I’m Jer Schmidt, a 29-year-old designer/maker living in Seattle. I enjoy inventing, designing, and making the stuff that I need, often tools & jigs for my shop. I have a YouTube Channel where I post build videos, and an Etsy Store where I sell PDF plans for my more popular projects.

I have no formal training or education, but I grew up on a farm and learned a lot from the farm shop. I learned by observing my machinist brother, and by watching other makers on YouTube. I briefly worked at a fabrication shop, where I learned to weld and use CAD software, before starting my own YouTube Channel in 2014. I lived on my parents’ farm and used a lot of my dad’s tools & shop space, until 2020 when I moved to Seattle. I now share my tools & workshop space with my best friend who’s an artist. I continue to work on new designs & plans, even though I don’t post as frequently as I used to.

I value simple design where form follows function, and try to build my projects to last long, be repairable, and be modular or adaptable so they can change as my needs change. My main motives are to reduce consumption and empower people to do things themselves. By making projects that are simple with no frills, material waste is reduced. By building projects well, they last longer than most items one can buy. My projects are inherently repairable since they’re made from scratch, unlike many products on the market that use proprietary parts and are meant to be disposable. And by making projects adaptable, they won’t need to be replaced if needs change, plus they can be sold/given to someone else who will be able to adapt the project to their needs.

I hope to pass on these values to others. I have no interest in manufacturing my projects for sale, because for me, the whole point is to get other people building things. I find that building the things I need is very empowering, and I want others to experience that empowerment. I don’t want to build it for you; I want to empower you to build it yourself.

I try to make my projects as accessible as possible, so they can be built with relatively basic home-shop tools. The plans I sell are very detailed, in an effort to make it approachable to all skill levels. I take customer feedback and do my best to simplify or clarify the areas that people struggle with. And I’m always available to answer questions about my projects & plans.