Judging Picture Examples                                       

Below are some pictures of examples of things that were noticed by the judges. I ( nor the other judges) am not trying to be critical of the work, in fact I am not sure who the maker of these projects even were. These projects were available, so I used them as examples of the types of things the judges look at in detail. I realize that some things noted here may seem insignificant, but the judging gets down to fine details for the final decision. Some of the comments are mine, and others were comments from the other judges. Some of the details do not show up in the pictures as much as they do looking at the actual project, so I hope you can understand the concept of what I am trying to show. 

Again I want to state that this is not being done to be critical of someone's work, but to be used as examples to show what the judges are looking at.

A nice gloss finish, but as you rub your hand over the finish it did feel rough. Take the time to knock the feathers off that final coat of finish, to get that glass smooth feel.

Also notice there are some gaps between the pieces that were noticed.

Looking at the cutouts along the edge of the stamp they are not even. This may have been exactly the way the pattern was drawn, but to look perfect the notches should have been redrawn so they all matched. Any time a project has parts that are symmetrical , they should all match. This applies to other things like railings on porches of the big clocks, spokes of wheels, or anything else that we know all the parts would be the same. 

Also notice the lettering is not even, the two L's on roll are not the same.

Though a nice piece, the nose stuck out as not being shaped to look right. Other details of the project were done nicely, but the one part just didn't fit with the rest of the project quality.

A nicely cut project, but notice the burn on the top edge.

Also there was no finish on the wood, and this type of project would normally be associated with being finished. A good finish on this one might have made it a ribbon winner.

If the project does not have a finish applied, there should be a reason. Maybe to accent a part, a carved area, or just a natural look to enhance the project. But the unfinished part needs to look correct for the project.

Notice the width of the frame varies and is not a smooth flowing line. Also note where the first feather meets the frame, and the frame width changes below the feather. Again this may have been the way the original pattern was drawn, but the cutter should have corrected the flaw.

Note the longitude-latitude lines are not even. Also the sides of the stars are not straight lines.

The eye seemed out of proportion with the rest of the project, and did not look like the correct style of eye for a bird. One judge stated the eye just did not look natural to the overall project. Again this may be a perfect match to the pattern, but the cutter needs to look at maybe a photo of a real bird to see if it looks right.

Projects don't have to be complicated to be good !

This project was noticed as a very good use of the woods colors. The proportions of the picture to the natural slab looked appealing. Even though a simple picture the choice of presenting the picture made the project stand out.

A nice project, and nice color choices, but the flowing curves of the tail were not even. It is hard to see it in the picture, but look at the bottom of the curve on the orange tip, the curve is not one smooth flow but short choppy looking segments of curves.

Notice the wheel rim and spokes are not even. This is another example of something we know should be more symmetrical than it has been cut. Even the outside of the wheel is not a smooth round circle, and the rim width changes around the wheel.

This is sky and a moon over a mountain. A very nice use of a natural flaw in the wood, and fine use of the grain color for the cloud look. Hard to see in the picture, but silver foil was placed on the back to show through the hole in the wood.

The roof of this clock the joint did not fit tight. Any joints should have a perfect fit or be filled with a very good colored filler to make them look perfect.

Another part that did not fit. Many parts of the project were perfect but just a couple of flaws may be all it takes to have it judged lower than an identical project.

Any part that can be seen needs to be perfect, were this type of flaw inside or hidden I don't feel it would have made the project any less perfect. For example if there was a trim piece that covered this flaw, I would not look inside the case to see it the joint was perfect before the trim was covered over it, I would have just been looking at if the trim fit properly.

This was a plywood piece on a walnut back. Nice project, but can you see that the plywood was not sanded on the back before being applied to the walnut. This left the wood feathering sticking out from the edges. Had the feather been sanded off  first this would have been a lot nicer project.

Notice where the two pieces meet the butt joint is open. This could have been from distortion on the copied pattern. If two pieces are to fit together, check the pattern before cutting that they in fact do fit. If needed leave extra wood on one piece and sand it to fit after cutting.

The detail lines of many projects are hard to hide. It looks like the right drill bit was used, but the holes still show as holes. A good way to hide them is to teardrop cut the hole to the line.

Notice the space between the word frame and the flowered frame tapers . This again could have been caused buy the copy machine. You need to check the patterns after making copies, because the copy machine can distort a perfect pattern. One solution to this would have been to mount the outside frame then lay the word frame in place and measure the gap top and bottom, then recut the side of the word frame to fit the flowered frame, so the space would be even top to bottom.