Today, we take a break from discussing designs and making topics and talk a little about what we have going on in our shops: current projects, new projects on the horizon, and the daily grind of being a maker.

• Brian has a large steel table base in the shop, working on new patination processes.  The sheer size makes him wish he had a shop helper to help schlep it around.

• He had challenges controlling the chemicals to get the colors he was looking for

• That product is a side heated side bender for acoustic guitars.

https://www.briansbenham.com/

Portfolio https://archinect.com/people/cover/150398593/brian-benham

https://skyscraperguitars.com/

Curt creates handmade pens from Titanium that are precision machined in his home workshop.   He got his start from his curiosity in machining and CAD.  He created a pen for himself and started carrying it around with him, and people noticed and commented on the quality.  It wasn't long before he was able to quit his job and make pens full-time.

You can connect with Curt at

Website: https://www.confoundedmachine.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcRm7BOOAQgbuehhrHCc34Q

Instagram: @confoundedmachine

https://www.briansbenham.com/

https://skyscraperguitars.com/

Today, we talked with Custom Drum maker Bryan Bales.  Bryan got his start in drum making from his curiosity of wanting to learn how to make drums and his love for making things.

Bryan can be found on Instagram at Bales5000, his YouTube is Bales5000, and he is active on Instructables, sharing his drum and prop builds,

When he is not building crazy experimental drums or over-the-top Halloween costumes, he works with his friend at Calderwood Percussion, building high-end custom drums.

https://skyscraperguitars.com/

https://www.briansbenham.com/

Thank you. https://www.themakersquest.com/

Is social media still a viable way to promote your business, or is the new business model to be a content creator, making products secondary?

Today, we talk about our past successes and our future strategies for getting our products out in front of people.

• Instagram Top 9 in the hashtags, is it still a thing

https://skyscraperguitars.com/

https://www.brianbenham.com/

Tonight, we talk about how to price your work so you can run a successful business and put food on your table.  Whether it is pricing a custom piece or a mass-manufactured piece, we've got you covered with a few tips you can implement today to price your work for success!

Hosted by

Brian Benham  https://www.benhamdesignconcepts.com/

Greg Porter https://skyscraperguitars.com/

Greg Porter

Brian Benham

This is a common issue for creatives that make things. We all have active imaginations; we can visualize lots of things.  Then the distractions come into play. We are drawn to the new shiny project or derailed by a project that we have to do to make money to keep the bills paid.

https://www.themakersquest.com/how-many-projects-are-too-many-projects-ep17

Greg Porter

Brian Benham

In this episode, the guys talk about the power of staying curious and how it will help you stay creative in your journey as a  maker.

Show notes: https://www.themakersquest.com/how-to-stay-curious-to-stay-creative

Greg Porter

Brian Benham

In today's episode, Brian and Greg Talk about different techniques for gathering inspiration for their designs and then iterating from basic design principles to more abstract concepts and techniques.

Show Notes:

https://www.themakersquest.com/gathering-insperation-for-designs-ep15

Greg Porter

Brian Benham

In this episode, Brian and Greg talk about how learning new things by learning how to learn.

Setting aside preconceived notions about what you think something is about will help you approach learning with an open mind. Then they talk about Chat GPT and how to use it to help us learn and become better critical thinkers.

Show notes: https://www.themakersquest.com/learn-how-to-learn-ep14

Greg Porter

Brian Benham