About Me
Jay Leno once said in an interview, “When you work on cars, you appreciate how easy it is to make money by just talking.”
My day job lives in pixels and strategy. Making Sawdust exists because I need something tangible at the end of the day. The world of advertising is a temporary one. By the time you launch a website, it is already outdated.
My start in woodworking began when I decided to build a piece of furniture in college. I had no business trying to make furniture with the knowledge or tools I had at the time, but that has never stopped me.
Hi, my name is Marcus Neto. I live in Mobile, Alabama, and when I’m not in front of a computer running my ad agency, I’m usually in “the shop” trying to make something.
Maybe that’s why you are here? Maybe your world feels temporary as well and you’ve been trying to find something with some practicality to it that can be very artistic. If so, welcome!
I’m gonna go outside and make some sawdust…
Making Sawdust lives somewhere between old-school woodworking and whatever tools make sense today. Wood is still the base, but it sits right next to CAD, 3D printing, and a lot of trial and error. I’m not interested in building things just to build them — every project starts with a problem that needs solving or something that could clearly work better. If it doesn’t make life easier, faster, or less frustrating, it doesn’t stick around.
The work itself is all over the map in a good way. Shop jigs, storage, tools, small-batch products, and the occasional home piece all come out of the same place. Some ideas start because something in the shop annoyed me one too many times. Others come from a quick note that says, “someone should really make this.” Most designs get used hard, changed, rebuilt, and sometimes scrapped before they earn their spot.
This is a one man operation. I design it, make it, test it, and use it before it ever gets offered anywhere. That means things can change when they need to, and quality control isn’t a checklist — it’s just how the work gets done. Did I mention I spent a decade as an Automated Test Engineer? I like checklists.
At the end of the day, Making Sawdust is about satisfying curiosity. It’s for folks who care about tools that work, design that makes sense, and things that don’t feel disposable. If something I make helps your space work better or pushes you to build something yourself, that’s a solid outcome.
And besides, no one would have been able to spell JustTinkering.com :)
