3D Printing Comes to Wallingford

Guttenberg. Wedgwood. Daguerre. Edison. Bell. Seitzer.

The next world-changing advance is 3D printing: using a computer-controlled dispensing head that slowly, meticulously builds up a 3D design into a 3D object, 3D printers promise to open up new possibilities across an dizzying spectrum of domains. Need a part for your washing machine? Print it. Want a lego piece that doesn’t exist? Print it. How about a gun that’s banned? Print it. Want to try out an idea for a new product? Print it. Want to design your own toy, kitchen utensil, furniture, tool? Print it. How about a replacement jaw bone, sized precisely to the cancerous one it’s replacing? Print it.

And now, the Bay Area’s Fathom brings 3D printing to Wallingford (4302 Stone Way N).

This past week, I popped my head in to their new black-windowed office on Stone Way to see what they’re all about.

First, if you imagine a sort of 3D Kinkos, you’ll mostly be disappointed. Dylan Oliver, the northwest office’s General Manager, explained that their customers are mostly larger companies like Microsoft, Hewlett Packard and the like, looking to take advantage of their high-quality 3D printing equipment (while a decent 3D printer from Makerbot can be had for little more than $3,000, the low-end in use at Fathom clocks in closer to $10K, and some head into the six-figures).

That mouse you’re using? In the old days, a prototype might have been carved from wood or some other material, or perhaps sculpted from clay, now design work happens in computer-assisted design (CAD) software programs and are rendered out by the type of 3D printer that Fathom specializes in.

Not to say they won’t print your idea for you, even if you’re just a person, of course: “sure, if someone comes in with an STL file and wants to have it printed, we can take care of it. Costs start around $100”, Oliver explained.

So, what do you want to print?