Jimmy DiResta: From Toy Designer to 2M Subscribers

Channel: jimmydiresta   Who: Jimmy DiResta, American maker and artist from New York   Subscribers: 2.03M (as of 12 November 2026)   Niche: woodworking, metalwork and builds

Jimmy DiResta's YouTube description is blunt: "I make stuff for a living, what you see me do here is my Job." As of 12 November 2026 his channel, youtube.com/@jimmydiresta, has 2.03 million subscribers, 909 videos and more than 449 million views. It only exists because a TV network cancelled his show.

From art school to toys

DiResta was born in New York City in 1967 and grew up making things in his dad's wood shop. He enrolled at the School of Visual Arts in 1986 and graduated with a BFA in 1990. In 1993 he opened a toy design company and store called DiResta in the East Village, which made Gurglin' Gutz, a rubber toy shaped like a miniature human organ. He told Filson that he freelanced for Hasbro and Mattel and helped develop South Park keychains and stuffed animals for a client until 2004. When his clients went out of business, so did that work, and he opened what he called the "I'll do whatever you want shop", making signs, chairs and anything else people in the neighbourhood asked for.

A decade of TV shows

Television came next. DiResta co-hosted Trash to Cash on FX in 2003 with his brother, comedian John DiResta, then Hammered with John & Jimmy DiResta on HGTV in 2006, with the tagline "Jimmy can make anything and John can make anything funny." He hosted Against the Grain on DIY Network in 2009, and in 2011 the brothers hunted through New York's dumpsters and flea markets on Discovery Channel's Dirty Money.

The cancellation that started the channel

"My channel started as a reaction to my show (Dirty Money, 2011) getting cancelled on the Discovery Channel," DiResta told Make:. "I was trying to show off and let the TV people see what they're missing. They never really seem to pay attention but the fans did and that's what really matters in the long run." He started posting regularly in the fall of 2011. Because he knew he needed to make a lot of videos, he skipped voiceovers and music and told each story with visuals and the sound of the tools. That fast, wordless style became known as a "DiResta build".

The channel led to more work, not less. Make: magazine invited him to a Maker Faire after noticing the "I make" licence plate from his TV show. He has co-hosted the weekly Making It podcast with David Picciuto and Bob Clagett since October 2014, co-wrote the 2016 book Workshop Mastery with Jimmy DiResta, and in March 2022 starred in Netflix's Making Fun, building kids' ideas for gloriously pointless inventions in his upstate New York workshop.

Fans who pay for more

DiResta did not rely on views alone. He told Filson that he makes at least nine videos a month, and that on his Patreon page "my fans get access to early stuff, rough cuts or when I'm not able to publish videos." He also co-founded The Makers Mob with fellow YouTube woodworkers including Frank Howarth and John Heisz, a paid membership that offers build plans, more than 69 courses, 500+ video lessons, a private members' forum and a weekly live hangout.

What other creators can take from it

DiResta's audience wants more of the shop than a finished video can show: the rough cuts, the plans, the techniques and the chance to ask questions. Those are exactly the things your most loyal viewers will pay for, even if your channel is a fraction of the size.

On Yaff you can share behind-the-scenes posts, photo dumps, extra videos and ebooks behind monthly tiers, take tips, and talk to supporters in group chats and DMs. Starter is free with a 5% platform fee; optional Creator ($19/mo) and Pro ($99/mo) plans drop the platform fee to 0%; payouts go to your bank daily via Stripe. Start your free Yaff page and publish your first post, see pricing, or read how to fund your expedition or adventure with memberships and add Yaff to your YouTube channel.

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Watch Jimmy DiResta on YouTube