Where it all began – Mark Hearn

I was born in Norwich in 1985 and grew up in Norfolk and Cambridgeshire before settling in Thetford in 1998. Educated by the good folks at Charles Burrell High School (now The Charles Burrell Centre), I passed 11 GCSE’s and after leaving school in 2001, started working rather than pursuing traditional further education. Learning through hands-on experience and online resources, I have developed hobbies and interests into valuable, practical skills, and I very much enjoy being able to turn my hand to most things. By the time I was 16, I had a good selection of hand and power tools and could usually be found in a workshop or under a car, covered in oil and grease in my spare time.

My working life began in sign making, where I was introduced to CAD. This has led to 20 years of experience in design and manufacturing. After redundancy in 2011, I worked various manufacturing jobs while developing a passion for 3D printing. Since buying my first printer in 2014, I’ve built extensive knowledge in the field and have owned many types of FDM printer, and now I am exploring the realms of MSLA printers. In 2024, I started a small 3D printing business, selling products and offering prototyping services like 3D modelling and object scanning. This was the birth of Thetford 3D.