THEKIT
What I actually build with, and the specific reason each one earned its place. A tool is only here if it changed how I work.
Hardware
- General 3D Printing
- Turns a CAD part into something I can hold and load-test the same day. Most of what I know about tolerances and fit came from parts that failed on the bed first.
- General Soldering
- The join between a clean idea and a circuit that actually runs. Rework at the iron is where most of my early wiring mistakes got found and fixed.
- Metal Fabrication
- Cutting, drilling, and welding the PX-1 frame taught me what printing hides: real loads, real joints, and the gap between a part that looks strong and one that is.
CAD
- Blender
- Where the PX-1 hologram and the 3D visuals for this site were modelled and rendered. Also my sketchpad for form, before a shape becomes a real assembly.
- FreeCAD
- Free, parametric, and open. Good for quick parts and for keeping a design portable when I do not want it locked inside one vendor's file format.
- SolidWorks
- The assembly and mate tools handle PX-1's multi-part linkages without fighting me, and the drawing output is clean enough to hand straight to a machinist.
Design
- Canva
- Fast enough to turn a rough idea into a clean poster, deck, or drop graphic before I lose momentum. It got the CRVWD look out the door.
- Figma
- Fast enough to prototype a UI idea before I lose interest in it, and the only design tool where handoff to actual code doesn't lose fidelity.
Language
- Basic Java
- Where I first learned to think in types and structure. I am not fluent, but it built the habits I bring to every language since.
- Basic Python
- My reach-for language for small scripts and automation. I am still early with it, but it is enough to glue tools together and drive simple hardware.
- CSS
- Where the whole look of this site lives. Enough control over type, motion, and grid that a design decision survives contact with the browser.
- HTML
- The backbone under every page I build. Knowing it properly is what keeps a layout honest instead of a pile of nested boxes.
AI
- ChatGPT
- The fast second opinion. When I want to pressure-test an idea, draft copy, or untangle an unfamiliar API, it is the quickest way to think out loud with something that answers back.
- Claude Code
- Turns a well-specified idea into working software in the time it used to take me to set up the boilerplate. I still make every architectural call; it just removes the typing between decision and result.
- gpt-oss 120B
- An open-weight model that holds its own on code and reasoning with nothing in the loop but my own machine. Good for local experiments where I want to iterate fast and keep the whole stack offline.
- Manus
- A general agent for the errands around a project: research, comparison, first-pass automation of multi-step chores. It buys back the hours I would otherwise spend clicking through tabs.
- Nemotron 3 Super 120B
- NVIDIA's open reasoning model (the 120B a12b MoE). I reach for it when I want strong step-by-step reasoning from open weights I can actually study and self-host, not a black box behind an API.
- Perplexity
- Search that cites its sources. I use it to reach the primary reference behind a claim instead of wading through SEO pages, which matters when I am specifying hardware or checking a standard.
Setup
- Graphify
- Turns a pile of files into a knowledge graph I can query, so I navigate a project by meaning instead of digging through folders.
- Notion
- One place for engineering notes, research links, and project timelines that doesn't fall apart when a project runs for a year instead of a weekend.
- Obsidian
- A local, plain-text second brain. Research notes, build logs, and links that stay mine and stay searchable years after the project ends.
21 tools in rotation