Tag: 3d printers

The ultimate in customer service [08/26/2010]

[How wild was it that I could write a blog post namechecking pretty much all the people in and around an open source project in a short blog post?  All of the people mentioned below were super happy to help troubleshoot and get printers working.  Gotta love open source – and the people committed to keeping these projects going.  Plus, this was still the “wild west” of 3D printers.  People were building printers, innovating, shipping, fixing, and trying new things constantly.]

There’s been some interesting discussion following We Alone On Earth’s post (Plus the updates)) in the comments.  I think WAOE and the various commentors would probably agree that although anyone could build a working MakerBot Cupcake CNC from a kit with enough persistence and help, DIY kits1 just aren’t for everyone.

It’s the “help” part that is the most amazing and enabling aspect.  There are not a lot of products out there where the best customer service actually comes from the customers themselves.  We’ve collectively built up wiki, posted problems and solutions, taken pictures and videos.  It probably took me about three months before I progressed from total newbie posting basic annoying questions to being able to help others with their problems. 2  With each shipment of MakerBots, the product gets better with customer innovations and input, customers improve the instructions and wiki, and there are even more people out there to help you.

  • Bre, Zach, Adam, and Marisol
  • Andrew Plumb aka Clothbot
  • Rick Pollack aka MakerGear for holding my hand in diagnosing a blown thermistor
  • Rick Pollack aka MakerGear and Neil Underwood aka Spacexula for talking me down from the ledge when I clogged my extruder
  • Scott Small aka Tox for PLA printing advice
  • Eberhard Rensch aka Zaggo and J. E. ‘jet’ Townsend for helping me create a mini-mug
  • Conrad Farnsworth for helping me figure out how to install my XY opto-endstops
Drafts Zero - The Lost Blog Posts
  1. The Lost Blog Posts
  2. Plastruder! [Draft 12/25/2009]
  3. UNTITLED [Draft 12/25/2009]
  4. Preparing to print [Draft 12/27/2009]
  5. More prints [Draft 01/04/2010]
  6. Prototype Pricing [Draft 01/19/2010]
  7. MakerBot tuning [Draft 01/20/2010]
  8. Plastic Screw Anchor [Draft 02/02/2010]
  9. Magic [Draft 02/03/2010]
  10. How are you printing with PLA? [Draft 02/16/2010]
  11. Rebuilding my extruder [Draft 02/16/2010]
  12. MY robot [Draft 02/18/2010]
  13. more things i learned [Draft 02/20/2010]
  14. First commissioned piece! [Draft 02/22/2010]
  15. MakerBot: Toy or Tool? [02/25/2010]
  16. Idea for Skeinforge settings… [Draft 03/27/2010]
  17. RepRap and MakerBot alternatives [Draft 04/05/2010]
  18. RepRap Parts for Sale [Draft 04/07/2010]
  19. Where is the Othercutter? [Draft 06/08/2015]
  20. Mendel Parts – Printed, Cast, CNC’d, Lasercut or Injection Molded? [Draft 04/12/2010]
  21. MakerBot Operator’s Manual [06/04/20210]
  22. MakerBot on CBS! [07/07/2010]
  23. New Print: Soft-Pawed Albino Stoat of South Wales Cookie Cutter [07/07/2010]
  24. House calls [07/11/2010]
  25. Digital assistant? [08/05/2010]
  26. MakerBot + Junk = Stuff! [08/06/2010]
  27. Design choices in RepRap, Goals of RepRap [08/14/2010]
  28. Upgrades and obsolescence [08/25/2010]
  29. Dear Anonymous [08/25/2010]
  30. The ultimate in customer service [08/26/2010]
  31. Open Source Makes You Smarter [08/27/2010]
  1. And all that they entail [↩]
  2. It only took me about another month or so before I started posting regularly here.  I find it’s a wider platform for annoying more people than just those that read the MakerBot Operators‘ group. [↩]
Test