Try a 3-D Printer With Your Cup of Coffee

New 3-D-printing cafes tempt curious amateur creators in a casual setting

Now you can design and manufacture a coffee cup and fill it with coffee in the same place. In 3-D-printing cafes, customers can fabricate personalized curios, tools and even food, buying an espresso while waiting on their superhero figurines with the faces of family members.

As 3-D printing becomes more widely available and affordable, cafes that offer customers access to the technology have popped up around the world and are heading to the U.S. Owners say they cater to both beginners interested in learning more about an unfamiliar technology, plus architects and engineers who use 3-D modeling regularly.

At DimensionAlley in Berlin, it’s common for people to make figurines of themselves and loved ones to give as gifts at the holidays, says Norma Barr, who opened the cafe with her husband in 2013.

Alex Marschall, a 30-year-old anthropology student, says he visits DimensionAlley three or four times a week. Though he had little knowledge of 3-D printing before he started, Mr. Marschall says he has used the technology there to print a cigarette holder and plans to print a cellphone holder.

“It’s hard not to be interested once you’ve been around it,” he says. “There’s just too much practical potential.”

3-D-printing cafes mostly feature consumer-scale printers, which are used by hobbyists interested in designing and printing small objects and models. (The bulk of 3-D printing technology is employed for more industrial purposes.)

The average desktop 3-D printer cost $1,243 in 2014, says Terry Wohlers, principal consultant and president of Wohlers Associates Inc., a Colorado-based consulting firm that specializes in the 3-D-printing market. Even as the technology becomes more affordable, Mr. Wohlers remains skeptical about their future as standard household items. Still, he says 3-D-printing cafes can survive by providing beginners with instruction and materials they might not have at home.

“Many go into the purchase thinking that they can print new products for themselves and others,” he says. “It’s not that easy.”

Creating objects with a 3-D printer often requires knowledge of computer-aided design software, as well as of the printer itself. Users can either scan a print of an object or create a digital file of the piece they wish to make, which they then upload to a 3-D printer. The 3-D printer reads and prints the item as horizontal layers, which it blends together to create a final 3-D product.

Cafe pricing varies depending on location and the type of 3-D printer employed. In Berlin, 3-D printer use starts at about $8.43 for half an hour; FabCafe Barcelona owner Cecilia Tham charges customers about $13.50 per half-hour. Owners say they aim to keep prices reasonable to lower the barrier to entry for beginners.

The friendly cafe atmosphere—some locations, including businesses in London and Tokyo, serve alcohol—is crucial in bringing in people who might not be familiar with 3-D-printing technology, says Todd Porter, co-founder of FabCafe Global, which oversees five 3-D-printing cafes world-wide.

ENLARGE

Customers sit at FabCafe, a 3-D-printing cafe in Tokyo. PHOTO: DAVID LEFRANC

Ms. Tham has noticed that a lot of older customers with time on their hands to learn about 3-D printing frequent her Barcelona spot. At Mexico City’s 3DLab Fab&Cafe, the environment is more professional than social, says Julieta Aranguiz, who opened the cafe in 2013.

“Most of our customers are students and architects, a lot of visual artists,” Ms. Aranguiz says.

Many locations also host workshops, from introductory 3-D printing to more advanced modeling courses.

“You want to ask a question, we don’t judge people. If you come up with an idea, we make it happen,” says Soner Ozenc, founder ofmakersCAFE in London.

Encouraging 3-D-printing novices is one reason FabCafe in Barcelona offers some free one- and two-hour classes, Ms. Tham says. Most workshops offered by cafes, however, come with a price tag, usually between $50 and $300 per course, owners say.

As 3-D printers have become more affordable—some models are now available in the neighborhood of $500—DimensionAlley has joined with Italian manufacturer Sharebot to sell printers directly to customers. Mr. Marschall in Berlin says he would still frequent the cafe even if he purchased a printer for his home.

“There’s a big difference in doing it on your own at home and being in an environment where you have that kind of exchange and inspiration,” he says.

Some owners have defrayed their overhead costs by teaming with 3-D-printing manufacturers, who donate or loan their equipment to increase their own exposure. Mr. Porter says such partnerships have helped the Tokyo FabCafe turn a profit in a little over 18 months after opening.

3-D-printing cafes haven’t gained as much steam in the U.S. as they have internationally. That’s due in part to the widespread availability of 3-D-printing services within the country, says Mark Hatch, co-founder and CEO of TechShop, a chain of facilities known as makerspaces that offer members access to prototyping and fabrication machines for a monthly fee.

“I think one of the reasons is because there are a lot of big players in the U.S., like TechShop and other makerspaces, that cover a lot of the makers’ needs in terms of fabrication,” says Ms. Tham of the Barcelona cafe. “Makerspaces are still a new phenomenon here in Europe.”

Kristen Smith and her partners decided New York was the place to launch one of the first 3-D-printing cafes in the U.S., despite the city’s high rents. A cafe would mark a departure for Ms. Smith, who is now based in New York. She has previously worked at museums.

Her group envisions the technology will increasingly be used to customize accessories and apparel, and settled on Manhattan because of its strong ties to the worlds of design and fashion. The group is still scouting locations, with a goal to open by the end of the summer.

Source: WSJ