If you’re like me, you know Baltimore for its gritty cops who over-rely on the M-F-word and smart drug slingers comparing life to a game of chess. But, as I’m sure the city’s residents would like us to know, Baltimore isn’t the serial drama depicted in The Wire. It’s a living, breathing place and the characters you’re more likely to meet are people like Todd Blatt, Michael Raphael and Graham Stewart, who opened up Bmore3D, a 3D printing shop that portrays B-more with a little more depth.
Bmore3D started when the aforementioned entrepreneurs decided to take their separate endeavours (Custom 3D Stuff, Direct Dimensions, and ShapeShot) and join forces. What began as a pop-up store is now sinking its roots, establishing a permanent home in Baltimore and using Todd, Michael and Graham’s individual skills to offer the city a full-range 3D printing experience. Todd, with his Custom 3D Stuff, can use his design and printing skills to act as a consultant and manufacturer of 3D printed goods. Michael will apply his laser-guided scanning to perform highly accurate scans of 3D objects for printing. And Graham brought his 3D portrait booth, which was previously housed at the MakerBot store in New York City. The booth features a unique API that allows users to print their faces onto eight different objects through Shapeways. You can have your “mug on a real ceramic mug”, full colour selfies and bobble heads, miniature head prints, and silver charm bracelets printed automatically via Shapeways. The shop also sells Ditto and Litto 3D printers, prominently printing in their front window, through a partnership with Tinkerine Studios.
The store has become a fixture of the thriving city, as Todd tells it over at Make. Local residents have already begun flooding the store to sell their own 3D-printed wares alongside Todd’s printed Google Glass accessories and metal jewelelry. Others have brought their own .stl files for printing. And kids are coming in to use the shop’s dedicated MixeeLabs machine for simple, custom jewellery and MixeeMe printing. They even offer hologram printing through a local supplier who can transform 3D models, such as those captured by the 3D portrait booth, into holographic prints. Bmore3D’s defining feature has become its dedication to the city, displaying sculptures scanned by Todd from the Walters Art Museum, in addition to literal busts of famous Baltimore celebs.
Featuring local artists and landmarks will be, in my opinion, what ensures BMore3D’s success. As we’ve seen in the past, the 3D printing trend has coincided with a return to buying local so that consumers will come to support businesses in their own neighborhood before venturing online. And, with niche communities such as that formed by BMore3D, customers will find themselves turning to their local hackerspace as a meeting place to talk about all things tech-related, while watching fascinating machines go to work printing out photorealistic figures and the like. My advice to others thinking of opening up their own print shops, embrace your neighbours!
Source: Make
