Brandon Scheepers from Made. Dot won the 2026 Rubio Monocoat Makers Build-off with his twin pedestals. Greg Stock of Stock Woodworks took second place with his cabinet, and Warren Turnbull of Hutch Custom’s was the runner-up with his coffee table.

Meeting a tight project deadline when working with solid wood is always challenging. Imagine doing it in a distracting exhibition space, under the curious, and at times critical, scrutiny of trade show visitors, while using tools and equipment that are not your own.

Rubio Monocoat hosted the Makers Build-off competition at the WoodEx for Africa expo in Johannesburg in June. The three competing woodworkers were tasked with building and finishing functional furniture pieces over three days.

The sponsors, including Blum South Africa, Vermont Sales, Hardware Centre, Pearlman Veneers, Upper Edge, Klingspor, Maple Street Timbers and Bostik, supplied the white oak timber, veneer, small woodworking machines, hand and power tools and consumables.

The surfaces of the assembled products were cleaned with RAW wood cleaner before applying Rubio Monocoat’s Oil Plus 2C hardwax oil, that colours and protects in a single layer. The trio chose Rubio’s Light Roast and Cortado colours, which enhanced the natural character of the wood and gave each piece its own unique personality.

Their furniture items will be auctioned by Rubio in September, with all proceeds benefiting the charity Abby's Angels.