I have difficulty expressing how much the RepRap project has changed my life. The experiences had, the people I met and/or had the pleasure to work with. The major failures and minor successes. They have shaped my path.
To all the developers who pushed forward with no promise of profit. Working thankless nights as their side project. You gave a massive gift.
For every person who decided it was not only worth the time to build a printer but also printed another kit for someone else…you spread the project. No matter how those prints looked.
The failed prints and long hours spent staring at nozzles, to the belt lash, homemade hobbed bolts and the skipped extruder steps…thank you.
All you early 3d printer startup companies and suppliers…the successful and especially the failed. Your work led the way. May all your prints adhere until the job is complete…
Those who merely spent their time “trolling the project forward”. Their neverending negativity was the fuel for many devs. Rarely was it constructive…but somehow it still helped.
(RIP #reprap@freenode…long live Kthx/Gthx).
Through the failure or destruction of one machine, often, another was created. When that info was shared freely failures became successes. Parts and machines evolved at a rapid rate.
From you I learned how to build multiple types of CNC machines, to design in CAD as well as many other skills I was lacking in life.
Perhaps most importantly though I learned about OSHW and it’s ethos. It changed my world and yours.
Through working with the short lived TrinityLabs (and the amazing/interesting group of people who somehow got pulled in to work there) I became better acquainted with the developers from the Smoothieware project. Even doing some rework on the original beta boards before TL went under.
This led me into evolving to doing QA for (and eventually producing) the official Smoothieboards, as well as helping with 2 Kickstarter campaigns.
Working with the Smoothieware project has been the most interesting “job” I have had in my life, but also the most challenging. Every day I learn something new…there is something to be said for that. Extra thanks to the Smoothieware project devs for taking me in….I can only hope my help was equally useful.
Every failed machine, every dev that got frustrated enough to start their own project/fork, every failed partnership that led to a new company. Through the failures…it got us here. Praise the problems.
Without this struggle I would not have the confidence to dive into a new machine…or simply maintain my own. I was fortunate to have it. Never will I worry about not having a working printer….if needed I will have one. Through the tribulations I gained understanding. What is the dollar value of that? Hard to tell…
Did I get rich from all this? Not particularly…at least financially. But the knowledge gained, people met, experiences had and machines worked on have all been something that cannot be easily replaced or replicated.
To all those who have been along with me the last 15 years sharing the struggles. No matter where you ended up I am glad we had the chance to share the experience together. Thanks for helping me along.
What machine are you building next?
Chris Cecil (aka Ccecil)
All photos were pulled from my long term flickr account here. No tokens were spent creating this post.