Hi, I'm Ben.

Chapter 01

The tech career I left behind

I spent years at Amazon building products. Comfortable salary, interesting problems, smart colleagues. But there was a slow creep of dissatisfaction — I'd spend all day optimizing metrics and come home feeling like I hadn't actually made anything.

I started woodworking on weekends. A basic workbench. Some rough boxes. It was embarrassing, but it was also the most present I'd felt in years. Time disappeared. I was just in it.

Chapter 02

Swapping keyboards for hand tools

After 18 months of saving and building skills on weekends, I gave notice. Set up a workshop in the garage. Committed to making things with my hands full time — and documenting every step on YouTube.

The first year was humbling. I ruined expensive wood. I made joinery that didn't fit. I filmed myself making mistakes and put it on the internet. Turns out, people appreciate honesty — especially in a craft that's often shown at its most polished.

Chapter 03

YouTube & the community

The channel grew slowly, then faster. The videos that resonated most weren't the polished builds — they were the ones where I showed what went wrong and how I fixed it. Makers want to see the real process, not just the highlight reel.

Chapter 04

Building apps for makers

The tech skills didn't disappear — they just found a new purpose. I built Mistake Fixer to solve a problem I had: a way to diagnose woodworking mistakes using AI. Upload a photo, describe what went wrong, get a step-by-step fix.

“The honest woodworker. Real builds, real screw-ups, real fixes.”