Side hustle to startup: How one design engineer turned 3D printing into a business
By Rachael Pasini | September 16, 2026
Here’s a story about David Helmers, a mechanical design engineer who couldn’t shake his entrepreneurial itch and started Wolfpack Workshop with his wife, learning lifelong lessons along the way.
Wolfpack Workshop in Columbus, Ohio, provides design and reverse engineering services, 3D-printed prototyping, and end-use parts. Image: Wolfpack Workshop
When mechanical engineers talk about “stress,” they usually mean stress on a part, not on their calendar. But for many, the real pressure comes from trying to balance a full-time job, growing technical responsibilities, and a surge of ideas that don’t quite fit inside the 9-to-5. For David Helmers, a mechanical design engineer in Columbus, Ohio, that strain eventually became the launchpad for his own company, Wolfpack Workshop.
Helmers graduated from Cedarville University with a B.S. in mechanical engineering in 2021 and went straight into a design role at Advance CNC Machining. There, he gained hands-on experience with machining, sheet metal, fabrication, bending, welding, and the realities of how parts actually get made. At the same time, he felt a strong pull in another direction.
“I’ve always had a drive, an entrepreneurial drive, which a lot of people say is kind of strange for a mechanical engineer to have,” said Helmers.
That drive turned into a plan when he and his wife realized they could build something together.
“We make a really good team in business because I have the technical background, and she has the professional photography and marketing background. And we really enjoy doing this together,” he said.
In January 2025, they launched Wolfpack Workshop as a 3D printing–focused design and engineering services business. What started as a side project quickly grew into something larger: new printers, a SolidWorks professional license, and most recently, a large-format SLA machine and 3D scanner for reverse engineering and inspection. By the end of August 2026, he made the jump, left his day job, and went full-time on Wolfpack.
Helmers has a lively LinkedIn profile with updates on his journey and projects. Image: David Helmers, LinkedIn
From “I’ll take anything” to “the margins aren’t there”
In the early days, Helmers took almost any project that came his way. Work arrived from multiple directions, including his former employer, who needed larger or higher-volume prints than their in-house machines could handle. He also engaged with entrepreneurs looking for first prototypes, and worked a long tail of one-off jobs found through LinkedIn and SEO-driven blog content.
“I have seen quite a few jobs lately where a lot of entrepreneurial people want help designing and making a first prototype,” said Helmers. “It makes sense because 3D printing is the perfect technology to make prototypes. You don’t have to pay for special tooling like you would for pretty much anything else.”
Over time, inquiries ranged from replacement parts for a surfboard to a 10,000-piece quote for a rebranding project. The variety was technically and commercially valuable, but it also surfaced a recurring problem: many people assumed custom 3D-printed parts would be priced like mass-produced injection-molded plastic.
Helmers now spends more time educating prospective customers on the realities of cost, process, and margin. In at least one case, he walked away from a project when it became clear that the customer’s desired selling price left no room for a viable manufacturing pathway. That decision made Helmers aware that he was ready to mature from a side hustler eager for any revenue to a business owner willing to say no when the numbers don’t add up.
Learning the “street smarts” of engineering
Helmers is quick to point out that none of this was covered in his engineering curriculum. Like many early-career engineers, he learned the math, the CAD, and the theory in school, and then he learned everything else on the job.
“The way I like to describe it to people is, you learn your book smarts when you’re in school, and you learn your street smarts when you get your first job,” he said. “Through both of those things, I have learned so much about the practical usage of my knowledge, and also things that aren’t even related to engineering, about business structure and interacting with people.”
At Advance CNC Machining, he was the most senior engineer on his team and helped define drawing and documentation standards. That work forced him to think beyond the part itself and consider how different groups will use his output. For instance, he considered:
- Sales, who must confirm the part meets what the customer actually requested.
- Manufacturing, who need clearly defined, reasonable tolerances and processes.
- Inspection, who must be able to verify features with available tools.
- Planning and purchasing, who have to order materials and components without constant clarification.
That same mindset carries into Wolfpack Workshop. Designing for manufacturability, reusability, and inspection doesn’t go away just because the parts are 3D printed in-house. If anything, the constraints become more visible.
Small hardware, big impact
One example Helmers points to is heat-set threaded inserts. On their own, they’re inexpensive brass components. Combined with a well-designed 3D-printed part, they bridge the gap between prototype and production-worthy hardware.
“With 3D-printed plastic, it’s pretty soft, and if you over-torque the threads, then they’re going to strip, and you’re going to have a useless part,” he said.
Rather than relying on soft plastic threads that strip after a few uses, especially at tiny sizes such as M2 or M2.5, Helmers prints appropriately sized holes and then heat-sets brass inserts into the part. The result is a reusable, metal-on-metal thread with enough structural integrity for repeated assembly. For one customer, that relatively simple technique helped secure a multi-thousand-dollar deal with a global company.
Here’s a preview of Helmers’s LinkedIn post that demonstrates a 3D-printed part for heat-set threaded inserts. Image: David Helmers, LinkedIn
It’s emblematic of the “toolbox” mindset that often separates hobbyist printing from professional work, where success lies not just in a printer’s capabilities, but in the accumulated tricks that defy its perceived limitations.
Using AI without losing the craft
Like many engineers, Helmers is also navigating the rise of AI. In his previous role, he was part of a team that developed an AI usage policy that respects ITAR requirements and NDAs, recognizing that copying and pasting sensitive geometry or drawings into a public model is a serious risk.
“There’s a real concern if somebody in the company does not understand that when you put something into an AI, say ChatGPT, you are handing that information to a lot of people who should not be getting that information,” said Helmers.
Personally, he uses AI as a support tool to help identify unfamiliar standards, point to timing pulley profiles or thread specs, or assist in software development. But he’s wary of any future where engineers outsource too much of the thinking. He still wants engineers to be problem solvers, not just prompt writers.
“I think there will come a point where AI will have the ability to do a lot of the things for us, and it’ll actually cause people to regress on average in their ability to solve problems,” he said. “I hope there are a lot of people who share the sentiment that we want to keep people productive and capable of solving problems for themselves.”
Owning the ethics and the outcome
One advantage of running his own business, Helmers noted, is that he sets the ethical standards: “I get to decide what decisions we make, and so I am trying to keep the highest of ethical bars with my own work. If a customer ever asks me to do something unethical, I am the ultimate authority for my own business, and I can say, ‘Sorry. Nope.’”
That, ultimately, may be the key lesson in his journey from side hustle to startup. The transition isn’t just about revenue or equipment; it’s about growing from someone who can make a part into someone who owns the whole decision — technical, financial, and ethical. So far, he’s been fortunate to work for and with companies that value long-term trust over short-term gain.
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