MachineWise began the way a lot of good things do: in a garage.

Deylan Crawford, founder of MachineWise, is a career machinist who spent years building work for other people. He worked in the jewelry industry, learned the craft, learned the machines, and eventually reached the point where he wanted something different. He wanted to work for himself. He wanted to build a business of his own.

He didn’t come from the knife world. He wasn’t a flipper or a collector. At first he didn’t even know what he wanted to make. He bought a mill, set it up in his garage, and started experimenting. Drone parts. Random ideas. Anything that kept his hands moving.

A chance conversation with a roommate introduced him to balisongs. So he tried making one. Then another. Then another. The designs got better. The machining got sharper. The late nights turned into a full obsession.

The result was a balisong that did not follow anyone’s playbook but still earned respect from first time flippers and seasoned collectors.

Today, MachineWise is a tight-knit team of designers, machinists, and makers in Phoenix. We build everything in-house, test it ourselves, and keep our standards high — even if it slows us down.

The shop runs on music, momentum, and mutual respect. Everyone pitches in. Whether it’s dialing in tolerances, filming a product reel, or cleaning out the coolant tank, nobody hides behind a title.

Every batch builds on the last. Every drop gets better. We listen, learn, and keep improving because that’s what the craft demands.