Title: Owner
Company: Virtually Forever
Location: Dixon, Illinois, United States
Harry Wilkinson, owner of Virtually Forever, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Business Owners for dedication, achievements, and leadership in laser engraving.
With 45 years of experience to his credit, Mr. Wilkinson has excelled as owner of Virtually Forever since 2005. In his role, he has garnered a stellar reputation performing laser engraving of portraits on black marble, black granite, wood, acrylic, and plastics. He further established himself in research and development at Addison Automatics, Inc. from 2006 to 2010. Beyond his responsibilities within the field, he has participated in numerous endeavors outside of his professional circles. He served as a volunteer and local speaker at the VOM Operation Center since 2012.
With over 40 years in the machine tool industry, Mr. Wilkinson performed very well in troubleshooting and correcting problems in existing manufacturing systems and machining processes, as well as managing and training machinists in a production or job shop environment. He has acquired a very broad background in machining and CNC programming and has written programs for mills, lathes, water jets, and routers, and has defined custom G-code, M-code, and macros for a retrofit controller being installed on a turret punch. During a sabbatical from the machine tool industry, Mr. Wilkinson and his wife established the Cat Paw brand, crafting Native American-style elk and buffalo moccasins and bags as well as other leather items which are for sale at his Etsy page, linked below.
Mr. Wilkinson attributes his success to his dedication to his craft. For him, it must be right, or he cannot put his name on it. His most notable achievement is designing and building machines without any formal training or education beyond high school. He considers himself a hands-on learner and is proud of the design work he contributed to various and oftentimes complicated machines. In the immediate future, his intention is to remain healthy and continue leading his business to success.
