The Actual Physical Thing Intro

My quest to justify a CNC machine

I’m obsessed with buying a CNC machine. Not because I have a clear business idea, but because I want it. I know I want to build things (actual, physical things), and I’m drawn to the technology behind CNC. I like how it blends technology with traditional woodworking. I like the precision and yeah, the learning curve. I do not enter this lightly.

I chose the hammer. Now, I’m looking for the nail.

I wanted a starter project—something small. Something I could design, refine, and produce without taking over my entire life. And, lately, I’ve been obsessed with cabinets and personal storage. Not in the 'buy more plastic bins' way, but more like 'let’s put cabinets in our living room' way.

We live in an age of open-concept everything, peak consumerism, and the expectation that everything should be at our fingertips. But our homes don’t always keep up. We accumulate, and we purge, but rarely do we successfully add or augment the places to put things.

I kept coming back to three things: something scalable, something that needs to be customized, and something where customization can be automated. That led me to drawers. More specifically—drawer organizers.

So that's what I'm doing. I'm figuring it out as I go. If you're interested, follow along. Or don't. Either way, I'm making some things.