SPECIAL SERIES: BUY LOCAL, BUY BUTLER
Throughout September, Journal-News featured stories on small business issues that matter.
Stories you might have missed:
- Middletown doubles down on business retention efforts
- Think small business lending is in the dumps? Think again
- Hamilton Mill tenants win at start-up competition
- Agency's free services help small businesses grow
- Retired executives ready to help small businesses
- Here's what's next for The Hamilton Mill incubator
Find online only, at www.journal-news.com, our video series profiling small business owners throughout Butler County, such as Straight Shot Coffee Co. of Middletown.
3D CREATION STATION
What: Middletown studio outfitted with four 3-D printers. Customers purchase design files online or find them on the web for free. Files can be printed in-person. Or, customers place orders to print and ship their items.
Where: Studio 8 at Pendleton Art Center lower level, 1105 Central Ave, Middletown
Contact: the3Dcreationstation@yahoo.com
Owner: Larry Wagers
Website: www.3dcreationstation.com
Hours: Hours are 5 to 9 p.m. during First Friday in downtown Middletown; 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. during first look Saturdays; and other times by appointment.
Hobbyists, machinists, college students and others who ever wanted to use a 3-D printer can now pay to use one at a new Middletown studio outfitted with four 3-D printers for producing knick-knacks, molds, gifts, prototypes and other useful objects from plastic.
Just select a digital design online using a website such as www.thingiverse.com, and watch the creation grow as material is layered upon layer in the shape of the object. Larry Wagers started 3D Creation Station this month in a studio at Pendleton Art Center, 1105 Central Ave, Middletown. He began taking orders Sept. 27.
Those interested can see the technology on display today during First Friday in Middletown.
“I think it’s going to big. I think in 10, 20 years, like you buy your washer or dryer, you’re going to buy a 3-D printer,” said Wagers, a 28-year-old truck driver and first-time small business owner.
Customers purchase design files online or find them on the Internet for free. The cost to use one of the 3D Creation Station machines is $5 per hour and 25 cents per gram of material used.
Potential customers can come to the 3D Creation studio in-person to print. Or, Wagers also takes orders from customers who want him to print and ship their items.
Hours are 5 to 9 p.m. during First Friday in downtown Middletown; 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. during First Look Saturdays; and other times by appointment.
For more information, contact Wagers via email at the3Dcreationstation@yahoo.com.
“That’s my ultimate goal, to have a place downtown Middletown, where everybody could come and it’s nothing but tech-oriented,” Wagers said.
Patrons could pay membership dues and have access to CNC machines, 3-D printers, and computers to write code on, he envisions.
First Friday occurs every month in Downtown Middletown from 5 to 9 p.m..The Pendleton Art Center, the BeauVerre Studios, the Middletown Arts Center and other places open during this time to celebrate arts, fun and community pride, according to Downtown Middletown Inc.
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