Wood flooring pro Josh Hansman has a big extended family—and he's representing all of them in a new wood flooring project. His grandfather had 80 direct descendants and built a big house in the early 2000s to serve as the family gathering place. After his grandfather passed away and Hansman's aunt and uncle bought the home, they turned to Hansman for new wood flooring. They commissioned something special for the entryway, and Hansman obliged with this four-species medallion. "The idea behind that tree is a family tree," says Hansman, who works for Cincinnati Floor and Window Covering. He began with the central starburst made of maple wedges glued together and cut into an oval with a trammel of Archimedes. Wanting the border to resemble a family crest, Hansman laminated ¼-inch walnut strips together and pressed them into a jig with clamps. He then cut ¼-inch red oak for the mini rhombus pattern, gluing the pieces onto a ½-inch plywood substrate. Hansman used a scroll saw to freehand the ¼-inch cocobolo tree shapes, then routed the maple starburst to inlay the cocobolo. Having assembled everything in his shop, he took the pieces to the site to glue and nail down. After sanding and staining the floor medium brown, he sealed it and finished with two coats of water-based satin. Hansman invested about 60 hours creating the piece, and he's not done yet: Once his family's able to all safely gather post-COVID, he plans to have them thumb-print the branches with ink to form its leaves. In a way, his grandfather will be there, too. "A lot of times when I work, I always think of my grandpa," Hansman says, "and I always think that he's watching me and guiding me so that everything goes through."
Suppliers:
Abrasives, Adhesives, Finish, Sanders: Bona US | Router: DeWalt
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