Six Design Studio Ltd.

Speaking of shop infrastructure…

Late last year I added a new tool to the shop: an ELEGOO Centauri.
On the surface it’s “just” a 3D printer. But for me, bringing something like this into the shop isn’t about gadgets — it’s about removing friction between an idea and a physical object.

There are things I design that don’t make sense to laser cut or even 3D print in resin.

Things I don’t want to machine.

Things I used to sketch, then shelve, because the path from idea to object was too long or too limiting.

The Centauri changes that.

It opens the door to durable custom parts, jigs, enclosures, components, mockups, and strange little experiments that can exist the same day they’re imagined. It doesn’t replace the hands-on work I love — it multiplies it.

For Six Design, 2026 is shaping up to be a year of capability expansion.

More ways to build.

More ways to test ideas.

More ways to let process lead the work.

This is a big piece of that puzzle. And I’m just getting started.

I realized going through photos that I never actually shared a couple of Christmas gifts I made last year — and they’re two of my favourites, partly because of how wildly different they are.

The first was a layered wooden name sign for dear friends who welcomed a baby. It was designed to feel soft, storybook, and a little timeless. Something that could live in a nursery now, and hopefully on a wall for years to come.

The second was a set of custom lightsaber stands made for a client. Totally different energy. Industrial. Sci-fi. Functional. Built to display something iconic and loved.

I also realized I didn’t take a single “making of” photo of either project. Which is… dumb 😄 and something I’m really trying to get better at. But in a way, I like that what’s left are just the finished objects, sitting side by side.

They’re a pretty perfect snapshot of what Six Design is for me.

I’m not interested in staying in one lane.

I love moving between sentimental and technical, playful and industrial, art and function. Sometimes in the same week.

Same shop. Same hands. Very different worlds.

Welcome back to Six Design!

At year’s end I try and wrap up all my ongoing projects so I can start the year anew. 2025 was a busy year, and only a few projects were completed. I’m hoping to have a much higher output in 2026. January tends to be Infrastructure Month at the shop and this one has been exactly that! For years I have been using this little portable spray booth and it has done the job for the most part but it was small and a lot of my projects were hanging out of it as I painted it, less than optimal lol.

Mid way through last year I had already felt that a change was needed and set out to see what was out there. I found a really slick waterfall spraybooth and ordered it in late July. For months I had nothing but issues communicating with the company I purchased it from and finally gave up and requested my money back in October, I FINALLY got my refund in late December….sigh…

At that point I needed a new booth badly as it was holding up production so I set about to make myself a new one using the venting system from the old one. I had some scrap plywood and built one that would suffice until I either found a better one or could get some nice wood or metal and make a proper one.

I had barely finished building and painting it and happen to be on Marketplace (usually a dangerous thing to do) and came across this beauty being sold locally! I had seen these online when I first started looking for one but it was super expensive, like $1000USD! I managed to pick this one up for a fraction of that so I was stoked! Of course I simply could not overlook the HIDEOUS branding on this thing and, you guessed it, set out to give it that “Six Design” look.

Even just stripped down it looked better but no, I had to take it to the next level so I dismantled it, fixed some seriously sketchy wiring and replaced the plastic toggle switches with proper metal ones that have a nice “click” to them 🙂 Cleaned with Acteone, scuffed with Scotchbrite pads, cleaned again with Acetone and two coats of a 2k etching primer. While that cured this thing needed an identity. It felt very industrial and needed a good mid-century modern name to reflect that, so “The Atomizer” was born! Designed some cool graphics and got to cutting on the xTool S1 laser cutter.

Basswood is so easy to work with and using the right painting process it can look like vintage metal quite easily!

It was color time and was screaming for some MCM colors, so a nice Creme and Seafoam green it was!

And of course it looked WAAAY too new for my liking, it needed to look like it has been well used and sitting in the back of some amazing machine shop for the past 50 years. This should be the last spray booth I ever need. The Atomizer lives!

Wow, it’s been a while since my last post! So much has been happening, but the most exciting thing is that I’ve been creating an art piece for Habitat for Humanity’s ( ) Art Auction. I was invited to create an original piece and decided on a lamp/diorama. I’ve been wanting to do this for a while now, and this seemed like the perfect time. If you’re near over the next few weeks, stop by and check out all the artwork available for this wonderful cause. We’re currently putting together my first video that shows the entire process of creating “When Life Was Simple.” Stay tuned!