Unremarkable things we made in 2026

Aluminum extrusion standing desk

This year's splurge was a few hundred linear inches of aluminum extrusion. The frame supports an Ikea tabletop from the dumpster and is bolted on top of a pair of beefy electric standing desk legs:

(tabletop not pictured). This aluminum extrusion frame has proved especially useful for bike maintenance, hanging stuff, and arm-wrestling training.

Neon picture frame

In addition to good coffee, Work in Progress cafe in Costa Mesa, CA sells prints. My best friend Cesar mentioned that he'd bought one of these prints, but didn't have the big ~25x19" neon acrylic frame that accompanies it:

So I on the flight to NYC I CAD'd it up. I tried to replicate the original feel as closely as possible out of 1/4" neon green acrylic stock. The backing and mat are made of birch plywood, and the mat/poster snap to the frame with little neodymium magnets.

The big challenge here was being limited to a ~24x12" nominal workspace on an Epilog laser cutter, while the frame itself is 25x19". Since the frame dimensions exceed the workspace, I included some dovetails/joinery to assemble the backing and mat. Total part dimensions fit with just enough margin on the Epilog: