6 Vorons

So a lot of people have asked me why I have so many printers. There are a few answers and for sure one of them is… because it’s excellent to have lots of printers. I can print more, and faster and all the time. But the real motivation behind it is…

When I was a young boy I read an article about a man in Japan who was running an injection molding operation out of his garage. He was banging out spoons. He did not make much on each spoon but the machines were running all the time and it created a business for him that required very little labour. It sounded like the proverbial “money tree” or at least for a geek like me. He just fed it plastic (and electricity) and it created a product that he sold on an ongoing basis. I never forgot this storey.

I later went on to study Robotics and Industrial Automation. I created a few businesses along the way and had some success creating companies using applied sciences. But it was a lot of work and those businesses required employees. And, well, employees are a lot of work. So I always dreamt of a day I could build a robotic-based business that made the products I created and required no more than myself. And, “today” seems to be the day.

One of the problems with 3D printing commercially is that it is difficult to compete with injection moulded products. So I knew I needed high margins OR a very lean direct-to-market solution. In comes “Amazon”. Despite the costs of selling through Amazon, it is a great way to sell directly to the end-users; something that did not really exist in the past as it does now.

And, that was around the time I stumbled across the Voron community. I built my first Voron r2.4 in late 2022. And, immediately I thought my dream might come true. The Voron r2.4 is awesome. And, since I built it myself I knew I could maintain it and more of them as well. So I built a second one. And, then my dream became a plan. I built 4 more in anticipation of eventually trying to sell my products, produced myself and sold direct to consumers on Amazon (or Etsy).

It took me many months to build out my “mini-farm” and during that time I started the process of learning how to set up a store on Amazon. The Amazon learning process continues. It has been a struggle but I think I am making progress. I recently had my very first sale to someone random in a place far far away. And, I have just this week sent in my first batch of products to use the Fulfilled By Amazon (FBA) process. I am optimistic.

Building the 6 printers has been a serious learning process and experience. Building a Voron is definitely not for everyone but if you are so inclined you should really check out what I learned through the process of building 6 of them.

So now I just need to create a desirable product and start printing. And, there is the answer to the original question… It is like a business experiment to see if I can design, produce and sell consumer products as a one-man business.

At the time of writing this, I have posted a few products for sale on Amazon USA and on Amazon Canada. But for the most part, these were done for the purpose of learning. I have tons of other products and product ideas waiting to be completed and released.

And, to that end, please help me and my Amazon success by visiting my Amazon store and browsing my products. Just simply viewing my products on Amazon will help my ratings there. Thank you.

Amazon USA

Amazon Canada