Coaching

Type II Studio, Vancouver BC Nate Chan

How I built a $1,000 a week 3D printing business

Seven months, 114 orders, $32,500 in sales, 8 to 10 hours a week. No modelling background, no paid ads, one printer on a desk in a home office.

Get the full guide, $50 Or start with the free qualifier

Start with the free two page qualifier Ten minutes and a pen. It tells you whether you have a business or a hobby before you spend another dollar. Already decided? Go straight to the guide.

114orders shipped worldwide

$32,500in sales, first seven months

8 to 10hours a week spent on it

$0spent on paid advertising

Where this came from

There was no medal at the finish line, so I made one

I had just lost a cafe I spent a year building. Weeks from opening, a disagreement with the landlord ended the whole project and I was back at zero.

Anisa bought a 3D printer for us to mess around with at home. I had no modelling experience and no idea what to make with it. Then I remembered The Rift in Iceland. Thirteen hours riding around a volcano, and nothing waiting at the finish line. No medal, no object, nothing to show for the training, the flights, or the suffering.

So I made something to mark it. Friends saw it and wanted their own. Two weeks after deciding I was making maps, a riding buddy referred someone who bought four for $400, which almost paid for the printer.

I am not the best 3D printer you will find. I am proof that you do not have to be.

Seven months in, Type II Studio has shipped 114 orders to customers around the world and crossed $32,500 in sales, at around $1,000 a week from online orders alone. I still work on it 8 to 10 hours a week. The printing was never the hard part. Knowing what to make, who to give it to first, and what to charge is the part nobody explains.

Nate with Anisa and their daughter Audrey — Anisa bought the printer that started all of this. Audrey is the reason financial freedom stopped being an idea and became the point.

Before you go further

This is not for everyone

Worth your time if

You own a printer, or you are about to buy your first one
You keep seeing physical problems you could solve if you had the skill
You are already part of a sport, trade, or community
You have sold nothing yet and want the shortest path to your first ten customers
You are selling already but undercharging and you know it

Skip it if

You want passive income without talking to a single person
You plan to pull files off MakerWorld and undercut everyone on price
You need the first version to be perfect before anyone sees it
You are looking for a printer review or a slicer tutorial
You are not willing to put your face on the internet

Step one, free

The two page qualifier

Print it, fill it in, and you will know in ten minutes whether to keep going. Most people who take it honestly find out they are further along than they thought, and that the gap is about thirty days wide.

The four P test

Problem, profession, passion, profit. The filter I run every business idea through before I spend a dollar.

Your readiness score

Eight honest statements. Your score tells you whether to start selling this week or fix something first.

Your first ten names

Not customers. Proof. Ten lines to fill in, and the reason giving the first ten away is the fastest move you can make.

The next seven days

Three dated actions. Pick the object, print version one, put it in someone's hands and ask what they would change.

Free. No call, no pitch on the phone, just the PDF.

Step two, $50

The full guide

Twenty eight pages. Everything I learned building this from zero, plus the years of starting businesses that worked and businesses that did not. Written for someone who owns a printer and has never sold anything.

Pick something worth makingThe four P filter, why niches beat cool prints, and the niches that are already dead
Validate before you spendGive the first ten away, collect feedback and photos, and why nobody can see who paid
Gear that mattersThe $200 setup, what to buy at $500, $1,500 and $5,000, materials, ventilation, when to add a second printer
From idea to sellable productHow I design without a modelling background, licensing other people's files, and getting to a usable file in an afternoon
Quality and wasteFilament storage, bed adhesion, batching a plate, the finishing that makes a print look premium, and my full slicer profile
PricingTrue cost per unit, the margin floor, why free shipping wins, and the exact reason most makers charge too little
Where to sellShopify against Etsy against markets against selling direct, and what a product page needs to convert
Content that sellsThe posts that moved product for me, the ones that flopped, and why paid ads are the wrong first move
PartnershipsHow I got artifacts onto event podiums, what to offer, and how to pitch the events closest to home
OperationsPackaging, worldwide shipping, custom order scope, refunds, and when to raise your prices

The 30 day planDay by day from nothing to your first sale, with an outcome for each week

Pricing calculatorFill in filament, time, packaging and fees and get a price you can defend

Launch checklistEverything that has to be true before a stranger pays you

My full print profileThe exact Bambu Studio settings behind every Type II map, every value listed

$50 once, yours to keep

Ten hours of consulting at my rate is ~~$1,000~~. This is the same material, written down, minus the calendar invites.

Get the guide

Read it, work through it, and if it does not give you something you can act on this week, email me and I will refund you. I have never wanted to keep money from someone who did not get what they came for.

Step three, optional

Work with me directly

The guide covers what to do. Some people want a second set of eyes on their specific product, their pricing, or the conversation they are about to have with a customer. That is what this is for.

One call

60 minute working session

Bring your product, your price, and your page. We take it apart and rebuild it on the call. You leave with a written summary and the three moves to make that week.

$100

Ongoing

Monthly coaching

Two calls a month plus messages in between. For people actively shipping who want someone holding the line on pricing, content, and what to say no to.

$150

Live

Small group workshop

A few people, one session, one topic. Usually closing a customer or pricing a product. You practise the actual conversation instead of reading about it.

Coming Soon

Start with the guide, $50 Your $50 is credited against your first session, so the guide is the cheapest way in.

Questions

I have never designed anything. Can I still do this?

I had zero modelling experience the day I started. Tools like Claude and ChatGPT now bridge the gap between an idea and a printable file. If you can describe what you want, you can get to a usable file, usually after a few rounds of revisions. There are also thousands of existing designs with commercial licences you can print and sell while you learn.

What printer do I need before I start?

Around $200 gets you an entry level Bambu Lab A1 Mini, the most beginner friendly machine out there, and it takes up half a tabletop. The guide covers what I would buy at $500, $1,500 and $5,000, and when a second printer is actually worth it.

How fast can I expect a first sale?

Mine came two weeks after I decided what I was making, through a referral from a friend. That is not a promise, it is a data point. What made it possible was giving the first prints away and letting the people who got them do the talking.

Is this only useful if I want to sell maps?

No. Maps are my example, not the lesson. The framework is about finding the thing only you are positioned to make, pricing it properly, and getting the first ten people to want it. It works the same whether you sell to cyclists, mechanics, fishermen or tabletop gamers.

Why is it only $50?

I get dozens of messages every week from people asking how to start this, and they come from everywhere. Plenty come from places where the average income is a fraction of what it is in Canada.

I believe learning these skills is one of the few real routes to independence for someone without much opportunity around them. A printer costs about $200. The skill costs time. Put the two together and a person can earn in a way that is not limited by where they happen to live, and that money goes back into their local economy.

So I am happy to hand this over for far less than I would charge a consulting client. If $50 is still out of reach where you are, write to me and tell me your situation. I would rather you have it.

Where to go from here

Start for free, or skip the queue

The qualifier tells you whether to bother. The guide tells you exactly what to do. Most people take the free one first and buy the guide within the week, which is fine, it just costs you a week.