James Robertson has been building things for as long as he can remember.

A carpenter by trade, he has always been to drawn to creative projects and solving tough problems with his hands. After 9/11, James and his business partner found themselves reevaluating everything – how they worked, what they valued, and what kind of future they wanted to build.

So they took a leap. Combining their skills and vision, they founded Daedalus Design – starting small, growing project by project, space by space. What began as a modest workshop evolved into a full-scale fabrication company known for tackling complex, fabrication challenges.

From Broadway sets to public art installations, Deadalus has earned a reputation for saying yes to challenges most others avoid. “We’re not trying to be the biggest shop,” James says. “We just want to take on the work that pushes us — and make it a little less painful for everyone else.”

That mindset drove Deadalus into its next chapter: precision tube cutting. A natural extension of its problem-solving ethos, it opened new possibilities — and new frontiers — for a team that never stops building.

“Precision tube cutting opened up new ways of thinking. Once you see what it can do, it’s impossible to go back.”

In 2021, Daedalus moved into a 35,000-square-foot facility in the Brooklyn Navy Yard and set out to build a different kind of shop floor. Until then, most of their metal tube work had to be outsourced – driving up costs, slowing down turnaround, and making tight deadlines harder to hit.

Looking for a better way, they started researching in-house solutions. That search led them to the LT7: a high-speed, high-accuracy fiber laser built for production-grade tube cutting. Once installed, it didn’t just streamline their own workflow — it created an opportunity to help other shops facing the same roadblocks.

Today, Daedalus offers tube laser cutting as a service to other fabricators, architects, and industrial designers. From simple batches to intricate custom runs, the team works directly from client files, applying the same creativity and problem-solving that define their builds.

But at Deadalus, it’s never just about the machine. “We come from a creative background,” says James. “We know what it means to care about the result. Our value isn’t just the cut — it’s how we think about the build.”

Looking Ahead.

The tube laser has opened a new chapter and a new rhythm of production. While scenic fabrication remains at the heart of the business, laser cutting has introduced a new layer of consistency, capability, and sustainable growth that the team is excited to build on.

Today, Daedalus partners with architects on structural components, helps product designers refine prototypes, and supports fabrication shops that need overflow help – sometimes at the eleventh hour. These are the kinds of jobs the team is built for: fast-moving projects that demand clear thinking, quick answers, and sharp execution.

What is next? More of what works. More of what’s hard. The team isn’t chasing massive contracts or national-scale volume. Instead, they’re focused on doing top-tier work for creative, technical clients – people who value adaptability, smart questions, and a shop that genuinely cares about the outcome. There’s always more to learn, more tools to bring in, and more ways to simplify complexity. And that’s what drives Daedalus every day.