Tradition meets high-tech at century furniture: 2000.

Whether it is making its trademark 18th- and 19th-century furniture

or branching out into contemporary styles, Century Furniture strives to offer a little something out of the ordinary, says Ed Tashijan, head of sales.

The Hickory, NC-based company views itself as among the industry leaders in computerization and believes it may be the only U.S. furniture maker to integrate product development and the manufacture of show samples at a technical center. The shop at Century's 80,000-square-foot tech center is a microcosm of the company's 780,000-square-foot case goods plant. It has the same kinds of CNC equipment, including multiple CNC routers and CNC carvers.

Century engineers got into the equipment-making business to help the company gain greater consistency in its processing of distressed finishes. The tech center came up with two tools now being used with the company's three Motoman robot arms. An operator programs the robots with a keypad, then guides them manually through their routine once before setting them into motion to beat the heck out of the workpieces placed before them.

One patented tool has three heads--the "worm," the "hatchet" and the "rock". Once the robot is programmed, it will drill nick and slice the wood in a predetermined, repeatable fashion.

The two knitting-needle-like appendages of the worm can be made to stutter around in a small radius, creating a wormhole or attack a wider area to mimic rotten wood. The worm is adapted from a descaler used to scrape rust.

The hatchet can be programmed to eat away only at the ends of boards, to duplicate extended, heavy wear. The rock, of course, thumps and bangs, creating dents. The "eaten away" look of driftwood also can be achieved.