I turn ideas into things you can hold.

I'm Caleb, an Australian maker combining electronics, 3D printing, software and storytelling to make ideas physical. I document the work on YouTube and build around open source and right to repair, so other people can understand, remake and improve it.

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More than the finished object

Filmmaking

Beyond the projects themselves, I love making the videos enjoyable to watch. I have a growing interest in filmmaking and I'm always experimenting with new ways to make content better.

Tech enthusiast

Always watching for new advancements across industries. The tech space is somewhere I have deep and genuine interest in.

Open source

A strong believer that open-source software and hardware make the world better for everyone. It's a core part of how I think about building things.

The bigger picture

For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to build a company. That idea evolved from a plant nursery, to solar, to tech. Someday I want to build products that put the user and the planet first, not profit. Open hardware and software are the foundation of that vision.

How I got here

This did not begin with a plan, or even the skills to build what I imagined. It began with ideas that were far too large and the stubborn decision to attempt them anyway.

2016 · Year 5

It started with potatoes.

Back in 2016, my parents helped me build a potato-powered clock for a primary school science fair. It was a simple project, but the idea that something as ordinary as a couple of potatos could produce electricity fascinated me. I started experimenting with other things, built a project I called Plant Power, pulled electronics apart, learned to solder and played with solar panels, motors and LEDs. I did all of this because I wanted to understand how things worked. I did not know it at the time, but that science fair project started something. Ten years later, I am still doing much the same thing. The projects are just a little more complicated now.

Year 7

The robotics building

In Year 7, a teacher introduced me to the robotics building. I was given an Arduino robot kit to build, experiment with and test before other students used it. Most lunches became just me, that robot and a building full of tools I barely understood. That is where programming and Arduino entered the story. They added instructions and logic to the electronics I already loved.

The impossible plan

An operating system called DoorOS

A laptop that was slowly falling apart made me care about the relationship between hardware and software. After seeing how complete a MacBook felt, I decided the sensible response was to build my own operating system. DoorOS went nowhere, but an old laptop and a Linux USB introduced me to the open-source world I still care about today.

Year 9

A different way to think

In Year 9, a friend introduced me to open source, privacy and self-hosting. Before then, I favoured closed-source software, thought open source was stupid and gave privacy very little thought. Those conversations changed how I looked at technology. I began caring not only about what a product could do, but who controlled it, where its data lived and whether its owner could understand, repair or change it.

Learning by overreaching

Building far beyond my skills

While learning Python, I tried to create an entire interactive programming platform. It became Codia, and I spent years learning web development, servers and software by repeatedly discovering everything I did not yet know. It never became what I imagined, but it taught me more than a smaller, safer project ever could.

Ideas became physical

The 3D printer tied it together

Buying a 3D printer changed the shape of my ideas. Software, electronics and design could finally meet in something I could hold, test, break and improve. Caleb Makes grew from that loop. It is not where the story started, but it is where all those unfinished ideas finally began meeting each other.

Most of my ideas began before I had the skills, money or experience to complete them. Attempting them is how I started gaining those things.

The channel so far

I created my channel back in 2018 to share my love for Arduino. The very first video I ever uploaded was one with a bluetooth LCD where I found a way to send data over bluetooth to display it on a 1602 LCD. I never knew anything about programming back then, so this felt insanely cool. After that, I decided to create more videos.

The focus shifted from Arduino to Python and other tutorial based videos, but I never really enjoyed making them. I don't think many would have enjoyed watching them either. So, I recreated an older video and decided to make it better. After that video, I lost interest in content creation. I just couldn't come up with any ideas or my own style.

Multiple years later, I have returned and this time with a new approach to my videos. Rather than focussing on trying to explain every detail in the video, I try to make the videos entertaining. This website is where I can dive into the depths of a project step by step which will be for those who have interest in recreating one of my projects.

The road ahead

The plan is simple

Brand

From projects to products

Make Caleb Makes a trusted home for useful ideas, then turn the best of those ideas into open, repairable products.

Channel

Better stories, at a sustainable pace

Make ambitious project videos without rushing them, improve the storytelling and let this website carry the technical detail.

Myself

Grow into the ideas

Deepen my skills in design, electronics and programming, then expand into woodworking, machining and new ways of making.

Where it leads

Build the things I wish existed.

Complete products with the hardware, software and everything in-between made to be open, repairable and owned.

My gear

Hardware

Creality K1 Max

3D Printer

iFixit Calipers

Digital Calipers

Pinecil

Soldering Iron

Software

Fusion 360

CAD & Design

Figma

UI Design

VS Code

Code Editor

KiCad

PCB Design

You made it!

Just a little something I've left for you to explore.

▶ interactive - try: ls

caleb@workshop ~

caleb@workshop:~$