I remember the first time I watched a 3D clay printer in action…. my eyes were glued to the screen.
I was completely mesmerised, and I knew that I had to get my hands on one- I had no idea where to start – but I figured I would find a way.
That was two years ago…
I scoured the internet for people in South Africa who owned one….can I just say it took FOREVER!
I only found one person who had built his own 3D clay printer. Their machine was just gathering dust because he was not a full-time potter.
I decided to give the printer a test-try, we however stumbled upon some problems with his old machine – because tech moves at an alarming rate – and then Covid 19 hit South Africa and we went into hard lock down.
I decided to try another strategy – build one. The only problem was, I could barely drill a hole in a wall, there was no way I could build it myself…and let’s not talk about all the other tech stuff to get it to actually switch on.
I made hand-made pottery, what the hell did I know about machinery?
So, I asked an engineer that I knew for some help – he had built a 3D printer before, and he decided to take up the challenge to build a clay one.
The design was a little different from the other 3D printers and being that the engineer was working from home, it was difficult to get the mechanical parts. The fact that Covid was just stopping all supply chains in their tracks also did not help – so we ultimately made the decision to stop the build.
The next step was let’s just import one – how hard could that be?
Yeah, I ate my words a few weeks later – I excitedly purchased a … I am just going to call it a Bot.
Once paid for I was told a few weeks later that they were struggling to find parts to build it because of Covid and that they would get back to me.
Please note the printer would be imported to South Africa … which if you look on the map is pretty far away from where all the 3D printers are manufactured – the average waiting time for shipping during Covid would be 50 days minimum.
So, I stayed calm and contacted the Bot company two weeks later to hear how it was going … again as I had not heard anything back.
I was then told they were no longer producing the Bot that I purchased but they had one they were busy manufacturing that was soooooooo much better and I would love it so much more.
Minor problem though, they were still on Kickstarter for that printer, and it would be months before it was even produced… meaning that it had not actually been manufactured.
The build plate (printing area) for this fabulous new Bot was about the size of a large mug, what would I do with a print the size of a mug? I guess printing only mugs and espresso cups would somehow have to sustain my business (I thought whilst grinding my teeth).
I lost it a little– I broke down in tears like an infant, sat on my bedroom floor for a while contemplating what the hell I was doing with my life- got up and wrote an email.
It was short– Give me my money back… I wanted to add a few more words but decided to hold back.
I ended up losing quite a bit of money, exchanges rates changing and all – and through all this – there are not enough “I am sorrie’s” in the world that would make up for it.
They company took advantage of me and sold me on a product that they were no longer producing, just to try and get me to buy another one after I had already paid…. it is absolutely infuriating!
I was pretty much ready to just take a vacation from my dream, but after a few rants I felt a lot better.
I just needed a few weeks to figure out another plan.