsman can do for your home’s character.

Hand turned balusters

Our craftsman hard at work turning a baluster by hand

In their Fall 2009 issue of the AIALA News, the association stated:

The primary concern in the gallery design was to highlight historic elements, while providing a clean, crisp surface on which to display artwork. Retention revelation of masonry walls and wood columns provide the unique sense of time and place in New Orleans, while new materials create an understated drama in which to showcase installations.

The main gallery features floating gypsum display walls: Existing masonry is exposed along the top, bottom, and sides, adding perceived spatial depth and the impression that the gallery itself may be an installation. Concealed lighting runs above a knife-edged cove, with a recessed track below. Existing heavy timber columns—once an elevator shaft—are a focal point at the entry: stretched Dacron sail material between the columns is backlit for dramatic effect from the street.

A seamless, poured resin floor knits all programmatic elements together, flowing continuously throughout the space. At the passageway between old and new galleries, a surround of backlit resin panels signals a transition, contrasting against the weight of the exposed masonry wall and smooth gypsum. Sliding translucent panels provide privacy for support spaces (without adding visual weight to the gallery) and reinforce spatial continuity.

Central City Millworks created this custom pass through window

Additional Port Sulphur Blog Posts:

Central City Millworks Completes Port Sulphur Government Building
White Oak Paneled Lobby
Attic Oculus
Custom Entry Cabinet

Front door of the Port Sulphur Government building from the lobby

White oak panels

Detail of corner

Central City Millworks also refurbished every window in the building

Project Manager Johnathan Anselmo

Additional Port Sulphur Blog Posts:

Central City Millworks Completes Port Sulphur Government Building
Custom Cabinet Pass Through
Attic Oculus
Custom Entry Cabinet

Whatever size windows you want, whether round or rectangular, short or long, standard or odd-sized, the artisans at Central City Millworks have the equipment and the expertise to make a window to fit your dreams.

Just make a wish, and we will make it come true: double sash, triple sash, or even our specialty…an entire wall of windows!

View across the American Room at WW II Museum

CCM Achieves Victory in Completing the WWII Museum Millwork Job

High-fives erupted in CCM’s office last summer when we learned we had been awarded the WW II Museum millwork contract. After the initial euphoria subsided, the reality of our immense challenge set in.

Central City Millworks, LLC teamed up with Hal Collums Construction LLC to bid on the fabrication and installation of custom architectural millwork for the extensive WW2 Museum expansion scheduled to open November 7th, 2009. Earlier in the year CCM had worked with Satterfield and Pontikes (one of the leading construction companies in the Gulf Coast region) to fabricate and install the millwork for the Saint Bernard Middle School.

After the initial euphoria subsided, the reality of our immense challenge set in

When the WW II Expansion project was announced and the plans by Voorsinger and Mathes Architects became available, we were pleased to learn that S&P was preparing a bid. The CCM estimating group worked with S&P for several months to develop a competitive bid for the WW2 Expansion including refining the bid with three addenda. All the hard work finally paid off with a phone call from S&P letting us know they had selected us as their millwork provider.

We succeeded in meeting our National WW II Museum challenge by delivering millwork that one of the project architects described as “fabulous”.

Now that we had the job and had mobilized our design and production departments, we started focusing on the obstacles. We realized that estimating the WW2 job would be complicated and technically challenging. And it became obvious that there were tremendous design challenges that had to be solved to accomplish the architect’s vision.

Plans show a millwright what the architect’s intentions were aesthetically, however it is the millwright’s responsibility to design cabinets, for instance, to meet the aesthetic goals while overcoming the structural and material challenges. We had to completely ramp-up our shop drawing department and our CAD design department before we could put this job into design production. Not only would we need to hire additional CAD designers but we also needed to increase our level of expertise with our CNC router. All these challenges seemed daunting, but failure was not an option. Our team understood this was a legacy job and that we had to be victorious for ourselves, our company, and our city.

Millwork at National WW2 Museum bar

Last week Central City Millworks succeeded in meeting our National WW II Museum challenge by delivering millwork that one of the project architects described as “fabulous”. Working as a team with Satterfield & Pontikes and many other great local and regional subcontractors, we delivered a new landmark to New Orleans.

This museum expansion is a new jewel in the crown of the tourism industry of New Orleans. CCM is proud of the role it played in ensuring victory for New Orleans and the New Orleans Tourism Industry.

DesCours Digital Fabrication being cut on Central City Millworks' CNC Router

The installations are in typically unseen, underutilized, and even abandoned buildings, giving the viewer additional sensory opportunities to appreciate the art in normally unavailable architectural gems. These hidden areas become a natural “art gallery” to display art and media to showcase works from nationally known artists. This week-long celebration of architecture and art is completely free to the art patrons willing to seek out the installations.

Twenty-six architects and artist teams prepared 11 sites in the French Quarter and Central Business District

Central City Millworks often collaborates with artists and architectural students to reach their design goals with the help of our CNC router. A CNC (Computer Numerically Controlled) Router is similar to a printer…but it routes instead of printes. The CNC sends a computer file to a router that uses sheets of plywood just as a printer would use paper. The plywood is hand-loaded on a 5’x 12’ table with a powerful vacuum to hold it down.

The computer controlled router can move in 3 axes to cut out any shape to close tolerances. Many architects and artists design with the CNC in mind because they know the easy with which it can turn complex concepts into reality. CCM had previously worked with Tulane Architecture Professor Marcella Del Signore to cut digital fabrications for art installations so when NanKo Studio of Los Angeles asked her to recommend a local mill shop to cut their 2009 DesCours fabrication, she recommended Central City Millworks. Following her recommendation, Nanko Studio emailed an autocad file to Rob Thornton, one of CCM’s CAD experts, who then converted it into art. The attached photo shows the progress of the project.

CCM selected best place to work in New Orleans 2009

With the World War II Museum, Wilson Elementary, and Port Sulphur Government projects in progress our business life was hectic and the email was forgotten.

Then months later, I received a voicemail saying “we had been nominated for…”. The cheery voice (Autumn Giusti) on the phone then explained that we had actually won! To be acknowledged by CityBusiness, and show the City of New Orleans what we are made of, was a proud moment for me.

New Orleans CityBusiness picks Hal Collums Construction as Best Place to Work in 2009