The Fab Store

While nothing lasts forever, the Fab Store can make your things last much longer.

Your Neighborhood, Next-Level Repair Cafe

How often have you trashed an entire product because of a single broken part? What if you could simply replace the part, at a fraction of the cost and waste? The Fab Store pairs advanced 3D printing with repair experts to fix previously unfixable items. These stores keep more stuff out of our landfills and more money in your pocket!

In addition, Fab Stores may finally deliver on the promise of a small-scale manufacturing revolution.

To Repair is Rare

Too often, a single broken part means sending the sum of all its parts to a landfill. For example- A hinge broke on my old electric tea kettle, preventing me from closing the lid properly.

I can't buy a new hinge. I wouldn't know how to install the hinge even if I had one.

I can't find a practical solution to repairing my item instead of replacing it in cases like these.

A repair cafe's inability to fix a tea kettle with a broken hinge served as an inspiration for the Fab Store.

The Fab Store Expertly 3D Prints Parts and Fixes Products

Imagine a store equipped with 3D printers and CNC machines capable of fabricating parts made of metal, wood, plastic, rubber, ceramic and more. An expert greets you, examines your broken item, prints out the broken pieces and repairs your item for you. We have the technology and talent available today. If only there were someone to make the store a reality.

Fab Store 3D printers are way better than your home printer! This Modix 3D FDM printer is almost 5 feet tall, prints quickly and handles a wide variety of materials. Image courtesy of Modix.

How Do Fab Store Repairs Work?

Your friendly neighborhood Fab Store is on a street corner near you. As you enter, a repair expert greets you, examines your broken item and comes up with a plan to fix it.

Your item may just need some adjustment. It may need a new screw or electronic component. It may benefit from a workaround rather than a like-new fix.

Both Fab Stores and traditional repair cafes handle simple these repairs.

Fab Stores take repair to the next level by 3D printing broken and/or hard-to-find parts. Typical repair cafes can't touch what Fab Stores can fix!

Imagine the wheel of your child's favorite toy truck fell off. The problem is a broken axle. This axle is not a standard part you can replace. But the Fab Store can create a new axle.

The repair expert extracts the broken axle from the toy and scans it with a 3D scanner. The object appears virtually in CAD software, where the expert "repairs" the broken part in the software. Then the expert 3D prints a new axle and installs it in the truck. Your child gets more milage out of their toy and another item is spared from the landfill.

3D Scanners, like the 3DMakerPro Seal shown here, capture all the nuances of physical world objects down to 0.01 millimeters. Image courtesy 3DMakerPro.

Fab Shops Power Fab Stores

A Fab Store really consists of two buildings: Fab Stores and Fab Shops. In short, Fab Stores interact with the customers and Fab Shops fabricate parts. Both make repairs.

Let's look at each's role in the Fab Store's success.

Fab Stores: Neighborhood Storefronts

Convenient, neighborhood Fab Store locations serve customers where they live- anywhere you might find a 7-Eleven. The retail stores diagnose problems and make common, minor repairs.

The stores have an array of tools and parts on hand, similar to what you'd find in a repair cafe. If the customer's repair requires a fabricated part, it's off to the Fab Shop where the 3D printers are.

Fab Stores also sell unique products, manufactured in small quantities on Fab Store equipment. These items draw new people into the store and offer repair customers impulse buying opportunities. The designs for these products are freely available online and one of them might end up becoming the next Rubik's Cube or Hula Hoop.

Fab Shops: Fabricating Happens Here

Fixing, fabricating and manufacturing happen here at the Fab Shops. Here you'll find all the expensive equipment, including a 3D Scanner, 3D printer, CNC machinery and more.

One Fab Shop serves many Fab Stores in the same city. This reduces the cost and headcount required to own and operate all this reasonably expensive equipment.

Fab Shops are located in a separate building by necessity. CNC machines are typically not permitted in commercial zones. Light-industrial zoned areas allow them.

Even if the machines were permitted in a Fab Store by law, here are several reasons why you still shouldn't do it:

• These machines take a lot of space. You'd have to find a building big enough to house both the retail and fabrication sides. This would cost more to lease and limit the locations where you could open a Fab Store
• The machines are noisy and dusty. You don't want to have to yell over the CNC lathe to talk to the customer!
• Fab Stores will have a smaller, repair cafe-style shop on site that will handle most repairs. Fab Shop equipment is not needed for most repairs.

Anatomy of Fab Stores and Shops

An example of a CNC mill for cutting and shaping metal parts. It's one of two CNC machines needed to cover most metal needs. Image courtesy of Tormarch

We've seen the distinction between Fab Stores and Fab Shops. Now let's dive deeper into what goes into each.

People

All the equipment available to Fab Stores means nothing without talented people to operate it. Fixers and makers are crucial to a Fab Store's success.

A fixer can take any broken items, assess it and, if possible, repair it. A fixer must be able to repair anything from small appliances to garments. Free online repair guides help fixers efficiently repair complex products.

Volunteers at repair cafes are a great place to scout these talents- turn their volunteer efforts into a day job.

Makers know how to operate the equipment. They are great with CAD software. They know 3D printing technology and would jump at the chance to work on these large-scale printers and modern CNC machinery. Community makerspaces are a great place to find makers.

3D Scanner

The first step to fabricating a new copy of a broken part is scanning the original part. This gives us the shape and dimensions of the object we're going to produce. The result of the scan appears in the software used to build the new part. If the part that is broken, it is repaired in software before fabrication.

3D Printer

Make non-metal items with your FDM 3D printer, found at the Fab Shop. It prints mostly plastics of various kinds, though it can also use rubber/silicone-like material, carbon fiber and nylon in its creations.

These are professional-grade printers that handle a wide-variety of materials, print quickly and can fabricate large items up to several feet.

Fab Stores use these printers to create parts for repair and to produce products for window shopping.

While these FDM printers cover most scenarios, the Fab Store Network has even larger and more specialized 3D printers for less common needs.

An example of a CNC lathe used for metal object that need to be curved or rounded. Image courtesy of Tormarch

CNC Machinery

This equipment is primarily for fabricating metal items. Each Fab Shop has CNC mill and lathe machines ready to cut and shape metals into parts customers. Whether the part is a replacement for a broken hinge or going into a window shopping product, these machines are capable of some amazing feats.

Metal 3D printers exist but the equipment and the parts it produces are not cost-effective today. They often require CNC machining after printing anyway. While it might make sense for the Fab Store Network to have a metal 3D printer for special jobs, CNC machinery suffices for Fab Shops.

Other Tooling and Equipment

Fab Stores and Fab Shops need other complimentary tools that you might find at a repair cafe or makerspace. Sewing machines, a toolbox of tools, paint and more.

Fab Stores have tools and spare components to do basic, common repairs. Fab Shops have tooling for more advanced repairs, repairs requiring fabrication and for building entire products.

Beyond Repairs: A Small-scale Manufacturing Revolution

Considering all the equipment and skills that go into the them, Fab Stores can double as small-scale factories. You can manufacture a wide range of products using the wide range of materials and tooling available to you. By producing small batches of a variety of unique products, you may stumble upon product destined for mass market success.

Your small factory could offer:

• Pre-fabricated products
• User-requested products
• Custom designed products

Not just repairs. The Fab Store can make and sell items like the "Tic Tac Gun," found on Thingaverse. It's one of millions of designs freely available for 3D printers.

Pre-fabricated Products: Discover the Next Rubik's Cube

Places like Thingiverse are filled with designs for imaginative items you can't buy in stores. Lurking among those designs might be the next best-selling product trend. You manufacture just one of each potentially best-selling designs, then prominently display them in your store windows and on the web site. There's little risk in making products that don't sell and huge rewards when a product proves popular.

Start by producing a single, intriguing item. Put it in the store window. Repeat until your store window is filled with unique and interesting items.

When an item sells, produce another. Maybe two. Increase your production as demand increases.

At some point, enough demand builds to support mass manufacturing. That's when you become the brand leader in the new product space.

The Ratcheted Toothpaste Tube Squeezer, found at MakerWorld, solves the age-old problem of extracting the last bit of toothpaste from the tube. Could this be a hot selling item in Fab Stores?

The Fab Store Network contains the collective wisdom of all Fab Stores on which items sell and which are duds. You decide which products are ready for the big time (mass manufacturing) through this collective data.

Who knows which design might turn into a commercial success. Producing a limited quantity of a wide range of products in search of a winner is a low-cost, low-risk way to discover the next Hula Hoop, hot jewelry trend or must-have phone case. Imagination is about the only limit!

User-requested Products: Bring Your Own Design

You can also manufacture designs your customers find on the Internet. Not only does this create Fab Store buzz when your customers shows off their cool item, it also offers inspiration into which items to produce for your store window.

Customers find unique item designs on the Internet. Or perhaps they are designers themselves. Either way, they need your facilities to produce it.

Today, such a hobbyist would have to depend on their own skills and a makerspace to create the item from their design. It doesn't have to be this hard.

Another free design to display the in the store window. Producing small batches of unique and clever items is a low-risk way to discover the next, must-have product. After finding a winner, mass-produce it and sell millions of them.

Fab Stores could professionally manufacture the item with better equipment, materials and skills. The convenience and value to the customer is far beyond the price you would charge.

You should view customer-supplied designs as an insight into what kinds of products sell. If one customer wants the item, others likely do too. Look at the product space, not just the product, and you may find a profitable niche.

Custom-designed Products: Giving the Customer Exactly What They Want

Customizing a user-requested product opens up a consulting revenue stream for the Fab Store. The user brings in a design that they would like to improve in some way. Maybe it's putting their name in the design. Maybe a certain part of the item needs to be larger. Maybe they want to combine two designs. Fab Store experts have the skills to create unique designs for customers who can pay for the expert's time.

3D printed parts combine with other standard parts, like motors and Arduinos, to make some pretty amazing products! This split-flap display from Printables is a great example.

The Fab Store Network

I envision Fab Stores becoming as ubiquitous as 7-Elevens- on a street corner in every neighborhood in the US. Each Fab Store doesn't live in a vacuum, though. They are plugged into the Fab Store Network. The power of scale and collaboration makes individual Fab Stores even more profitable and capable.

The Fab Store Network pools the knowledge of individual stores while supporting their operations. Here's how:

Sharing Designs

Every custom made part, every custom design, every repair technique discovery goes into the design database. If any Fab Store has fixed it before, all Fab Stores know how to fix it in the future.

The first time an item is repaired at a Fab Store, there's a lot of upfront work. Diagnosing the problem, 3D scanning the broken part and correcting the broken piece in CAD software are typical steps before 3D printing the part. Once a Fab Store repairs the item once, the part design is uploaded to the Fab Store Network. Now the next time any Fab Store encounters the same item, they can skip the upfront work and immediately 3D print the part. Techniques and caveats for fixing the item appear alongside the design.

The Fab Store Network's design database ensures efficient repairs, improving profitability and enhancing the Fab Store's reputation as the master of repairs.

Part Sourcing

Often, the only practical solution to replacing a broken or missing part is 3D printing a new one. What if the part in question is a small screw, a spring or a latch, though? While you may not be able to find exactly what you're looking for at your local hardware store, parts like these are standard and used across many items and many product categories. It rarely makes sense to go through the time and expense 3D print a part when you can buy it for pennies.

The Fab Store Network sees patterns of frequently used parts, finds distributors for those parts and then makes them available to individual Fab Stores.

Eventually, the Fab Store Network could engage manufacturers who produce custom parts only used in their products. This could be a symbiotic relationship where the Fab Store Network reports parts that frequently break and the manufacturer improves their product while supplying Fab Stores with custom parts to keep their existing customers happy.

Which 3D printing can utilize which material. See the accompanying table for details about each printer type's capabilities.

Specialized Parts from High-end 3D Printers

Each Fab Shop has the following equipment:

• A professional-grade, FDM 3D printer
• A 3D scanner
• CNC machinery

This equipment should cover the majority of needs. However, there will be times when even more expensive, specialized machines are required to create parts and items. In these cases, the Fab Store sends the order to the Fab Store Network to fulfill.

Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) printers are the workhorse of 3D printing. Each Fab Store will have one. They can:

• Print a wide variety of materials (not just plastic)
• Print quickly. Some can print 500 mm/sec
• Print fairly large items. 3' x 3' x3' or larger for higher-end printers

Certain materials and processes require different types of 3D printing technologies, though. Namely, Stereolithography (SLA) and Selective Laser Sintering (SLS). Here's a chart ChatGPT created showing the materials each printer type can use and the types of items each materials can create.

3D Printing Materials vs. Printer Types & End Products

Material	FDM	SLA	SLS	Example End Products	Notes
PLA	✅	❌	❌	Prototypes, figurines, hobby parts	Cheap, easy, not heat resistant
ABS	✅	❌	❌	Enclosures, fixtures, automotive prototypes	Stronger than PLA, needs heated bed
PETG	✅	❌	❌	Mechanical parts, bottles, containers	Tough, chemical resistant
Nylon (filament)	⚠️	❌	✅	Gears, hinges, wear-resistant parts	Flexible, durable, hygroscopic. Challenging on FDM
TPU (filament/powder)	⚠️	❌	✅	Phone cases, seals, gaskets	Flexible, rubber-like. Flexible filaments can jam in FDM
Polycarbonate	✅	❌	❌	High-strength brackets, safety parts	Strong, heat-resistant
PEEK / ULTEM	✅	❌	❌	Aerospace, medical, high-temp parts	Industrial-only, costly
Composites (carbon/glass fiber reinforced)	✅	❌	✅	Strong lightweight parts, drone frames	Enhanced stiffness, lightweight
Metal-filled filaments (bronze, copper, steel PLA blends)	✅	❌	❌	Decorative items, jewelry, “metal-like” parts	Heavy feel, mostly aesthetic, not true metal strength
Standard Resin	❌	✅	❌	Miniatures, prototypes, molds	Brittle, fine detail
Engineering Resin	❌	✅	❌	Dental models, mechanical prototypes	Tougher, heat or impact resistant
Nylon (PA12, PA6 powder)	❌	❌	✅	Clips, hinges, automotive parts	Industrial SLS staple, strong and flexible
Powdered Thermoplastics (PP, PE, etc.)	❌	❌	✅	Lightweight housings, functional prototypes	Lower density, specialty powders
Metals (true SLM/DMLS)	❌	❌	✅	Aerospace/medical implants, tooling, high-value components	Expensive, requires post-processing

Compatible materials aside, other limitations with FDM require other 3D printing technologies for certain items. For example, FDM technology is:

• Low-resolution. It creates visible lines between each layer laid down. An SLA printer creates items with smooth surfaces and much finer detail
• Not very strong. Items produced FDM printers tend to have weak adhesion between each layer. SLA have low mechanical strength without post-processing. Only SLS can produce strong parts natively
• Single item printing. Speed is often measured in hours when it comes to 3D printing. This can be a bottleneck. While SLA and SLS typically print slower, they can print multiple items at the same time. FDM it limited to one item at a time

Having an additional SLA and SLS printer at each Fab Shop would be cost prohibitive.

Beyond 3D printers, the Fab Store Network could buy other types of expensive, large, specialized machines to offer a wider range of materials and items, such as:

• Woodworking
• Metal 3D printers
• Food-safe materials
• Specialized CNC machinery

When a customer's part or item needs go beyond the capabilities of Fab Shop equipment, the Fab Store Network can fulfill the request.

Jeff Lawlor

About Me

About My Idea

I am the founder of Idea Supreme. I also have a lot of big ideas. See you around!

Fab Stores make a dent in ending our throwaway culture in two ways. First by 3D printing custom parts to repair broken items. Second by delivering on the promise of small-scale manufacturing.

What Do I Want?

While I give this idea away freely, here's what I'd like if you decide to make my idea come true.

• Own a small percentage of company
• Opportunities for additional, early investment.

Sales Data

When one Fab Store finds a winning product, other locations take notice thanks to sales data provided by the Fab Store Network.

If a product sells well in multiple markets, it might be time to mass market the product. Single-store sales typically can't validate a winner but when it's flying off the shelves in Fab Stores across the country, you can safely move the manufacturing from Fab Shops to big factories.

It's also important to track products that don't sell. There's no need to repeat a mistake at multiple stores.

Fab Store Network sales data aggregated across all stores make each Fab Store more profitable. It also spots trends that may lead to the next holiday's must-have gadget!

Repairs and Sales by Mail

I believe an online process for shipping an item for repair is crucial to the early success of Fab Stores. Virtual window shopping is also part of the experience. This allows Fab Stores to service customers regardless of geography.

The very first Fab Store will need to establish itself in the market. If that market is limited to the store's part of town, it may never scale to a worldwide neighborhood store. That's why a second, online sales channel is needed.

The online repair process needs to meet numerous requirements, some in conflict with others. Requirements include:

• Easy process for anyone The UI should be approachable. It shouldn't overburden the user with required details they might not have or might not apply to their item.
• Collect as many details as possible An accurate estimate is based on an accurate assessment. Some items can't be repaired at all. The customer should feel good about their decision to send the item in. The Fab Store Network should engage the customer in a phone call if we can't offer a good prognosis from the data collected online
• Customers should regularly see Fab Store products in the experience The physical stores display products to draw in window shoppers. The online repair experience should also include the online equivalent to window shopping. The small-scale manufacturing revolution awaits. Fab Stores should be a part of it from the beginning.

Starting Out

The vision is a Fab Store everywhere you might find a 7-Eleven, multiple Fab Shops supporting the stores and the Fab Store Network supporting the whole operation. You first need to get it off the ground, though. Here are some thoughts on starting small and scaling up to the global fabricating repair cafe behemoth it is bound to be!

One Building Does It All at First

I envision the first location as a Fab Store, Fab Shop and Fab Network all in one. This won't be a neighborhood shop. It'll be in a light industrial zone where the rent is cheap and we're permitted to use all the equipment.

For local customers, we'd still have a friendly storefront at the location, complete with pre-built products in the window. The back of the store is sealed off from the front so that noise and debris doesn't enter the customer area.

At this stage, we are prepared for business from local customers. However, I expect most of our customers will find us online until the neighborhood shops open.

Online Repairs and Sales

Bringing a broken item into a Fab Store and talking it over with a repair expert is the ideal customer experience. With only one location in an industrial area with little foot traffic, we can't depend on in-person revenue. We need the worldwide reach of the Internet.

The Fab Store web site/app makes the experience easy and effective. It walks the customer through the assessment process, giving the repair staff enough details to provide an estimate. The customer then sends in the item. We can send a prepaid label and/or box to make shipping even easier.

The Fab Store site mimics window shopping too. Items presented while using the site draw customers into the shopping side where they get lost in a sea of fun and unique items.

The shopping web site even offers build-on-demand products that we don't need to keep in inventory. Just build and ship it on request when a customer orders it.

Marketing

We're creating a new market- Neighborhood stores repairing a wide-array of previously unfixable items through custom fabrication. Building an entirely new market requires more effort than entering an existing market. It takes time and a lot of marketing to create awareness around the new service.

We will need marketing to educate potential customers on what we do. We'll need to understand who our early customers are and target them with advertising.

Since we're in a new space using cutting edge technology, we're likely to get a lot of free publicity through media outreach. Those interviews and articles tell the public about the market we're trying to create and our brand will be forever associated with getting it off the ground.

Host Repair Cafes and Makerspaces

Hosting free repair cafes and renting makerspaces is another way to get the word out, bring in some revenue and recruit talent. Let's loot at each.

The Best Repair Cafe Ever

Traditional repair cafes are free and hosted by community members. They happen infrequently and are limited by the tools, talent and supplies available to the repair event.

Fab Stores could donate their time on a regular basis for community repair cafe events. We'd be much better equipped and experienced than a volunteer-run repair cafe.

During these repair cafes sessions, if the item can be fixed by labor alone, the repair is free. We would charge for any standard part required for the repair. If the item requires a custom-made part, we'd charge the customer full price for the repair.

We'd encourage volunteers to help with repairs. Then possibly offer them a job with the Fab Store.

Repair cafes bring people into the store, making them familiar with what we do and demonstrating how capable we are at doing it. Awareness of our brand follows.

Makerspace for Rent

Most cities have community makerspaces where the public can build things on the same kind of equipment found at Fab Shops. We could rent this equipment to bring in revenue. This would also bring in the city's makers, some of whom might make great employees.

A typical community makerspace has 3D printers, CNC machines, sewing machines, painting supplies and more. A Fab Shop has all this equipment. And ours is better and more modern than most equipment offered at community makerspaces.

It would make most sense, I think, to rent by the job. Send us the design electronically, along with payment, and we'll print out the items. The customer would come into a Fab Shop to pick it up when complete.

While I wouldn't expect a large amount of revenue from one-off jobs like these, it offers a tremendous recruiting opportunity. We will especially want to snap up those rare people in the community with both 3D printing and CNC skills!

Obstacles and Risks

Return on Investment for Equipment

Each Fab Shop has about $125,000 in equipment. This will take a long time to recoup regardless of how much business we do. It also will be a significant factor in how much we need to charge for repairs and manufactured products.

Here's a rough estimate of the equipment cost for each Fab Shop:

• 3D Scanner: $5,000
• FDM 3D Printer: $15,000
• CNC Mill: $50,000
• CNC Lathe: $50,000
• Set of Tools: $2,500
• Sewing Equipment: $1,000
• Painting tools: $500
• Parts and raw materials: $1,500

Repair Costs

A repair requiring a custom fabricated part involves a lot of costs, primarily labor. There's a risk that repairs will be so expensive that it costs more than a new, replacement product. This may only leave us with customers who need repairs on irreplaceable items or customers dedicated to keeping items out of the landfill at all costs.

The following chart shows the cost inputs for a single repair with a fabricated part.

Costs will be much lower for a repair that doesn't require a custom fabricated part. Such repairs are done in the Fab Store by a lower-paid employee. The only costs inputs for simple repairs are assessment, repair item, materials (a standard part) and customer pickup.

Costs will be higher for parts using CNC machinery. Preparing for a CNC job requires more setup than 3D printing. It may require both the lathe and the mill. Material costs will be somewhat higher as well.

Cost	Type	Quantity	Amount	Notes
Assessment	Labor	10 min	$5	Assumes $30/hr for Fab Store repair experts
Deliver to Fab Shop	Labor/Transport	1 trip	$2 - $12	Many customer items shipped at once. Cost depends on the number of items shipped per trip
Scan/Repair broken part	Labor	15 min	$11.25	Assumes $45/hr for Fab Shop makers. Only includes employee's time, not scan time.
Prepare and 3D print part	Labor	10 min	$7.50
3D printing filament	Materials	5 grams	$0.10
Repair item	Labor	10 min	$7.50
Deliver to Fab Store	Labor/Transport	1 trip	$2 - $12
Customer pickup	Labor	5 min	$2.50
Total			$37.85 - $57.85

Machine Speeds

While our 3D printers are many orders of magnitude faster than home 3D printers, parts can still take minutes to over an hour to print. Making parts with CNC machinery take a significant amount of setup time for each part. It's possible that our equipment might not be able to keep up with the demand.

Finding/Training Talent

Our success depends on hiring employees with two distinct skillsets: Repairing and making. It's rare to find talent with both skills, though makers, I believe could be trained on repairs. Since there are few employers demanding people with these skills, we will likely need to scout out hobbyists and make them professionals.

We further break down makers into two categories- those with 3D printing skills and those with machining skills. While there may be some employees with both sets of skills, my sense is most will only have one or the other. Training on the missing skill is essential. Cross-training makers shouldn't be overly difficult or intense since both skills have many foundational concepts in common.

Makers will also need repair skills for install their fabricated parts. I believe the dexterity, building skills and mechanical inclination common to makers will transfer well to repairs.

The job market for repairers and makers is pretty small. We will need to be creative on our recruiting efforts to find people with the skills we need. I think we'll have our best luck scouting employees at volunteer repair cafes and community makerspaces. There we find talent with both skills and passion for what they do.

Conclusion

Dump throwaway culture and discover the next best selling products with my Fab Store idea. I believe the technology, the know-how and the market is ripe for this concept. If you can make it work, you'll help create a more sustainable world and finally deliver on the promise of a small-scale manufacturing revolution. And that would be simply fab(ulous)!