We are all products of our environment.
Here in Southern California, we live in a strange place. The LA metropolitan area is one of the most population-dense and culturally vibrant areas of the country. But, just two hours out of town and over the mountains you enter one of the most sparse, beautiful and wide open desert in the world. You can have your coffee at Alfred on Melrose and then be on top of a sand dune in Death Valley by late lunchtime--if you drive fast enough.
If you go east instead of north, one of those places you can visit out there in the dust is a little silver mining ghost town called CALICO, our namesake.
We operate physically out of East Los Angeles, but spiritually (and occasionally on the weekends!) we're way out there in the sand and sun.
Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire
(you should read it)
CALICO is a service founded by Chris Webster primarily providing CNC and technical design services.
We serve independent artists, entrepreneurs, founders, engineers and creatives right here in LA. We are also happy to provide services to other manufacturers and brands to make the unreal or unfeasible into solid reality.
We specialize in the boutique. We do things with a modern touch of industrial knowledge that can only be gained by working with the best--but bringing down to a smaller and more approachable package. When Chris was designing his first lines of furniture, he quickly realized how most domestic manufacturers were locked away from most people due to the huge minimum orders they required, or the generally astronomical prices that seemed to intentionally to choke out entrepreneurs trying to put something new and better out into the world.
The desert mentality of "screw that, we'll do it ourselves" took over, and here we are now happily serving the creative community of LA making all sorts of things, like...
Hifi audio enclosures, cases, and horns. Circuit boards and frames. Pet homes. Supercar and Spyplane sculptures. Prototypes and MVP's for entrepreneurs and hardware founders. Specialized musical instruments. Porsche shifter knobs. Museum-grade furniture. Jewelry and luxury products and packaging. Contract furniture assemblies. Best-In-Show awards. Large-format art installations. Composite fiberglass and carbon fiber layup molds. High end knock-down custom furniture. Bespoke commercial, retail and residential case goods, tables and built-ins. Custom event fabrication and brand activation design.
And coming soon: the wonderful projects we have yet to do from clients like you.
CALICO is at its core about sustainability and improving the quality of life for anybody we can. This company was partly started to avoid playing into a system of exploitation both of the environment and individual. We don't take on projects that will just end up in the dumpster after an event or use harmful finishes or materials. It is very possible to run a business with these rules, and we've been proving it since we started.
As of 2025, CALICO has shifted operations away from just being purely a CNC service provider, to redistribute a bit more focus on our original social mission: To help the creative arts in LA. We partnered with Allied Woodshop, providing CNC services at cost to their world-class members, as well as free training and access to our equipment and first pick of opportunities to earn sustainable income while doing what they love through our projects. We happily partner with this mosaic of craftspeople to do our part in providing ever better opportunities for everybody involved.
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Something doesn't fit? Wrong files sent? Crunchtime? No worries.
If you're around, swing by whenever. Much better than email.
No harmful materials, finishes, or single-use projects.
We are not a black box. Ask about anything about the process.
Don't be a stranger, now! We'd love to see how we can help you get where you need to go. Even if that means in the middle of nowhere, sleeping well, knowing that your project is getting taken care of back home.
