9-year-old sells Iowa-inspired 3D-printed keychains along RAGBRAI route

LIBERTYVILLE — Cutler Earnest turned his 3D printing skills into an entrepreneurial venture along Friday's RAGBRAI route.

Earnest, 9, of Hedrick, parked his stand outside his grandmother's restaurant, Peck's Pub, in pass-through town Libertyville. Next to assorted baked goods, Earnest sat confidently behind a rotating rack lined with 3D-printed keychains of the state of Iowa and bicycles of various colors and sizes.

Earnest, who has a 3D printer at home, says the process goes like this: download an image, put a "micro SD card in and take the stuff from the files, put it on to my 3D printer. And then, I have to click process."

He said the process can take anywhere from 15 minutes to a few hours depending on the size of the figures.

"It's (a) pretty patient process," Earnest said. "My mom helps a lot with it ... But most of the time, I make the stuff."

Earnest said the idea came from his mother, Amber.

"He's been making stuff and selling it to his friends at school," she said.

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So, what does he charge? The "little Iowas" are $3; "little bikes" are $2 and the larger, layered state cutouts that read "I 🖤 Iowa" are $5. The "bigger bikes," priced at $4, are his favorite, Cutler Earnest said.

He said multiple people had come by Friday morning and estimated he'd made about $15 or $20 plus tips. Steve Beckler of Tiffin stopped by and bought a few keychains Friday morning.

"Most of them just say it's really, really cool," Earnest said of the reactions to his art so far. "And I think so too because it's just really fun to print stuff like this."

Virginia Barreda is the Des Moines city government reporter for the Register. She can be reached at vbarreda@dmreg.com . Follow her on Twitter at @vbarreda2 .

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: 9-year-old sells Iowa-inspired 3D-printed keychains along RAGBRAI route