Custom Veneer Capabilities Give J.F.V. Designs The Winning Edge
Jeff Vaida, is a self-described equipment junkie.
The owner and founder of J.F.V. Designs Inc. maintains, "If you aren't acquiring equipment, you aren't progressing."
Vaida has an impressive track record of "progressing."
An experienced woodworker, he started his company 14 years ago after noting the need for high-end custom work in the Orlando, FL area.
From the beginning he was able to attract high-end residential and commercial work due to his in-house veneer work.
"Veneer experience and capability is the key to our unbelievable growth.
(Early on) it earned me the commission on the Chapman Root II Home, in Ormond Beach, FL," Vaida said.
"I won the commission because the designers (New York-based Pasanella, Klein, Stolzman & Berg Architects) knew I understood the process of working with veneer.
Together we picked the type of species and their flitches, shipped them to Orlando, and did the layup here.
To get the quality of veneer pressed and matched the way I wanted, I had to do it in-house."
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J.F.V. specializes in veneered casegoods, desks, conference tables, furniture and architectural millwork.
This reception desk at the law firm of Foley and Lardner in Orlando, FL, features madrone burl with cherry moulding.
Quartered figured anigre is used in a marquetry pattern.
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The Root Home's impressive interior includes a living room fireplace screen of maple burl and a canopy of quartered ash.
The kitchen features quartered maple and quartered bird's-eye maple.
The project earned national and international awards, including a 1997 Honors Award from the American Institute of Architects for the architectural design firm and two Design Portfolio Awards in 1998 for J.F.V. Designs from CWB magazine.
It also was featured on the cover of Interior Design magazine.
A portfolio of Vaida's work can be found on www.jfvdesigns.com .
Today, J.F.V. does both custom and commercial work.
"Like many companies, we saw a drop in commercial work after 9-11.
Our residential market sustained us.
We typically do one to two high end residential jobs each year," for Florida and East Coast luxury homes with price tags of more than $10 million, he said.
"Right now, we are in the process of doing an apartment on an upper floor of the AOL Time Warner Plaza in mid-town Manhattan.
We are building most of the furniture and the architectural panels for the library.
A large commercial job we recently wrapped included doing the executive offices for The Villages development in Lady Lake, FL.
It was a typical contract furniture job, with traditional-style storage credenzas, desks and conference tables done in cherry.
"We do a lot of conference tables - usually six or so a year.
We usually have at least one high-end conference table in production at any given time," he added.
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J.F.V. Designs is renowned for itsveneer capabilities.
Owner Jeff Vaida runs the Joos Junior, which has cut press time from 4 hours to 4 minutes.
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Another high-profile client is golfer Tiger Woods.
"We worked on the conference room at Tiger Woods' personal corporate office, ETW, including a conference table made from figured anigre, Tiger's personal desk and architectural panels," Vaida said.
J.F.V. ascribes to AWI standards for its architectural work.
NEW MACHINES ADD VENEER CAPABILITIES
J.F.V. has grown considerably since its inception in a 1,500-square-foot garage.
Today, the veneering department alone - the heart of Vaida's shop - comprises 6,000 square feet of space for production and storage.
Housed there are three machines key to J.F.V.'s veneer production: a Joos Junior press, a veneer stitcher and a Langzauner veneer saw, also from Joos.
"When I first started, I used jigs to cut leaves and a vacuum bag for pressing.
Doing veneer that way is a slow process, with the press time alone taking four hours," Vaida said.
However, after purchasing the Joos Junior press, "We immediately reduced our press time from four hours to four minutes," he added.
"The Langzauner veneer saw (also gives us) the capability to cut lengths over 13 feet and allows us to do production work and keep our veneer line running efficiently."
Vaida said the machinery in the veneer department has allowed the company to be flexible in the type of work they do, as well as to expand.
The added capacity of the new veneer line has enabled Vaida to create a sister company, The Veneer Source.
"We supply custom-pressed, specialty panels to small shops in the area," he said.
"When you have great machines, it is like having an employee who can do something special.
It is a real asset to the business."
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