This project started the way so many do — with a failure. (Don’t they all?) In this case, it was a small meat grinder that was supposed to turn unwanted bait and fish scraps into chum. When the gear teeth sheared clean off, Dmytro thought, “If they can make it in China, I can make it in my garage — only better.”

So he did what any reasonable person with unreasonable determination would do: he set out to design and produce a replacement part out of plastic that actually worked.

Countless iterations (and more than a few shattered prototypes) later, he nailed it. That little gear has been grinding away happily for nearly 18 months — and counting.

The problem? It worked too well. He’s unlikely to need another one anytime soon. All that effort would be wasted if the designs weren’t shared with the broader community of tinkerers, amateur engineers, and matter hackers.

So now, the files are available as print-at-home-and-buy-me-a-coffee downloads — or, for those who prefer a slightly more “professional” (a flexible term) experience, as pre-printed parts ready to use.

What began as a one-off repair turned into a mild obsession: designing practical, durable parts for people who’d rather repair than replace.

There’s no lofty mission statement here — just a belief that good tools and clever ideas shouldn’t come wrapped in marketing fluff. Everything’s made right here in Texas with equal parts curiosity, stubbornness, and caffeine. No buzzwords, no preorders, no drama. Just parts that work — and a few experiments that probably shouldn’t, but somehow do.

The goal is modest: make enough to justify the growing pile of equipment — and maybe help others do the same.

If you’ve got a plastic part that’s broken, discontinued, or impossible to find, let’s talk. Why pay big money to big boys when all you need is a small, on-demand run of a part that actually fits?

And before anyone asks — Neltuma is the Latin name for a genus of trees common in Texas, better known as mesquite. Because Strombocarpa doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, and Prosopis belongs to the Old World.