A: Like most boys of my era I liked cars, especially fast ones. Porsches were incredibly rare and viewed as almost mythical in the parts where I grew up. In later years I was fortunate enough to drive and race these cars and I developed a love for the older models.

One day I had an idea for a part that could improve horsepower but the solution was too complex for traditional manufacturing. I eventually bought myself a 3D printer, taught myself CAD and started working. The idea worked and led to the development of more parts, and over time it became a business.

My struggle to design and print that very first part led to an appreciation for the frustrations and joys of additive manufacturing. It’s incredibly satisfying to see your idea turn into a real object.

A: The distinctive 911 shape made a huge impression on me as a boy. Perhaps because it looked so different from anything else. In later years I found it to be a very rewarding car to drive and so I ended up restoring them in my spare time and eventually making parts to keep them on the road.

Something that I found particularly fascinating about these cars was the engines. I used to rebuild them and I marvelled every time at the cooling fins, complex castings, rods and levers. The thought of hiding it in an engine bay just felt wrong. I found the steampunk-like character of these old engines mesmerising, especially the 901 model (which is what the very first version of the 911 was called). It’s just a feast of mechanical abundance and that’s also why I ended up focusing on this specific model for my engine art project.

A: The niche that I operate in wouldn’t exist without 3D printing. It’s the main pillar of my business. I also print jigs and fixtures to help me with my work, so 3D printing is doubly beneficial to me.

A: The reason why I switched to Lychee slicer was its ability to load a new version of a model without me having to re-do all the supports. Also the granular way in which supports can be adjusted, that is powerful and I use it all the time.

My workflow is very simple. I place my supports manually so I start by looking at the various ways I could orient the model, always aiming for the fewest supports and the highest print quality, which is sometimes mutually exclusive. I then run the island detector in real mode to highlight any areas that I might miss. I then go layer by layer and place supports where needed, often re-starting a few times as I discover better ways to orientate the object.

These are my top tips and tricks:
1. When possible, I design my object specifically for printing. This may mean splitting the part in more than one piece or altering the shape slightly to make it more printable.
2. Support placement is key. I consider every support location carefully taking into consideration not only islands and overhangs but stresses on the model during printing, also stresses on the actual support pillar.
3. I work with many different resins and make sure that I can print every model I have with every resin I have, without ever altering the supports. That requires a tremendous amount of fine-tuning but saves time in the long run.

A: A successful print starts at the design phase. Wherever possible I design my parts specifically for the type of printing I have in mind and for the stresses they will experience. For FDM I always keep anisotropic limitations in mind and for resin I avoid thick solid areas which could cause dimensional inaccuracy.

Secondly, know your material. Stay well within its limits when printing functional parts. I learned for instance the hard way that not all carbon fibre nylons are the same despite what the data sheets say. The same goes for resins. I thoroughly test every material before I use it for production work.

A: My favourite functional part is an air control box for classic Porsches. It was one of the most complex designs I’ve ever dealt with and the result was one of the most satisfying. I often use it as a case study to illustrate the process from scan to design to print.

However nothing is closer to my heart than the engine art project. It’s taken thousands of hours to make a perfect little replica of the historic 901 engine. It consists of around 400 parts, the majority printed in resin. The difficulty was designing each part to maintain the outward appearance of the real thing while on the inside ensuring that everything fits together in a practical way. And then I needed to find a way of printing each part neatly and accurately. That was quite a challenge.

A: I have a few exciting projects in the pipeline. One of them is adding the legendary 911R to my engine art line-up. It’s largely based on the 901 but has a completely different intake system and some tricky materials that I’ll have to somehow faithfully replicate.

Another is to help Karmann Connection make the world’s lightest 911 even lighter. Their record-breaking car is quite famous in the Porsche world and I’m delighted to be involved in the project. I’ve for instance developed a door handle which only weighs a few grams while still retaining sufficient strength for daily use.

A: One thing I’ve learned is not to be afraid to break the rules and try new things. Many of my parts can’t be printed using conventional methods. I simply keep trying until I find a way, often a very unconventional way. The joy of a successful print is so much greater when it wasn’t supposed to work but against all odds it did.