🪚 How I Use AI to Work Smarter (and Still Get My Hands Dirty)

October 24, 2025

Smarter Tools Journal — Entry #1

The Shift

In my day job, I work in IT and management. I’ve used tools like this for a while to help write year-end summaries, clean up technical reports, and turn rough notes into something people actually want to read.

One day it hit me: why am I not using this same thing in my shop?

I spend just as much time thinking through cuts, materials, and instructions as I do actually building. If this could save me time at work, maybe it could do the same for JW Designs.

That’s when I started experimenting, not with code or data, but with real-world shop problems.

The Pattern That Changed Everything

Before I ever used this in the shop, I was using it at work helping me write year-end reviews for my team. If you’ve ever done that, you know it’s not just about typing words. It’s about pulling details from goals, self-summaries, and a year’s worth of notes, then finding the right tone to communicate something meaningful.

The more context I gave it, who the person was, what they accomplished, what I wanted to encourage or correct, the better the results became. And something interesting happened. The more detail I included, the less “AI-generated” it sounded and the more it started to sound like me. That process taught me something important: this isn’t about replacing your experience, it’s about sharpening it.

Later, when I brought that same mindset into the shop, it felt familiar. Instead of goals and feedback, it was plywood thickness and joint styles. Instead of tone and phrasing, it was cut lists and fit.

At first, it was just curiosity. I’d ask a quick question like “How many shelves can I fit?” or “What’s the best way to space drawer faces?” The first answer was never perfect, but every time I added a little more detail like the material, the joint type, the spacing, or the real thickness of plywood, the result got sharper.

That’s when it clicked. This isn’t a magic button or a novelty. It’s a seriously capable tool that’s just misunderstood by most people.

Once I started thinking that way, it changed how I worked. It became a natural extension of the process, something that made the thinking part of shop work faster, clearer, and easier to repeat.

Meet Chippy

You’re going to see a little character pop up from time to time named Chippy. He’s my virtual shop assistant — think of him as the helpful intern who never forgets a measurement, always has a suggestion, and occasionally throws in a smart comment just to keep things fun.

Chippy’s a simple way to bring personality to all this talk about technology. He’s the bridge between shop talk and smart tools, a fun sidekick who helps explain what’s going on whether it’s in a post like this or a video demo. When you see him, just know he’s there to make the “tech” part of this whole thing a little less intimidating and a lot more approachable.

Putting It to the Test

To show what I mean, I ran a simple test: a 15-inch wide, 18-inch deep, 6-inch high open-top drawer box.

Nothing fancy, just a chance to see how far a “virtual shop assistant” could go if I gave it clear details.

Stage 1 — The Quick Ask

“I’m building a 15x18x6-inch open-top drawer box. Can you give me a cut list for both butt joints and half laps?”

The answer came back with decimals, perfect plywood thickness, and no mention of the bottom panel. Technically right, but not real.

Stage 2 — The Smarter Maker Prompt

“I’m building a 15-inch wide, 18-inch deep, and 6-inch high open-top drawer box. Can you give me a cut list for both butt joints and half laps using ¾-inch plywood that’s slightly undersized (about 23⁄32)?

Give the results in easy-to-read fractions (½, ⅝, ¾, etc.) rounded to the nearest sixteenth.”

Now it started sounding like a real cut list, with actual fractions, realistic sizes, and usable numbers.

Stage 3 — The Shop-Ready Prompt

“I’m building a 15-inch wide, 18-inch deep, and 6-inch high open-top drawer box. Can you give me a cut list for both butt joints and half laps using ¾-inch plywood that’s slightly undersized (about 23⁄32)?

The bottom will be ¼-inch plywood set in a dado ¼-inch up from the bottom edges on all four sides.

The back panel will have a short relief cut along its bottom edge so the bottom panel can slide into the front panel’s dado during assembly, and then be tacked from underneath into the rear panel.

Please give all measurements in easy-to-read fractions, rounded to the nearest sixteenth, and explain any differences caused by the dado, joint style, or relief cut.

Organize everything in a table with columns for part name, quantity, dimensions, and notes, just like a woodworking plan.”

This time the output looked like something I’d actually print and bring into the shop. It had a full cut list, reasoning, and even the dado accounted for. It wasn’t just math anymore. It understood the context.

The Takeaway

Most people think you just ask once and get an answer. But it’s like talking to an apprentice — the clearer you are, the better the work comes out.

Each layer of detail makes the tool more useful. It’s not replacing experience. It’s reflecting it back to you, faster.

And this is just the start, the tip of the iceberg.

The same assistant that helps with a simple drawer box can also draft product descriptions, help write ad copy, or walk you through new software step-by-step. It can calculate complex stile-and-rail cuts for cabinet doors or drawer faces, build shop instructions, or even polish customer emails.

And here’s the thing, this doesn’t take as long as it sounds. What you’re really doing is building prompts you’ll use again and again. They become your own shop toolkit, saved, refined, and ready to reuse whenever you need them.

That’s what makes it powerful. It quietly weaves into everything you do, in and out of the shop.

What’s Next

This is just the start. Over the next few posts, I’ll be diving into more ways you can use this kind of assistant to make life easier in the shop and in your small business.

We’ll look at everything from organizing projects and writing product descriptions to planning materials, learning new software, and even polishing customer messages.

If you’ve ever felt like you spend more time planning than doing, these posts are for you. The goal is simple: to show practical, real-world ways to make technology work for you, not the other way around.

💬 Chippy Says

“Work smarter, not harder, and always double-check your rail lengths.”

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