Hello, newby here. :)

[Larry Edgerton]

Hello. My name is Larry Edgerton, and I am new to the forum, and the internet really, but I have been making a living playing with wood my whole life. I'm 51, so it has been too many years......

I have a construction/woodworking business in Northern Michigan, Crooked Tree Joinery, and have had my builders licence/shop for 17 years now. I prefer to build furniture/ cabinets but my bank account prefers that I build homes. Not a lot of either going on here right now, but the shop is what is keeping me afloat right now.

I have been reading here for a while, and thought I would join as I have seen places where I could contribute usefull information, and would like to be able to thank those whose source/ideas/technics have made my life easier. Seems like a very nice group, but them I really do not know any mean woodworkers.

Anyway..... Thanks to those responsible and I hope I can help some of you from time to time.

Larry Edgerton

[John Keeton]

Larry, good to have you on the creek. You will probably find it helpful in the future to have your general location (northern Michigan) in your profile, so that when you post viewers will know what part of the country you are in.

Look forward to hearing more from you, and hope that 2009 sees some recovery for your business.

[Keith Starosta]

Hi Larry, and welcome to The Creek!! Great to have another pro on board. Us weekenders can use all the ears we can get!! ;)

Where in Norther MI are you located. I'm originally from Detroit, but spent 24 summers at my folks lakehouse on Houghton Lake. I miss it a great deal...

- Keith

[Von Bickley]

Larry,

Welcome to "The Creek"..... Glad to have you with us.

[Don Bullock]

Welcome Larry. I hope that you will post some of your work.

[Charles Seehuetter Panama City]

Welcome Larry. There are some great folks here and I'm looking forward to hearing more from you. Stay warm.

[Ray Schafer]

Well, I think I have now been around long enough that I can join the welcoming committee!

Welcome to the creek! Being a hobbyist, I am glad that we have a lot of "real" woodworkers like you around! I sure learn a lot from you guys when I try to muddle through a project.

[Dewey Torres]

Welcome Larry. Looking forward to your contributions here.

[Larry Edgerton]

Larry,

Welcome to "The Creek"..... Glad to have you with us.

Don't really know how to post pictures, but I will figure it out someday.:) A lot of my work is LARGE. Barrel ceilings, coffered ceilings, post and beam work, the stuff that other contractors can't or don't want to do. Lately I have been getting more built in stuff, working on a wine room right now.

I have a couple of interesting ones coming up. I have to build a table base for a 4'x3' piece of crosscut petrefied wood from Austrailia. Largest piece I have ever seen. It will require steel to be hidden unside a wood exterior as the pet. wood is very fragile and the base can not bend or warp. I have welding/steel machinery as well at my disposal. I am thinking a natural tangle of twisted tree roots fit together, and I would like mesquite but I have no source.[?] I made one similar out of old redwood roots years ago, when old growth redwood waste was cheap.

The other project is a TV cabinet that will be an actual bookcase with turned fluted columns when it is off, and a 60 some inch TV when it is on. I will have to use two TV lifts to do what they want, or at least that is what I have come up with so far. The house it goes in has hidden passages, tunnels to other buildings, all kind of cool stuff. I wish I had built the house, it would have been an awesome project.

As much as these kinds of things sound like fun, I lose money on every one I do. The money is in the mundane as far as I can tell. I worry the strange ones to death, there are so many different ways to do them, and which one is the best? That is one of the things I am excited about with this forum. Help with the decision making process when I am stuck!

And there is some interesting conversation! I just read a thread by a nice sounding fellow about which glue repairs well. I learned some new stuff and found that my own tests were maybe correct, at least they agreed with his. :)

I'm excited about this. I have been losing interest for the last couple of years as costs have skyrocketed and my rates have stagnated. Its not as much fun when you are not making money, at least for me as this is my living. I have not been able to raise my rates since 1992, in fact I have cut my shop rates to site rates just to keep busy as many companys are going under in my neighborhood. So I am using this forum and its collective wisdom to look for other avenues to explore for income. Michigan is hard hit, even here on the "Gold Coast" people are being very conservative with finances. Basically what I do is an extravagance so I am being very politically correct with my customer base. Kissing their tush would be about how my father would put it.:)

Anyway....... Have a great day tomorrow, and keep your fingers in a safe place.......

[John Bailey]

Welcome Larry,

Sounds like you've got some very interesting projects. Send me a PM as I think I'm in your area and would love to see some of your projects.

John

[Larry Edgerton]

Welcome Larry,

Sounds like you've got some very interesting projects. Send me a PM as I think I'm in your area and would love to see some of your projects.

John

I get over your way once in a while. I just trimmed out a couple of houses on Lake Charlevoix last year, right by the ferry. I wander a lot, I'm over your way sometimes. You wouldn't happen to work for Andy Poinou would you? He sure gets in some nice jobs.

[John Bailey]

I get over your way once in a while. I just trimmed out a couple of houses on Lake Charlevoix last year, right by the ferry. I wander a lot, I'm over your way sometimes. You wouldn't happen to work for Andy Poinou would you? He sure gets in some nice jobs.

Nope, I've seen his shop, but I've never met him. I drive right by Ironton and the ferry everyday as I work in Charlevoix.

I'm strictly a hobbiest woodbutcher, not a pro.

John

[Jon Grider]

I'm not a real frequent poster,but an avid reader here. I've gleaned lots of info from these forums and appreciate the collective wisdom of this group. I'm a fellow Michigander,now exiled to SW lower Mich. as that's where my job is, but hope to retire in a few years to our undeveloped property near Waters. I lived in Traverse City for a few years as a boy and my love for up north has never waned,even though I don't get up there as often as I like.

[Gary Lange]

Welcome to the Creek Larry! I am sure you will have some valuable insight for us all.