How Long have You been on the Creek?? Woodworking??

[Rich Riddle]

I am coming up on my third anniversary next month. How long have you folks been on the Creek or woodworking in general? I have butchered wood for a while, but some of you "advanced" folks have eons on me.

[Keith Outten]

Rich,

This Wednesday (Feb 11, 2015) is SawMill Creek's 12th anniversary and obviously my 12th anniversary. My userid here is number 2. Number one was my system administrator who installed the vBulletin software on February 11th, 2003.

If you count my first junior high school woodshop class I have been woodworking for 50 years. I setup my first personal shop 37 years ago in a very small building that I built myself in Spotsylvania County Virginia.

[Randy Red Bemont]

I've only been on the creek for less than 3 months but have been woodworking on and off (mostly on) for over 35 years. Ran my own custom furniture shop for years which was the best job I ever had.

Red

[Mike Cutler]

I'm 55 now and have been woodworking on and off since the 7th grade, 1970. ( I made toy tugboat in Kindergarten out of wood and painted it red, but I don't think that counts. Couldn't paint then, still can't paint now. ;) )
I've been a member of Sawmill Creek since Keith opened it up after Badger Pond shut down. Feb '03.

[Myk Rian]

Are you counting building and racing wood RC boats?

[Mike Cutler]

Are you counting building and racing wood RC boats?

I would think so.

[Bill Huber]

I joined the Creek in 2007 (8years) and that is about the same time I started woodworking. I had done some little stuff but not really wood working all my life, I mostly did metal work before that time.

I always hated woodworking, in metal working you cut the parts, weld them together and it is ready to be used. But in woodworking you have to sand it and then sand it some more, put finish on it and then more finish and then after a few days you can use it.

I guess as I have gotten older (70) things slow down and I am not in a hurry that much anymore.

[Dan Hintz]

Hmmm, I guess the right-hand side of my title block says it all... since 2007, though to be fair the first several years were mostly for laser engraving.

[Jamie Buxton]

On the Creek since March of 2003. Woodworking since the late fifties.

[Lee Schierer]

I've been a member since Feb 18, 2003, the creek was just 6 days old. A lot of sawdust has been made since then. I've been woodworking since about 3rd grade. My father purchased a Handy Andy tool kit for me as a Christmas present. I used to make cages to keep horned toads and lizards in when we lived in Texas. I still have my original small hand plane from that tool kit.

[Tony Joyce]

I've been on SMC since Feb 2007. I grew up in my father's woodworking shop. I have been doing woodworking full time(43 yrs) all of my adult life. Residential & commercial cabinetry and casework, architectural millwork and some furniture along the way. Always worked for myself, except for six years at a lumber retailer, where I worked in the shop and ran a CNC router.

Tony Joyce

[Judson Green]

My join date is Aug 2013 but like most I was hanging out reading post before. I've been working wood in some fashion on and off probably since my dad would let me help him. Have been woodworker for hire or otherwise involved in building stuff for over 20 years as a living.

[Phillip West]

Not that long here honestly with few posts..I grew up in a woodworking shop..My family made a great deal of their income making and selling Appalachian type furniture..Also re/weaving bark bottom chairs..
One of my first jobs as a kid was to rough out chair rounds with a drawknife and to help gather hickory bark for chair bottoms..When I was about 15 I started gravitating towards metal for some reason..Ive been a bladesmith/Blacksmith for a good while now..My wife took it over about 5-6 years ago and she makes her living now doing the same thing now..I never got away from wood working and still do it, more and more now..I actually have found myself missing it a lot the last several years..
When I was heat treating steels like cpm3v, cpm154,S35vn and all the new more exotic stuff I found myself missing the simpler times of working that old bluegrass drawknife that was sharpened out to the shape of a banana :D I still have it..

[Steve Schlumpf]

I joined SMC in Oct 2006 (my first real venture online) because I wanted feedback on a lathe that I was thinking about buying. I have dabbled in woodworking since I was a kid but it wasn't until I got married (had some dedicated space and picked up some power tools) that I really started to enjoy building things - sheds, decks, some furniture. I still enjoy building things but my true passion is woodturning - just something about creating curves and having something to show for your efforts in just a few hours!

[Rich Riddle]

Keith, isn't the Creek up to about 90,000 members? And you are number 2? Wow....of course you aren't the oldest member here.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I joined the Creek in January 2004. I was at a manufacturer's website and observed somebody get ripped for asking a "newbie" question. This guy informed them he didn't have to take their insults as he had found a new website that was moderated and friendly. He posted the name of the website and I followed him here.

In 1977 I was responsible for maintaining a single CT scanner in Bend, OR. I was bored stiff and started looking for a more challenging job. My neighbor was a building contractor who was building a new home a block from where we lived. At his invitation, I dropped by the construction site. Two days later with the agreement that I could immediately respond to my pager should the hospital call, I was helping him side the new house with board and batten siding. I helped him finish that house, gut and remodel another one. When a promotion was offered to me in 1978, I moved to the Chicago area and bought a home with an unfinished basement. I finished it. In 1982 the opportunity to move to Idaho popped up and I took it. After years of watching New Yankee Workshop, in 2003 I bought the plans and built a sideboard for our kitchen. It was built on our carport. My wife, who is older than I and could have retired was so impressed, she continued to work, had me hire a contractor to build a 30x24 empty shell dedicated woodworking shop. I found the Creek just before I began the shop build and used many ideas I found here. I wired it, insulated it and finished it. The idiot turners here pushed me into the vortex by outifitting me with my first lathe, tools and wood. It's a toss up whether I prefer to do flatwork or turning. I enjoy both!

[Chris Padilla]

I wish I could remember how I found Saw Mill Creek. I've been thinking and thinking and I just don't know what brought me here way back in December of 2003.

I wonder if there is a way to find our first post or first started thread?

[Steve Schlumpf]

Oldest thread I could find is this one: Beginner Guitar Kit (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?5885-Beginner-Guitar-Kit&highlight=)

[Rich Riddle]

I wish I could remember how I found Saw Mill Creek. I've been thinking and thinking and I just don't know what brought me here way back in December of 2003.

I wonder if there is a way to find our first post or first started thread?
Chris, the earliest I could find you was December 2003 in the following thread:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?5375-Hey-Keith-Outten-SMC-Hats

Apparently you played hooky from the site. Some threads centered on finding you.

[Chris Padilla]

Cool! Thanks, Guys. Neat seeing such old posts that I basically have no memory of! :D

[Rich Riddle]

Chris, memory is the first thing to go.....

[Shawn Pixley]

I joined SMC in 2009. In my younger days, I worked as a finish carpenter and built some furniture. I focused on my career(s) (Architecture and musician) for a number of years where my only woodworking was house repair / renovation. I got into woodworking 6-7 years ago to build furniture (something I wanted to do for a while. But that is a longer story)

[Allan Ferguson]

12/2005, Out of control hobbyist. Do sell enough to keep going. Allan

[Jim Koepke]

My memory of finding SMC was a Google search on Boiled Linseed Oil. I signed up right away.

That was about 6 months before my retirement.

I had taught myself to cut dovetails with guidance from some woodworking books and magazines.

Before that I did a few projects of nailing pieces of wood together. Not sure if anyone would call that woodworking.

As far as old posts go, it would be nice to be able to go back and make some of them disappear. A lot of the things in my old ways of doing things have found a lot of improvement through paying attention to all the great information posted here.

jtk

[Jim Tobias]

Joined here (I believe)when it opened(and Badger Pond closed) Feb, 2003.
Been woodworking of some type for 25 years or so.
Even before that I worked summers(around age 12) with my uncle and granddad who were builders/contractors.

Jim

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Keith, isn't the Creek up to about 90,000 members? And you are number 2? Wow....of course you aren't the oldest member here.

Rich....if you click on the "Forum" hot button and scroll down, near the bottom of the page, it says 90,564 members.

[Bruce Page]

I was the 26th to sign up so I guess I've been here from day one. I was part of the Badger Pond migration. My dad built a 26' sailboat in our backyard in the late fifties and let me do a lot of sanding.:rolleyes: I started working wood as a hobby in the early seventies.

[Marty Gulseth]

I stumbled across the Creek probably 7 or 8 years ago as a result of a Google search. Lurked for a while, joined 6/'09. Did some very simple projects, simple speaker boxes (couldn't legitimately call 'em cabinets!) in college in the mid '60s. First real project, a coffee table, in '78 or so. Mostly on hiatus helping my dear wife raise our family, and various career adventures, until about the time I found the Creek. So, long-time kindling maker, slowly learning enough to claim to be a woodworker.

regards, Marty

[Dave Anderson NH]

I joined the Creek in February 2003 as part of the migration from Badger Pond. I've been woodworking at some level since I was a small kid of about 7 or 8. My Dad had a basement shop and taught me the basics. One of my most memorable recollections from those days was the rules of shop use. A tool was sharpened, oiled, and put back in its place after every use. The penalty for non-compliance was banishment from the shop for a period of from 2 weeks to a month depending upon the seriousness of the offense. Those were the same rules my Dad was subject to and learned from my Grandfather. Interestingly enough, last year Dad gave his tablesaw to my brother in law. It's the same saw Dad inherited from my Grandfather and dates to the late 1930s.

[Anthony Whitesell]

I joined Sawmill Creek about 8 years ago. I have been building, improving, repairing stuff for longer than I can remember. All thanks to my dad. Doesn't much matter if it is wood, metal, or electrical. I put all of those skills to use at work. I don't there has been a customer yet that has frowned on a mechanically included electrical engineer on site. The plunge into putting together a (semi-) dedicated area for woodworking started about 10 years ago, with the idea to build a lighthouse shaped corner cabinet for my wife. I still haven't figured out how to do all of the steps. Somewhere on here is a post about it (the problem is the shelf holes on the front are drill on a sloped/angled rail, so the distance between the holes in the front are not the same as those in the back). It has been a slippery slope ever since. My latest acquisition is what I nicknamed "my 24' log splitter". It is technically a 1998 Woodmizer LT25 sawmill. I say it is a actually a really big log splitter that makes lumber. I saw logs, keeping the usable lumber to dry and use in the shop, While what I can't use is cut and stacked (it's already been split) for my father's wood heat. Funding permitting, next is a SS PCS; thanks to what I have learned, mostly from the folks here.

[Lee Reep]

Looks like I am coming up on 8 years?! I have not been a frequent visitor or contributor much over the years, but retired last year, and engaged a bit more in this and a couple other forums. I was very busy turning pens when I bought a lathe about 5 years ago, and have branched out to other wood turning projects over the past couple years. Most of my "wwodworking" this next year or so will be centered on remodeling our house.

I started woodworking when I took woodworking classes in junior high, back in the 60s. For the younger members here, that was back in the day when many public schools had really nicely equipped shops, and teachers incredibly dedicated to helping pass along their talents to the students. (At least that is the way it was for me.) If this is still going on anywhere, I'd be amazed, but also quite encouraged.

[Keith Outten]

We recently passed the 2.25 million posts milestone and went over 90,000 Registered Members. We will soon have our 200,000th thread.

Threads 196,883

Posts 2,260,246

Members 90,563

[Dennis Peacock]

I was a long standing member of the old Badger Pond WW'ing forum that was owned and ran by Wayne Miller. At one time, before Badger Pond became SMC, I was looking into what all it took to take over Badger Pond to help keep a good WW forum running. I was informed a short time later that Keith Outten worked for/owned a company that was going to take the forum over and it would be called Sawmill Creek. I've been here ever since.

I've been woodworking for just over 43 years now. Still have all my digits and haven't been injured by a powered woodworking tool yet.

[George Bokros]

Just over 6 yrs for me. Been woodworking for about 8 or 9 years.

[paul cottingham]

06-11-2009. So 5+ years. Came here as a Normite, am now mostly a Neander. Been a "woodworker" (a generous term when applied to me!) around 8 or 9 years. Got started building benchwork for my model train layout.

[Bruce Volden]

Been playing with wood since 1968, made an acrylic shaped fish with koa wood tail in shop class when we lived in Hawaii. Been making all sorts of odd ball stuff ever since.
Member here since 2005.
Still don't know all the stuff you guys know but am learning more daily!

Bruce

[Keith Westfall]

Since 2009. Can't remember how I found the creek but glad I did! Have been a 'Friend of the Creek' for a number of years and while I don't post or show stuff much, I sure have learned a lot here. Amazing amount of knowledge in here.

Hobby woodworking, semi-retired, and a CNC on the horizon. Hope to soon kick the work habit and have some fun...

Thanks Keith Outten for making all of this available and happening!

klw

[James Baker SD]

I'm closing in on 7 years soon at SMC. Think I was probably 6 or 7 when I made a boat out of a scrap of 2x4 my dad had laying around and that's quite of few years ago. Got serious in high school when I needed a bookcase and file cabinet I could not afford, but wood was reasonably priced. Took a shot at being a pro for 2 years, but it wasn't in the cards. All I earned those 2 years was a heck of a lot of respect for those guys (and gals) who can make it on their own. Glad to be a hobbyist again.

[Bert Kemp]

I've been here a little over 2 years I joined the creek because I bought a laser engraver , but have been doing woodworking on and off for the past 40 years. never got really good at it, but I did make some nice pine slab coffee tables. When I built my first house I did all the cabinets and book cases but I'd never show that here LOL But now I do the laser cutting and engraving, hey can't I consider that wood working. I cut the wood on the laser but then I have to sand it down, stain it and put a finish on it so can't I count that too :D

[Jim Becker]

I started woodworking in about 1997. As you can see, I'm a 'Creeker from very early on.

[Kent A Bathurst]

I never joined. Somebody hacked my credit card and signed up in my name. Plus - all the stuff I post?? I just make it up, like Myk does. :D :D

[Rich Riddle]

I never joined. Somebody hacked my credit card and signed up in my name. Plus - all the stuff I post?? I just make it up, like Myk does. :D :D
So how do we know it's you posting this in this thread and not the hacker or Myk doing it?

[Clint Baxter]

Looks like I joined in 2007. Obviously found the site doing searches on the Internet. I remember when I used to visit Badger Pond, but not sure why it took me a whole to join here. Been woodworking in one form or another since the 70's.

[Jim Matthews]

Woodworking since 2003, when it was explained to me
that glue was stronger than nails or screws.

Waded into the Creek 4 years ago.
I don't much bother with other sites.

People are genuine and helpful, here.

[Rod Sheridan]

I joined in december of 2006.

I have been a wood wrecker for 40 years.............Regards, Rod.

[David Falkner]

Chalk up another from the Badger Pond days, although I never joined SMC for some reason until about 3 years ago even though I've known about SMC since Badger Pond shut down. Woodworker since the mid 60's, professionally in the mid 80's to early 90's, and now going full steam ahead toward building acoustic guitars - having a blast!

[Mike Henderson]

I've been doing woodworking since 1958, in shop class in school. Joined here in 2005, I believe.

Mike

[Kent A Bathurst]

So how do we know it's you posting this in this thread and not the hacker or Myk doing it?

Legitimate point: I have been trying to figure that out - but I get keep getting wrapped up in circular logic - a Catch 22.

Maybe it is not me. If it isn't me - now what do I do? I could stop posting, and wait for me to post when I am not posting, but then...............:confused: :confused:

[Rich Riddle]

Legitimate point: I have been trying to figure that out - but I get keep getting wrapped up in circular logic - a Catch 22.

Maybe it is not me. If it isn't me - now what do I do? I could stop posting, and wait for me to post when I am not posting, but then...............:confused: :confused:
Kent, you're getting a little deep for a simple-minded woodworker like me. In the old days as a licensed psychologist, those types of conversations cost my patients about $425 an hour. Now those kinds of conversations would make me pay someone.

[Brent Ring]

Since 2007 here on the Creek! Generating sawdust in various volumes since 1985, excluding projects growing up.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Kent, you're getting a little deep for a simple-minded woodworker like me. In the old days as a licensed psychologist, those types of conversations cost my patients about $425 an hour. Now those kinds of conversations would make me pay someone.

Alright - We gots a resident Shrink on staff at the Creek!! I think that is an important slot to fill for most of this gang. Keep up the good work, Doc!!

[Bruce Page]

Alright - We gots a resident Shrink on staff at the Creek!! I think that is an important slot to fill for most of this gang. Keep up the good work, Doc!!

Have you seen his avatar? I'm not sure I'd want him pokin' around in my head. :eek::p

[Jim Matthews]

His name is Ken, not Arthur Pendragon - we're safe.

[Kent A Bathurst]

His name is Ken, not Arthur Pendragon - we're safe.

What? Are you the guy that's going to pull the sword out of the stone?

Bring it on, dude............. :p :p

If you can do it, you are elevated to the ranks of Scott Holmes, Jim Koepke, and George Wilson, et al - wizards all. Me - I'm a pretender, and I'm not even sure I am me, based on the circular logic conundrum I am in. I might be on some different plane in the space-time continuum. Daleks all around, ya'dig?


FWIW - back to some semblance of reality - LOML is a wonderful garden designer. Our "yard" got exfiltrated, and we have gardens front. sides and back. Zippo for grass. What I have always wanted to do - going back over 15 years - is to get a landscape bidness to drop a huge honking boulder in the front yard near the street. Then, use drills and sandblasters to make a slot into which I could epoxy a replica of Excalibur. Put a light up in a tree shining down on it. Watch the brake lights from the traffic as they slammed to a stop, and got out to give it a try. You know - you KNOW - people are going to give it a shot. Heck - you would, as would I.

My pleadings with her have not yet yielded permission, but I continue to try - ahem - to move the rock.

As I said - a "semblance" of reality, from my plane on the space-time continuum. ;)

[Kent A Bathurst]

Have you seen his avatar? I'm not sure I'd want him pokin' around in my head. :eek::p

A fan of Charles Schultz? No way, Bruce - that is a well-grounded shrink.

[Robert Payne]

I started here in November 2007, but have been making sawdust since I was a teenager -- give or take about 60 years since then. I am currently president of the western NC woodworkers association (WNCWA.net) and past president of NCWoodworker.net. SMC has been on my daily go-to list with only the latter site.

[Howard Garner]

Been hanging around for a while.
Came here for the laser engraving and found lots and lots of great information.
Been working with wood for many years. Helped dad build shed on the small farm, built a 12 foot sail boat in high school shop, remodeled a couple homes, build a garage at my present location. Always have been a handy man type, thanks to a dad that let me assist way back then.
But my main woodwork has been and continues to model railroad building.

[Brian Henderson]

I haven't been here long at all, just found the place really, although I've been on other forums in the past. I've been woodworking for more than 30 years though.

[Rick Potter]

From the Pond to the Creek, in 2003. Never have been a fine woodworker, but have built stuff since getting our first house in 1964, including room additions, kitchen cabs, and simple furniture.

[Rich Riddle]

From the Pond to the Creek, in 2003. Never have been a fine woodworker, but have built stuff since getting our first house in 1964, including room additions, kitchen cabs, and simple furniture.
Rick, you have been woodworking since I was literally in diapers. Good to see some folks stay with the hobby.

[Paul McGaha]

What? Are you the guy that's going to pull the sword out of the stone?

Bring it on, dude............. :p :p

If you can do it, you are elevated to the ranks of Scott Holmes, Jim Koepke, and George Wilson, et al - wizards all. Me - I'm a pretender, and I'm not even sure I am me, based on the circular logic conundrum I am in. I might be on some different plane in the space-time continuum. Daleks all around, ya'dig?


FWIW - back to some semblance of reality - LOML is a wonderful garden designer. Our "yard" got exfiltrated, and we have gardens front. sides and back. Zippo for grass. What I have always wanted to do - going back over 15 years - is to get a landscape bidness to drop a huge honking boulder in the front yard near the street. Then, use drills and sandblasters to make a slot into which I could epoxy a replica of Excalibur. Put a light up in a tree shining down on it. Watch the brake lights from the traffic as they slammed to a stop, and got out to give it a try. You know - you KNOW - people are going to give it a shot. Heck - you would, as would I.

My pleadings with her have not yet yielded permission, but I continue to try - ahem - to move the rock.

As I said - a "semblance" of reality, from my plane on the space-time continuum. ;)

Behold! Excaliber!

[Jim Sevey]

This is a great topic- gives me a chance to say thanks to a lot of people. Creeper for less than a year. Thanks to Jerry Dehlinger- an Air Force pilot who introduced to balsa wood model building in the 3rd grade. Learned a lot wood, glue, and precision tools and work. Still building models. Thanks to my 7th grade teacher for introducing me to drafting, hand tools, and letting me know that there is more to wood than yellow pine 2 x 4's. Special thanks to my high school shop teacher Ralph Schultz who taught I can "do that". Made my first beautiful piece of furniture with his instruction. Finally, to all my wood working friends both the on-line kind and those at home. Best of all- I have two sons who are doing it with me now. If they weren't my sons I would want them for friends.

[Jim Sevey]

This is a great topic- gives me a chance to say thanks to a lot of people. Creeper for less than a year. Thanks to Jerry Dehlinger- an Air Force pilot who introduced to balsa wood model building in the 3rd grade. Learned a lot wood, glue, and precision tools and work. Still building models. Thanks to my 7th grade teacher for introducing me to drafting, hand tools, and letting me know that there is more to wood than yellow pine 2 x 4's. Special thanks to my high school shop teacher Ralph Schultz who taught I can "do that". Made my first beautiful piece of furniture with his instruction. Finally, to all my wood working friends both the on-line kind and those at home. Best of all- I have two sons who are doing it with me now. If they weren't my sons I would want them for friends.

thats "creeker" not creeper. I felt compelled to correct that.

[Rich Riddle]

thats "creeper" not creeper. I felt compelled to correct that.

Did you mean Creeker?

[Jim Sevey]

Did you mean Creeker?
Yes! Creeker. Autocorrect is killing me!