By RON WILSON
Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development
Let’s go to Pennsylvania, where a much-needed equipment part is arriving at the factory. Remarkably, this unique part was 3D-printed by a custom machine shop halfway across the country in rural Kansas.
Today we’ll meet the innovative young engineer who engineered this part and created this remarkable business.
Eric Wagner is the founder and operator of Diamond W Custom Machine Works in Agra in northwest Kansas. Wagner grew up in Phillips County. His grandfather enjoyed antique tractors which required frequent maintenance and occasional repair.
“I spent countless hours in that shop working with my grandpa,” Wagner said.
Wagner earned a degree in mechanical engineering technology from K-State-Salina. In 2009, he took a job managing the machine shop for the Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering at K-State’s main campus in Manhattan.
In that position, one of his responsibilities was to work with the engineering student design teams who did hands-on projects, such as building Baja off-road vehicles or the award-winning Powercat quarter-scale tractors.
“As an engineer, I got to help create those designs,” Wagner said. “I worked with hundreds, if not thousands, of great students and helped them get hands-on experience. I had a great job at K-State.”
After hours, he started working in his garage on projects of his own, such as 3D printing.
“I could program a design and then let my 3D printer run all night and all the next day while I was at work,” Wagner said.
He made lots of signs for various businesses. This led to his work in metal fabrication. In 2015, he formed his own LLC.
When the Covid pandemic hit, Wagner moved back home to Phillips County to work remotely. He enjoyed working in a small town and took a local engineering job. He also married Katie, who was working for a nearby hospital. When they had children, she transitioned to a remote work position.
“We teach them the importance of family and community,” Wagner said.
In 2023, Wagner went into the business full-time. Using his last initial, the business was named Diamond W Custom Machine Works. He established the business in his grandfather’s old shop.
The business did multiple projects for growing local enterprises. Wagner also found that the young student engineers with whom he had worked at K-State had gone on to related careers across the country, and they became customers.
“That’s a network that has spread all over the world,” Wagner said. “Many times, they will reach back out about a project. It’s neat to see how those relationships come back around.”
Today, Diamond W Custom Machine Works offers 3D printing, metal welding fabrication, engineering design, and CNC machining.
“I like to see projects through from start to finish,” Wagner said. “It’s fun to start with an engineering design, develop a prototype, and then see it through to the production of the finished product. I enjoy taking an idea from a sketch on a napkin to a manufacturable product.”
These capabilities create demand from research and development startups and manufacturers across the country. “No two days are the same,” Wagner said. “It’s fun to help others problem solve.”
His recent projects range from creating a stainless steel calibration table for an industrial plant, to making steel silhouettes of cowboys for display at the local rodeo grounds.
Wagner has engineered and created industrial machine parts for customers from coast to coast. It’s an impressive record for a business based in the rural community of Agra, population 208 people. Now, that’s rural.
For more information, contact Diamond W Custom Machine Works at 785-282-9321.
It’s time to leave Pennsylvania where a vital part has been delivered from Diamond W Custom Machine Works, halfway across the continent. We commend Eric Wagner for making a difference with engineering entrepreneurship.
For the rural economy, he is definitely doing his part.