Everyone who does 3D printing has to know Joel – the 3D Printing Nerd. He makes awesome videos and prints great stuff. But what you see on the camera is just a tiny part of what he does. For example, did you know Joel offers 3D printing services? He’s busy printing orders for customers when he’s not testing the latest machines or fixing things with his 3D-printed hammer.

Joel’s studio is just north of Seattle, in an inconspicuous warehouse he shares with a company that imports goods from India and Nepal. It gives the place a unique feel—and a pretty great smell, too! We talked for several hours, From 3D printing to the meaning of life (beer and burgers!). And we captured the most exciting moments in an interview:

Joel in the studio

What you see on the camera is just a tiny fraction of the warehouse – a polished corner with 3D printers, filaments, tools, and various models. But what may look like a decoration actually has a purpose.

What is this area over here – just in the corner of your studio?

I run high-temperature and industrial machines like this 22IDEX from Vision Miner in this testbed area. I’ve been collaborating with them to create a better machine. You know how it is – someone outside the company with fresh eyes to give them feedback on the UX and these kinds of things. So far, I think my work has been valuable, and this is really a killer machine. I’m going to make an epic video about it! Next to the 22IDEX is the Pantheon HS3, which I’m also helping to improve. It’s been a fun one to use. What I like most about this part of my studio is that I can sit out here, really just “nerd out” with interesting 3D printers, have fun, and leave with a feeling that my work has helped someone to make a better product.

Hey, is that an MK4S on the table?

Yes, it arrived just two days before you, so I haven’t had the time to play with it properly yet. (note – the interview took place just a few days before the launch) But I really love the direction you took with this printer. And I’m a big fan of the fan (laughs). It just looks so aggressive! To have a machine that can do 75-degree overhangs! That’s absolutely fantastic!

Do you still enjoy doing 3D printer reviews?

I have the opportunity to get machines here before they are released, and part of that joy is the ability to test them, use them, play with them, and give feedback. I think giving feedback is very important to improve products, but it also really invigorates my soul because I’ve been doing this for so long: Getting something new like this and out-of-the-box feels great! It’s like the early days of 3D printing when I first started, and I was just staying up till the early hours of the day just printing something.

And what is that thing on the table over there?

When I test something that doesn’t go according to plan, there’s always my 3D-printed hammer. It can “fix” anything. (laughs and demonstrates)

Joel’s 3D printing farm

Just next to the shooting space, there’s a dedicated room with a blanket serving as a provisional door. And behind it, you can hear the workhorses…

Wow! That’s…

Yes, welcome to my 3D printing farm area – I’ve got a dedicated room for that with racks and everything. It’s a mix of the Original Prusa MK3, MK3.5 and MK4. And some Original Prusa XLs, of course. This is for my personal 3D printing farm and to fulfill customer orders. I established it a couple of years ago because I had an interesting opportunity, so I bought 18 Original Prusa machines, which I installed at my old studio location, and used them to fulfill the order. After that, I also printed a few orders from an Etsy shop, and after that, it just stayed, and the orders kept coming. It’s also great when I have a project in mind, and I can just throw the full force of my farm at it. (smiles)

How many 3D printers do you have?

As for the number of 3D printers on the farm, I have…(nervously counts) 18 on one side of the room and eight on the other. That’s 24 machines dedicated to production.

Why did you decide to go with Prusa?

I chose the Prusa line of 3D printers as my production machine because I’m familiar with the brand and the software and have had good experience with the hardware, starting with the Original Prusa MK2! I went with something familiar with a proven track record for the usability I put it through.

What’s your favorite feature that Original Prusa 3D printers have?

What I love most is the ability of the machines to get upgraded. The Original Prusa MK3S+ is still a tank and can produce anything that I want. It is kind of slower compared to present-day 3D printers. But you can easily fix that with a 3.5, 3.9, or a 4 upgrade! It’s fascinating that you can still utilize the MK3 base but bring it up-to-date and print much faster! My favorite upgrade is the MK3.5, which makes the MK3S+ usable on your network and an addictive feature. From experience, I can tell that once you start managing your 3D printer remotely from Wi-Fi, there’s no going back. (laughs)

I’m looking forward to upgrading more of my MK3S+ printers to MK3.5.

How do you manage all of these 3D printers?

Getting the know-how of managing a 3D printing farm was a multi-step process. The MK4s, XLs, and MK3,5s are managed through Prusa Connect, meaning I can “talk” to them through my phone or computer. The rest of the printers will get a Wi-Fi upgrade or… I’m exploring the possibility of putting a Prusa Connect on a Raspberry Pi and then connecting it to the network. But we’ll see if that’s possible.

Why go with just one brand?

One of the key differences between having a print farm with machines from different brands and a farm with all the same machines as I have is that you can set things once in software and then just work with it. I chose the Original Prusa MK3S+ as my platform because I can slice my model once and distribute the g-code to all my printers. There’s value in that because when you have a print farm of considerable size, you have to manage your time, and having everything on the same machine gives you some time back. Time you can spend by doing advertising or just spending at home with your family.

3D Printing Nerd offering printing services

You may have heard – but most haven’t – that Joel offers 3D printing services. And most surprisingly, he’s been doing that for a long time…

What interesting things did you make for your customers?

I worked with Craft Computing to make the cases for his Axe Effect server temperature and humidity sensors. I did 415 part A and 415 part B, all on the MK4s on my print farm. I worked with Bill Steel, who makes the 3D Chameleon and worked with him to make 1100 parts in PETG on my MK3 farm. I also worked with Daniel Boyer – she’s got the STEAM Connection – she put together this project called EKGAR, where Every Kid Gets A Robot, and I was able to give her a fantastic deal on some multicolored EKGAR parts that she then packaged up and brought to schools where she then taught kids all about robotics.

Do you get… Ehm… Strange requests from time to time?

Short answer, yes. (Laughs) I remember the first one: Back when I was making cookie cutters and selling them on Etsy, I allowed custom orders to come in, and you occasionally get some strange requests from customers. One of those was a request to make a cookie cutter that would look like a medicine pill, and on it was – instead of the medication name – a bunch of swear words. And… I did it and had a good laugh.

What’s the biggest thing you got to make?

One of the biggest things I made here on the farm was for Dangling Carrot Creative. They did a benefit Haunted Garden for the special effects and prop workers who weren’t working in Hollywood at the time because of the strikes, and I made a bunch of these little carrots that kids wore around their necks so the performers wouldn’t necessarily scare them. We also wanted to give them something big, so I took the Original Prusa XL and I printed this giant angry carrot in two parts. And the layer lines from the XL were so good that the whole thing just looked amazing.

What does a maker need

Besides all the 3D printers, there are a lot of various tooling machines all over the workshop. So – what does a maker need to be a maker these days?

Do you use tools other than 3D printers?

Besides the 3D printing farm, I utilize other tools for manufacturing, such as laser cutting and laser engraving, to customize the packaging of things. And I also like candy… I know it’s not a tool, but when working on a print farm or manufacturing something, it’s great to have little nibbles of gummy bears every so often to keep you going. I know it’s not a tool per se, but it’s a thing that just keeps you going. While a laser cutter allows me to customize some things, the gummy bears just keep me going.

Has a 3D printer become an essential part of a workshop?

I think that some sort of additive manufacturing machine is essential for a creator. 3D printing has solidified itself as a cornerstone of digital fabrication. I believe a 3D printer, a laser cutter, and a CNC machine are essential for someone who wants to get into digital fabrication. Having all of these is great because you can make, subtract, or change something. More than 90 % of the options are available to you.

Fame, fortune, and everything that goes with it

He laughs when we call him a celebrity, so we just had to ask about his view of this status and on advice he gives.

As a well-known figure, you must get asked for advice, right?

Oh yes, I often get asked for advice on how to start your 3D printing service, farm, or YouTube channel. But my advice is simple: Just start! If you want to be a Youtuber, just start making content, and record with your phone or what you have. You’ll find out how to make it better as you go along. The chance is that your first 100 videos are going to be crap anyway, so just get them out of the way! For print farms – if you have one machine and you do a job for someone, congratulations – you are now a print farm operator! (laughs) Keep doing that; do more and more jobs until you reach a point where one machine is insufficient. Then get another, and another, and another… Eventually, you’ll get to a point where I am or even surpass it.

How do you deal with all the fame your work has brought you?

Fame? (laughs) My role in the 3D printing community has been really interesting because I have achieved a level of notoriety in certain places. I can still get my milk and beer without recognition, but everyone knows who I am when I go to events like RepRap festivals or industrial shows like Rapid or Formnext. But that’s not bad; one year, I took my stuff to a booth and stood up, and a line formed of people who wanted to meet me. Kids, grownups, engineers, teachers, other nerds… It felt great because something I had done inspired them, and it’s been a joy meeting them. I’m always thankful when I meet people like this, and it’s been a joy to do what I do and hear from other people that they like it. I count that as the most positive thing in life that ever happened to me.

Why did you become a YouTuber?

Early on, when I started 3D printing, my interest peaked because I could make things that weren’t real into real life. Plus, I’m a giant nerd, so I naturally love this stuff. One of the reasons why I started my YouTube channel was that I loved making stuff, and I wanted to show others the beauty of this process. And I’ve been making stuff since I can remember – with cardboard and masking tape as a small kid – forts for my GI Joes, and then with 3D printers as an adult. I started with a printed holder for my GoPro camera, and after a few years, I got to make things for other people.

Joel on the future

When you’re this deep in 3D printing, you’ve seen stuff, heard stuff – you can predict the future. And what does Joel think about that?

Every time we make a story, we ask about the future. What’s your opinion on how things are going to turn out?

In the future, I’m really looking forward to the advancements of printing materials because it will bring us even more opportunities. I remember the time when PLA was the material to go to, then we had PETG, and now we’re talking about materials like high-temperature nylons, pc-blends, ABS, PEEK, or Ultem – these engineering materials. What’s great is that the price of these materials and machines that can work with them are coming down. I therefore see that in the near future, we’re going to see a lot of print farms offering these kinds of materials to customers who can really take advantage of them.

What’s your opinion on the current state of the open-source?

We can’t talk about Prusa printers and 3D printing without mentioning open-source. And this is my opinion on things – and yours might be different, but this is how conversations are started, right? First of all, open-source is great and helps keep the DIY movement as awesome as it is. I think Prusa is doing open-source like 95 % right. Their team works on models and software until they know it’s good – which sometimes leads to a delay between the release of the machine and the codes or models. But they do a good job in general, and I’m happy that they keep this approach to open-source. But I also go to industrial events like 3D Printopia, the MRRF, or SMRRF…

All those consumer shows. And machines there cost like six or seven figures – and companies talk about the number of patents they have. They promote how closed their systems are. For some, those are valid selling points. For people, that’s terrible – they think that everything should be open-source. I don’t necessarily agree, I think there’s a time and place for things to be open-source, and I think the free sharing of ideas is incredibly valuable, but I think that at a certain level, companies have an IP that has to be protected. Not just for their own financial stability but because they’re dealing with regulations, they’re under ITAR, or they’re dealing with the US Department of Defence. There are things those companies can’t do because of these regulations, and one of them is to share certain stuff freely. Open-source is great for DIY; it makes ideas go forward and brings us new and cool stuff. On the industrial side, the concept of open-source is something that they should look at, but not necessarily implemented due to the mentioned regulations.

Just a dumb thing a grunge fan has to ask

Since we were there and there was no harm, Joel gave us an answer we never expected!

We’re in Seattle, the city where grunge was born. Which local band do you dig?

Can I say all of them? (laughs) No, but seriously, I’ve got this wild story about Soundgarden. When I proposed to my wife, Chris Cornell’s brother was right there!

Wait, like at the proposal? Was he officiating or something?

Nah, he was actually working as a dishwasher in the kitchen! But hey, it still counts, right? (laughs) Just imagine… I’m asking THE woman to marry me, and somewhere in the back, there’s a Cornell scrubbing our plates after our dinner. You can’t make this stuff up!

Jakub Kmošek, Štěpán Feik and Tanya Nedeva