It Started as a Hobby

I work full-time in law enforcement—a career that can be mentally taxing, emotionally demanding, and sometimes difficult to simply turn off when the shift ends.

I realized I needed something outside of work. Something I could come home to, focus on, and give my mind a chance to reset.

That’s when I found 3D printing.

What started as a hobby quickly became something I genuinely enjoyed. I started by printing fun projects and learning how the process worked. Before long, I became more interested in designing my own products and figuring out how to turn an idea in my head into something I could actually hold in my hand.

Ironically, the hobby I started to get my mind away from law enforcement eventually brought me right back to it—but for a completely different reason.

Solving Problems One Print at a Time

I started looking at everyday problems differently.

Instead of dealing with a small inconvenience and moving on, I found myself thinking:

“I could probably design something to fix that.”

One of those problems eventually became the ID Vault™.

Working patrol, I regularly found myself trying to keep track of driver’s licenses and identification cards while entering information into my MDT. Officers know the routine—you set an ID down, start entering information, move paperwork around, and suddenly you’re looking around wondering where you just put the thing.

So I designed something to solve the problem for myself.

Then other officers saw it.

They wanted one too.

That was when I started realizing the products I was designing to make my own life easier might actually help other people as well.

The same thing happened with other products. An everyday annoyance became an idea. The idea became a design. The design became a prototype. And after enough tweaking, failed prints, and occasionally questioning why I started the project in the first place, it became a finished product.

That’s really what RKR is about.

Finding simple solutions to real problems.

From RKR 3D Printing to RKR Customs

The business originally started as RKR 3D Printing.

At the time, the name made sense. I had a 3D printer, I was making products, and I honestly didn’t know exactly where any of this was going.

But the business started evolving.

I wasn’t just downloading files and printing products. I was designing my own solutions, creating personalized products, working on custom requests, and helping turn other people’s ideas into physical products.

The name RKR 3D Printing started to feel like it described the machine I used rather than the work I was actually doing.

That’s why I rebranded to RKR Customs.

3D printing is still at the heart of what I do, but RKR Customs gives the business room to grow. It represents custom design, problem solving, personalization, and the idea that a product doesn’t always have to come from a massive company to be useful.

Sometimes it just starts with someone saying:

“You know what would be nice…”

And me responding:

“Give me a minute. I might be able to make that.”