3-D printing lab opens in Sioux Falls

A 3-D printing lab has opened in Sioux Falls.

Bob Hodgdon Sr. and his son Rob operate Futurescape 3D Solutions.

The two are working on the business along with lead designer Sarah Dukes.

Hodgdon Sr. retired after 30 years in the traditional printing industry and was eager to get into 3-D printing, his son said.

"It's kind of the next evolution in what he used to do, so he was all about it," Hodgdon Jr. said. "He has a maker space in his basement and has a whole workshop set up."

Hodgdon Sr. will handle mass-manufacturing jobs. Hodgdon Jr., who has a health care background, was drawn to 3-D printing because of its medical implications.

"I was interested in 3-D printing organs and cell tissue, so this is kind of an entrance into that world," he said. "The end game is kind of negating the need for a transplant list."

While he ultimately would like to venture into such 3-D printing, the business is starting with custom projects for clients. Futurescape launched earlier this year and mostly has found business through word of mouth. Projects have included 3-D printing prototypes for a toothbrush and a box.

Futurescape also can 3-D print prosthetics.

"We had somebody who had designed a snowflake, and she's been crazy about them forever and never had a way of creating it into a tangible object," Hodgdon Jr. said. "We like to get people's ideas as to what they want and create a 3-D model around that."

The business plans to add a second 3-D printer this month. It will allow for faster printing and more objects at the same time as well as different materials. Currently, Futurescape can print with two types of plastic. The new printer will introduce wood, bamboo, copper, bronze, stainless steel and carbon fiber.

"We're sitting here (waiting), and it's like Christmas for little kids," Hodgdon Jr. said.

He and Dukes have full-time jobs but ultimately would like to move the 3-D printing lab into an office space.

"Where people could come in and look through a catalog of designs or sit down with a designer to map out what they want, and we could either print it that day or in a couple days," he said. "And have the printers going where they can look at other people's projects. At least in my mind, that's the end game for us."