3D from underground

"Dad, will you print me a car? Mom, will you make me a duck?" Not a vision, but everyday life for Philipp Binkert and Christiane Fimpel from 3D-Model. When four-year-old Gabriel visits his parents in the workshop, they print out a new rocket, a Star Wars spaceship or a toy car for him.

The trained architect and the communications manager have set up shop in a basement they affectionately call "Underground. Shielded from space and time, objects are created here using digital fabricating, also known as fabbing. In a combination of laser cutting and 3D printing, 3D Model brings ideas to real form for customers. While the laser cutter cuts and engraves shapes from wood, glass, plastic, metal or rubber - from company signs and trophies to laptops and iPhones - the 3D printer uses CAD data to create the three-dimensional models. The desired material is filled into the printer and printed out layer by layer with the aid of powder and a binder at the touch of a button, just like a conventional 2D printer. The result is architectural models, prototypes or design objects made of plastic, in a wide variety of sizes and shapes.

Before the breakthrough

It all began as a pilot project after Binkert's architecture studies. The urge to do it himself drove him to build models. Around four years ago, he finally rented space in the workshop near Helvetiaplatz and, alongside his job as an architect, produced his first objects with a laser cutter. Other machines were quickly added, and the first powder 3D printer was soon in the basement. Binkert's enthusiasm for fabbing grew and grew, and so he decided to go all in.

While architects have been relying on 3D printing technology for their construction models or large companies for prototype production for quite some time, the general public had little idea of 3D printing until recently. At the beginning, this was a major hurdle for the young printerbude. To get the word out about his project, the space and object expert brought on board his girlfriend, whom he met and fell in love with seven years ago when he was working in New York for architect Daniel Libeskind. Christiane Fimpel, who studied journalism, communications and PR and worked in corporate communications at Lufthansa, among other companies, is helping Binkert set up the young company. She demonstrates what is possible with 3D printing and is attracting interest from many companies. Since last summer, Fimpel and Binkert have been pleased with the increased demand, and for a few months now, the communications manager has also been 100 percent involved in the young company. "It's gotten serious," Fimpel says. "It's kicking," confirms likewise Binkert, who grew up in New York as the son of two Swiss and came to Switzerland five years ago.

In addition to architects, companies such as Geberit, Elektrolux, agencies such as Wirz Werbung and Notch Interactive rely on 3D models to give shape to their virtual ideas. A company logo was created for Electrolux, and the online agency Notch Interactive worked with the object experts to develop the Number One History Award, a plastic trophy around 35 centimeters high that was awarded to Roger Federer last November at the Swiss Indoors in Basel. A project is currently underway for Wirz Werbung, and Geberit engaged Binkert and Fimpel for a new WC actuator plate with the production of a light guide, which the two helped to implement.

In general, 3D-Model does not only act as executor in projects, but is involved in the entire development process. "We are development accelerators," say Binkert and Fimpel. "The customers have ideas, we have the machine and the know-how on how best to put the individual processes together. We take care of them from start to finish."

In addition, 3D-Model offers workshops and seminars on all aspects of digital production - both in the workshop and outside, for example at the St. Gallen Vocational and Continuing Education Center (GBS). Not only professionals, but also private individuals who are fascinated by do-it-yourself printing are curious to learn more. Those who have drawn a Buddha with pen and paper or on an iPad and want to take it home as a mold. Binkert and Fimpel also accompanied two young customers who were making a wooden cover for their iPhone. A product that can now be purchased.

Each a printer

"We get the craziest requests," Fimpel continues. She sees many opportunities for the advertising and communications industry in particular. With brochures, lettering, pictures and dusty giveaways, it's almost no longer possible to stand out, says Fimpel. Digital production, on the other hand, offers endless possibilities for shapes, "individualized communication in the long run," she says. How about a company logo as a Christmas cookie, for example? It would be very easy to print out the corresponding cookie shape with the printer.

In addition to speed - at the touch of a button, 3D models can hold even the most complicated shape for a concept model - the benefit is cost. Federer's trophy, for example, was produced with a printer intended for home use and available for as little as 2500 francs. Although the resolution is not as high as with a professional printer, which costs around 20,000 Swiss francs, the end result - even without subsequent processing - is impressive. 3D-Model is not only a service provider for digital productions, but also an importer and seller of 3D printers of the 3D Systems brand. With the vision that in the foreseeable future everyone will have their own 3D printer on their desk. Fimpel speaks of an industrial revolution. 3D printing has been around for a long time, but now it is becoming a mass product.

In fact, a 3D printer opens up many possibilities at home. If the hobby DIYer needs a new plastic cup, he gets the corresponding file from the Internet and simply prints out the object. Construction plans can already be found on platforms such as Thingiverse.com or Shapeways. com. But many service providers, such as car repair shops, would also no longer need to keep a large stock, but simply print out the spare parts as needed.

This is a technique that has a lot of potential. After all, the principle works not only with plastic or ceramics, but with all kinds of materials. Even clothes can be printed out, as designer Iris van Herpen showed at Fashion Week Paris. Binkert is constantly testing new alternative materials for their suitability and finding out which materials are suitable for which products.

There are virtually no limits to the imagination. Fimpel envisages filling the printer with food. For example, for individualized giveaways. For Easter, companies could print out the company mascot or their own logo in chocolate instead of an ordinary chocolate bunny. "There's so much potential there," Fimpel enthuses. To this end, 3D-Model.ch occasionally exchanges ideas with ETH's Raplab, where students tinker with 3D printing for model and prototype construction, and Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts' Fablab, a workspace open to young people, students, researchers, and also companies to produce models and experiment with 3D printers. If Fablab is organized as an open workshop based on an open source community, 3D-Model is about commercial ideas, where confidentiality is an important consideration. "The moment it comes to confidentiality, people are underground with us, " says Fimpel.

While Binkert tinkers with new printing materials, the communications manager looks around for larger premises. Admittedly, the basement exudes its own charm. "There's something mysterious about customers coming down to us. We're like Bill Gates in the basement," the two say. However, they've now reached a point where they want it to be something bigger, they say. For the start, the basement was optimal, they say. "A good foundation," says the architect. However, 3D-Model ch wants to grow as a company and is in contact with investors for this purpose. Binkert and Fimpel would like more light and, above all, more space to set up a showroom next to the workshop. So that customers can experience the 3D printers in production.