Shop update, April 2026

Hey everyone, Azzy here.

I really should update the blog more often.

Happy to report that Azzy’s Design Works, for the first time in a few years, made a profit. Not a large one, but it was better than being in the red again. You’ve all been out in the current economy, and bet you are powering through some hardships, even possibly thriving, which if so, I applaud you. Especially for those of us that make products herein the USA. Ive seen a lot of businesses, bigger and smaller than ours, close up in the last few years. Inflation, interest rate hikes, insurance and energy costs, more taxes.. you know the spiel. Instead of yet another long story about problems and a shop closing, this one is about how we are healing and growing.

I say we, but for a large portion of the time, ADW is currently solo operation. That’s a lot of hats to keep switching. What is the plan to grow? Part of that is getting back to our custom roots, doing small production runs, like our ongoing fossil shift knob pre-order, on fan favorites. Late last year, we pre-ordered a new CNC machining center after a good holiday season, which is due to be delivered late this month. Its a Makera Z1 Pro founders edition, which will allow us to do more custom and OEM replica Jeep badges, without all the pesky assembly time needed with our current production methods. Its small, but fits in our current shop space, and a small machine can do the detail work our big CNC struggles with.

Another place we plan to grow is in producing more parts outside of the Jeep market. With almost 16 years in 3D printing, Ive learned a thing or two about modifying and upgrading equipment, and really dislike waiting on replacement parts from overseas, if they are available. With the new CNC, we will be able to machine parts from aluminum, steel and brass for long lasting US made accessories.

One place we grew in 2025 was on social media. If you have seen our Facebook page, you might have noticed a lot more videos. Part of that is promotion, a short form video of what you are making goes further than the same amount of money in a clickable ad. Another part is monetization. Yep, the shop earns a few bucks from every minute watched over there, and working on growing both our Youtube page as well, so we can generate income over there. The idea is to grow it to a place where I need to hire someone to help film and generate content, but it has to be self supporting, even as a part time gig. One component of that will be opening up our site to a Paetreon style members section here on TeamADW.com, which will come with early access to videos, your input, swag packs, and even the chance at one on one custom design time for your project. Look for that later this month. With all that content, I really want to get to making some educational content, on things I learned back in my middle school shop classes. Could also lead to some workshops when there is a bit more time to spare from the day to day production.

Part of our growth in the past was getting the chance to work with Jeep / MOPAR licensing. Something I never expected. It does come with a price, but it has its perks. The biggest is never having to worry about corporate searches shutting down the shop or our advertising over the use of the name “Cherokee” in the product title. Ive heard bad things about these kinds of corporate deals, but I can openly say that the team I work with is not only fair, but was super understanding when the market changed (we did our license right around “that” time in 2020), and they even renewed the deal going forward, working with me knowing how biz has gone. So we’ll be making more licensed Jeep gear, and in the next few weeks, I’m going to start submitting our 3d printed parts for approval to carry the big blue M, as quite a few shops and dealers have asked if we could make the oddball one off, like the XJ hood latch clips that went out of production years ago.

We are also now more openly advertising our manufacturing capabilities. Last summer, I had several local companies, from Covers-All Canvas Products and Thomas Fastening Systems, to church groups and local contractors, come to the shop looking for designs and 3d printed replacements for parts they cant get anymore. that led to upgrading our 3d printer equipment to handle more materials, and even expanding our print area a bit to handle toy production over the holidays. Who knew a Jeep gauge shop would be selling licensed action figures? Ive been thinking because of that, maybe we should open a site (The Fun Factory sounds good) just for toys, and see where it goes.

I hope everyone has a productive year. And I also hope that if you’ve read this post, you’ll stick around and consider even joining our “Shop Squad”.

And a special shout out to the awesome group of individuals that hit up our donation page this last year, which helped me get our vintage turret late running and wired. Its greatly appreciated, especially when times are rocky. S……, K…, R.., C…….., R…, V……., M….., P…, M.., B…., you made a positive impact on ADW, and thank you from the bottom of my heart. (I’ll be reaching out again personally , don’t want to out anyone who might want to remain anonymous) Being able to continue designing, building, and keeping these old Jeeps on the road is something that gets me going.

-Azzy

TL:DR
New machines coming, new ventures happening, more videos, Shop Squad is in the works, we have awesome supportive friends.