Long before MultiForge Lab existed, I was already spending much of my professional life figuring out why things weren’t working, how to make them work better, how to make sure they kept working, and how to make sure the customer got what they expected.
My background is in manufacturing, process engineering, and quality management. Over the years, I’ve worked in process improvement, troubleshooting, quality control, warranty administration, warranty return analysis, quality systems auditing, and as a Quality Department Manager. I also have formal training and certification in CAD software, including Autodesk and SolidWorks.
I learned early that making something is only part of the job. Making it consistently, improving the process, finding the reason something went wrong, and preventing it from happening again are just as important.
That mindset eventually found its way into an unexpected place: 3D printing.
My introduction to 3D printing wasn’t an attempt to start a business. It was a tool for solving problems.
As a Process Engineer, part of my job was eliminating waste and finding better ways to do things. That often meant designing tools and fixtures for specific jobs. The company I worked for had a 3D printer available for proof-of-concept work, and that was where I really got hooked.
It was an Ender 3 V1.
I quickly discovered there was something satisfying about designing an object on a computer and then watching that digital design become something physical.
Using the printer at work was great, but it wasn’t exactly scratching the itch. I started thinking about all the things I could make if the boss wasn’t watching over my shoulder.
That eventually led to my first personal printer, an Ender 3 V2 Max Neo.
What started as an extension of my work gradually became a hobby of its own.
And then the hobby got serious.
I’ve now been working with 3D printing for more than a decade.During that time, I learned much more than how to operate a printer. I learned how materials behave, how designs translate from a CAD model into a physical object, how print orientation affects strength, how small design changes can affect production, and how many different ways there are for a seemingly perfect print to go wrong.
There were plenty of opportunities to learn that last one.
A failed print isn’t necessarily a failure if you understand why it failed.
That philosophy should sound familiar to anyone who has worked as a process engineer or spent time around manufacturing.
My experience as a process engineer naturally changed the way I approached 3D printing. I wasn’t satisfied with simply asking, “Can I print this?”
I started asking:
How should this be designed so it prints reliably?
What material makes sense for the job?
Will it be strong enough?
Can I reproduce the result consistently?
What happens if I need to make five instead of one?
Can the process be improved?
Those are the kinds of questions a process engineer asks.
The more experience I gained as a process engineer, the more 3D printing stopped feeling like a separate hobby and started looking like another form of manufacturing.
One of the things I enjoy most about 3D printing isn’t simply watching a machine produce an object.
It’s figuring out how to make the object better.A prototype might print successfully but reveal a weak point. A material might look great but behave differently than expected. A design might work once but prove difficult to reproduce consistently.
So you change something.
Then you test it again.
That process is familiar territory for a process engineer like me.
The digital model is only the beginning. There is design, preparation, material selection, printing, inspection, finishing, testing, destructive testing (my family’s second favorite thing about what I do: “Here is a model. Now break it.”), and then more troubleshooting.
Sometimes the best solution is to go back to the drawing board. I have a large collection of examples where I did exactly that. Other times, an idea gets shelved because the technology isn’t quite there yet.
Not every idea has to become a product.
Sometimes it’s just waiting for a better printer, better material, better software, or a better idea.
That’s where experience matters.
It’s also why I approach the things I make differently from simply downloading a file and pressing “print.”
The goal isn’t just to produce an object.
It’s to produce a good object.
Modern 3D printing has changed what small manufacturers can do.
A traditional manufacturer may need expensive tooling, specialized equipment, large facilities, and significant inventory before a product ever reaches a customer.
Additive manufacturing lowers many of those barriers.An idea can become a CAD model, then a prototype, then a tested and refined product, and eventually a small production run without requiring a traditional factory.
That doesn’t make manufacturing easy.
It makes it accessible.
At some point, my question changed from:
“What can I print?”
to:
“What can I design, build, test, improve, and actually make?”
That was the beginning of MultiForge Lab.
And if you’re wondering where the weird, slightly questionable mad-scientist personality came from, don’t worry. I’m not crazy.
Like Sheldon, I was tested.
My parents even sought a second opinion.
The conclusion?
That’s something you can determine for yourself.
We’ll make the sanity plea in a future blog.
From Process Engineer to Product Designer
MultiForge Lab is a small-batch 3D printing and product design business built around that mindset.
The products don’t all fit neatly into one category, and that’s intentional.
There are 3D printed collectibles, Dash & Cruise Ducks, jewelry, display pieces, keychains, bookmarks, coasters, and other original creations. Some are functional. Some are decorative. Some exist simply because I thought they should.
The common thread isn’t a particular product.
It’s the process behind it.An idea becomes a design.
The design becomes a prototype.
The prototype gets tested.
Problems get found.
The design gets changed.
The process gets refined.
Then, if it survives all of that, it gets made.
That’s much closer to how I think about MultiForge Lab than simply calling it an online shop.
The name MultiForge Lab reflects that approach.
There is always something being designed, tested, experimented with, or improved.
Some projects work immediately.
Others absolutely do not.
Some require several prototypes before they’re ready. Others reveal problems that weren’t obvious on the computer screen. Occasionally, something completely unexpected comes out of the process and turns into an idea worth pursuing.
That’s part of the fun.
The “Lab” isn’t just a theme.
It’s a pretty accurate description of what happens here.MultiForge Lab is still a small business, and that’s part of what makes it interesting.
There isn’t a massive production facility hidden behind the logo. There isn’t a giant manufacturing department.
There are printers, tools, software, materials, experience, and a steady stream of ideas that need to be tested.
Some will become products.
Some won’t.
Some will probably fail spectacularly.
That’s okay.
The technology will change. The products will change. The business will change.
The underlying mindset probably won’t.
Design it. Test it. Improve it. Make it better.
That’s the mindset that came from years of working in manufacturing and quality.
It’s the mindset that followed me into 3D printing.
And it’s the mindset that ultimately became MultiForge Lab.
There are plenty more things waiting to be designed, printed, tested, and probably occasionally rescued from the scrap bin.
This is just where the story starts.