Jeff Bachner/for New York Daily News Jerry Castanos, owner of 3D Heights, a 3D printing company on Broadway in Washington Heights. This printer has Washington Heights popping.
Jerry Castanos can do it all — from model knees that help doctors prepare for surgery to perfectly scaled model buildings and bobbleheads that represent every person in the city .
The 29-year-old businessman opened his store, 3D Heights, on Broadway near W. 172nd St. just over six months ago, and admits it got off to a, well, flat start.
“It was a lot of education that had to happen,” said Castanos, a neighborhood guy who grew up on W. 170th St. and Audubon Ave. “People don’t have to know 3D printing to understand it.”
He described the technology as a glue gun that’s operated by commands from a computer. Each object is scanned or designed with computer software, then “printed” using plastic filament — think of a machine that spits out plastic, rather than ink, to make intricate objects, one layer at a time.
In just a short time, Castanos has been able to attract a wide array of customers, including entrepreneurs, college students, architects, doctors and locals.
“Now, people walk in and they already know what 3D printing is,” he said.
In July, Castanos will be offering 3D design classes at the store.
“The demand is there; the curiosity is there,” he said. “All you need is the inventory to be there.”
Castanos also sells the 3D printers, which can cost from $ 600 to $ 3,000.
He’s among a small, but growing number of stores that offer the service and equipment in the city. A new store, iMakr, just opened last week on the Lower East Side.
Castanos is banking on the 3D printers’ continued growth in popularity.
“It’s the wave of the future,” he said. “It might be one of the top 10 gadgets for Christmas.”
Castanos, a former military defense contractor who worked in Iraq and Afghanistan, said it’s kids who have been quickest to take to the technology.
“You get this technology in the hands of kids, it’s second nature to them,” he said.
He’s already donated printers to his former schools, Incarnation School on W. 175th St., and Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx.
“I wanted them to have that advantage of using the technology early,” he said, adding he often speaks to students about it.
Brook Kerr, of Westport, Conn., came to the store and bought a $ 600 printer as a birthday present for her 14-year-old son.
“He thinks he’s interested in engineering,” she said. “So if this encourages him, it’s good.”
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