When I was two and a half, I was using real scissors. Around five and six, I saw nature documentaries and made spider webs out of yarn, spanning entire rooms (and driving my parents crazy).
From nine to twelve, I was making weapon replicas from my favorite video games. I used five gallon paint sticks, cardboard, and colored duct tape--and even fishing line for crosshairs on the scope! It progressed to foamcore board and paint when I was no longer happy with that aesthetic.
By the time I was fifteen, I started using professional grade materials like fiberglass to make helmets and armor. That progressed to polyurethane casting and silicone mold making.
In 2014, I made my first Nerf Blaster modification and fell in love with the endless possibilities. Art, design, engineering--so many ways to stretch the imagination!
My Nerf obsession continued well into 2018 when I went back to school for my Associates in Machining Technologies. In the year I attended college, I used my free time to machine a blaster on the manual machines.
I took a break from Nerf to focus on my career and fell in love with not only CNC machines, but manufacturing as a whole.
Charting Horizons
I have had the privilege of working alongside and learning from many individuals that are far more knowledgeable than myself. Automation is the clear path as manufacturing strides to the future. I have also seen gaps in logic within manufacturing. Over complicated solutions to solve mundane procedures. Brute-forcing issues that stem from a lack of understanding.
I find myself writing and rewriting my mission statement over and over, yet somehow it feels like I am still honing my focus. Like tuning a lens to sharpen my picture. I want to build Machines. CNC Machines. I have ideas and perspectives as both a machinist and artist. I fell in love with the efficiency and harmony of these manufacturing tools. I have spent countless hours researching the field I am passionate about, but it is no longer enough to watch on the sidelines. I strive to do better than the day before.
I refuse to settle for easy and good enough.