Nestled among trendy boutiques and bars in Jacksonville, FL, two entrepreneurs have set up shop offering 3D printing. Bryce Pfanenstiel and Adam Dukes knew each other for a long time, but this new venture brought the two together in a business venture, aptly named Forge. Pfanenstiel saw the potential in 3D printing after hearing about the nuts and bolts as well as the capability to print out 3D replicas of nearly any feasible object. He turned to an old friend, Adam Dukes, for the software spine needed to branch out into an independent printing source in Florida. The pair won a contest with designs of the Jacksonville building skyline, but had to outsource production to the Netherlands. With the winnings, they started Forge.
Forge offers various services in production and design. They utilize 3D scanning, 3DS Max, Autodesk Inventor, Rhino and Maya. On the printing end, Forge offers in house file prep and conversion, equipment consulting, rapid prototyping, model finishing and direct digital manufacturing. Their website offers easy contact via phone, email, twitter and Facebook. Through their site — brick-and-mortar and online — they hope to attract artists (a homegrown bent greases the door) to expand their impressive portfolio of novel prints.
The unique location has created a local feel to the designs promoted by Forge. A cursory scroll through their portfolio reveals a distinct aesthetic. Jacksonville plays centre stage in their designs from the Main Street Bridge to the Burro Bomber, a local mascot. Forge appears to follow in the vein of the next wave in hometown 3D printing. The quality is on par with traditional manufactured items, yet there is a unique flavour. Jacksonville’s Forge is one of the various arms of 3DP helping extend access to the same demographic fond of microbrews and local baristas.
