This week on Whatcha Makin, hosts Alex Duffey and Alex Adams dive deep into a topic that every maker, content creator, and small business owner knows all too well: Burnout. Whether it's the "little b" weekly exhaustion of administrative tasks or the "Big B" bi-annual creative wall, the guys talk about how they recognize the signs of getting overwhelmed and share their personal strategies for finding a beachhead, reclaiming their sanity, and getting their mojo back.

But before they get into the heavy stuff, there is plenty of shop talk to go around! Alex Duffey celebrates the arrival of his highly anticipated, modified Next Wave CNC Shark 644 rail-system machine (despite a classic shipping mishap courtesy of FedEx) and drops some exciting news about a potential gift shop partnership with a regional museum. Meanwhile, Alex Adams takes us through a nerve-wracking, high-stakes panel glue-up for his massive walnut dining table expansion project, shares his updated setup strategies for local summer markets, and breaks down his recent 3D printing inventory workflow.

What’s on the Bench & What's Selling:

• Alex Duffey: Unboxing the new Next Wave steel rail platform, filming upcoming YouTube content, and celebrating a surprisingly massive win with a brand-new $5 wooden magnet strategy at a freezing, rainy Saturday market.
• Alex Adams: Fighting glue squeeze-out with 40-grit sandpaper, planning a basement track-saw setup to beat the humidity, upgrading 3D-printed articulating animals to PETG for better heat resistance, and inheriting a flood-damaged bookshelf turned filament storage rack.

Community Maker Spotlights (Witcha Watchin’):

• @belusionsam – An incredibly realistic carved pear queen falcon that will make you double-take.
• @evergreen_daydreams – Hyper-realistic wooden mushrooms featuring stunning spore detail.
• @silver_hair_and_sawdust – A gorgeous, salvaged whiskey cabinet masterfully crafted entirely out of walnut offcuts and scrap wood.
• @citruscedar – An organic branch lamp with a brilliant freehanded angle-grinder channel for LED light strips.
• @ridged_oak_woodworks – An impressive, completely hand-routed and hand-painted "Stay Squatchy" sign.
• KGW Woodwellcraft – A mind-blowing, multi-carved Alice in Wonderland themed Mad Hatter and White Rabbit totem pole.

Special Month of June Sponsor Note: Whatcha Makin is proudly sponsored by Next Wave CNC. For the entire month of June, Next Wave is running an incredible accessory special: purchase any new HD6 series machine and get a 3-horsepower spindle included absolutely free! Because as they always say, more horsepower, less problems.

Want to support the show? Pull up a stool and join our community! You can support us directly by checking out our various tier benefits over at patreon.com/whatchamakenshow. Don't forget to leave us a rating and review on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube to help the channel keep growing.

As always... Don't burn out in your shop, burn out in the parking lot!