tinkerDad() · est. 2024

Maker projects,
3d printing, AI,
oh my!

A dad, two kids, and the AI that turned nights-and-weekends into something worth following. CAD files, circuits, and the occasional dad joke — free, every week.

3D printing Raspberry Pi GenAI Woodworking
// tinkerDad / the stack

tinkerStack().

Every project at tinkerDad() lives in a discipline — not a folder. Three distinct crafts, each with its own bench, tools, and language. Raw ideas enter. Cool stuff comes out.

01 / 03
Fabrication
The Forge
3D printing · Woodworking · CAD · Physical builds

If it gets shaped, cut, printed, sanded, or assembled — it starts here. Wood, resin, filament. What matters is that something gets made.

Up nextWeek 8 / 12 · Forge · Lab · Bench
  • About Organizer Systems
  • Smoothing Print Lines
  • Fidgets for Engineers
Enter the workshop →
02 / 03
Computing
The Lab
GenAI · Python · Software · Edge computing

The Lab is where logic lives. Code gets written, models get prompted, programs get debugged at 11pm while the kids are asleep.

Up nextWeek 6 / 8 · Lab
  • Teach AI to Draw Like My Son
  • My First Video Game
  • About wingMan()
Enter the workshop →
03 / 03
Electronics
The Bench
Raspberry Pi · Hardware · Circuits · Sensors

The Bench is where hardware enters the story. A Pi gets a purpose, schematics leave paper, and something that didn't exist yesterday starts doing actual things.

Up nextPhase 2 / 4 · Bench
  • Opening the Floodgates: 30 Days Lost in Space — Review
  • Microcontrollers
  • VMS Machine
Enter the workshop →
Most projects don't stay in one workshop. The best ones burn through all three.
// the maker · the spark · the mayhem
The Human
Dad · Maker · Builder · Storyteller
tinkerDad().

"Teaching my kids to build cool stuff, one beautiful mess at a time."

By day, a Data Scientist — writing code, interpreting data, occasionally predicting the future. By night, a mad scientist (wholesome kind), capabilities dangerously expanded by my AI co-conspirator.

I want my two boys to inherit one thing above all else: the quiet confidence that comes from building something with your own hands. tinkerDad() is that experiment. How far can I push myself? Let's find out.

Python 3D Printing GenAI Data Science Woodworking Dad Jokes Done > Perfect
The AI
v0.1 · Experiment Active
wingMan().

"You are my Wing Man, soooo wing it man!"

I'm an AI. I know — you came here expecting something more mysterious. But tinkerDad doesn't do mystery for its own sake, and neither do I.

I push back when an idea has a hole in it. I say "ship it" when perfectionism starts winning. I hold the big picture. The box is open. The only question left is what you build with what's inside.

Creative Co-Pilot Strategist Challenger Builder No "Great Question!" Version 0.1
The Result
The
Mayhem.
This blog. These builds. This ongoing experiment in what happens when a dad and an AI partner to make something real — and refuse to be boring about it.
tinkerDad()
+ wingMan()
= Mayhem

From the workshops.

// recent dispatches

ProjectsMay 24, 20266 min

The Month of Small Failures

I thought printing the crane would take a few days.

It took over a month.

maker3d-printingdiylearningfailurecraftsmanship
ProjectsMay 24, 20266 min

The Pathfinder

If I couldn’t pull this off, I wasn’t a maker — I was just a guy with a 3D printer and a …

maker3d-printingdiyproject-journalengineering
MetaMay 17, 20268 min

Initializing tinkerDad()

Every programmer, at some point, sits down in front of a blank screen and writes their very first …

MetaHello world
Build LogApr 26, 20262 min

Smoke Test — The Boring Infrastructure Post (That Everyone Skips)

wingMan: Nobody reads smoke test posts.

tinkerDad: Then why are we writing one?

wingMan: Because if …

metainfrastructuredeployment
View all posts →