via @Nicholas_Seward
Originally shared by Nils Hitze
A gazillion times this. Srsly. Everyone planning a CrowdFunding campaign for a low cost 3dPrinter read this!
If i had known this in 2012 my life would have been different.
Thanks @Jan_Wildeboer
http://3dprototypesandmodels.com.au/blog-2/
It bothers me that people back stuff with even bigger red flags. Like not showing the machine building the complex parts they imply it can, showing a part supposedly made by the machine, but not showing the machine building said part. Several didn’t show the machine running at all! The promo video is too often just talk. The Cobblebot guy, for example, seemed pretty proud of his test cube made a week after the first promo video - but he implied the machine built a Yoda and Dalek in the original video, so a time lapse of a cube shouldn’t have been impressive. The guy said it had a huge build volume, but of course he didn’t have any samples of large parts made.
Some were individuals showing wobbly prototypes or other questionable build decisions and don’t appear to have experience building machines for production. Being able to assemble a machine for their own use is a far cry from being able to build and support hundreds of said machines.
Does anyone on the team have business experience? How about engineering, logistics and support? Very few give this impression, so it’s likely they’re walking into something they know nothing about.
Plan on crowdfunded 3D printers taking a year to fulfill. I think you’re far better off buying one that’s for sale now, rather than buy & hope they fill your backing a year from now.