When it comes to enjoying the benefits of a product, nothing says it better than positive customer feedback.

E3D’s innovations are always designed with the user in mind, and when we get great feedback, it makes it all worth it. That’s why we’ve shared the message below. It’s a touching message Natalie in Customer Service received from a customer in the USA who beta tested our up-and-coming product ecosystem, RapidChange Revo. We share it with his permission:

 

“I felt the need to write to thank you on behalf of the disabled 3D printing community. Your upcoming design is a life changer for those of us that no longer have the manual dexterity to work on our home printers. There are many like myself that without help of another, a simple nozzle clog or filament blow out can mean the end of a 3D printer. I just thought you should know what this means to us with disabilities. Your innovation is going to touch the lives of so many.”

 

This message hit all of us at TeamE3D right in the feels, so we followed up to thank him and find out more about his experience.

 

Making 3D printing more accessible

 

Marc took part in our RapidChange Revo closed beta. He explains: “I suffer from a severe form of psoriatic arthritis. It’s a sadly common disease where my joints, especially in my fingers have deformed. This causes massive joint swelling and ongoing permanent disfigurement, especially in my hands. It changes my dexterity progressively both suddenly and slowly. It also causes constant inflammation and pain.” 

Creative projects are an effective distraction from pain, but they become much harder when you can’t work with your hands.

Maintaining any 3D printer needs good manual dexterity. Most HotEnds need tools to change nozzles, and sometimes you need to remove fan shrouds or disassemble parts of the print head before you can even access the nozzle. There’s also hot tightening, which if done incorrectly causes HotEnd leaks and frustrating print failures. Each of these steps involves handling hot metal, which is hazardous even when you’re not affected by a disability.

Most HotEnds need manual dexterity and tools to change a nozzle. This involves handling hot metal that can easily cause burns

 

“With my condition, a simple nozzle change often leads to burns, dropped tools, and loose connections that make me have to do everything all over again. When you can't close your fingers together with any strength – if at all – that's a big problem.”

 

Removing barriers to creativity

 

RapidChange Revo draws on everything we’ve learned during our ten years manufacturing HotEnds for customers and top 3D printer manufacturers all over the world. If you love 3D printing but are affected by a disability, RapidChange Revo might be for you. Find out more about it in our announcement blog.

Our production team are working hard to produce our first batch of RapidChange Revo units which we expect to ship in the coming months. Pre-orders are opening very soon – join our Discord community for up-to-the-minute updates!

 

Nozzle changes are easy with RapidChange Revo

 

Simple things like not being able to get screws back into the heaterblock could mean the end of a 3D printer for Marc. RapidChange Revo eliminates these kinds of problems. It removes the complex nozzle changing steps so that changing a 3D printer’s nozzle is as simple as unscrewing a tube of toothpaste:

• Nozzle swaps are done with your fingers, at room temperature, without any tools.
• Each Revo Nozzle is a factory-sealed nozzle and heatbreak assembly, so there’s absolutely no hot tightening needed.
• Nozzles simply screw in, so it's really easy and you don’t need to follow complex documentation to swap a nozzle.
• It becomes easier to experiment with a range of nozzle sizes if you’re completely new to 3D printing. Print faster prototypes using a 0.8mm nozzle, or print ultra-fine, high-resolution detail with a 0.25mm nozzle.

“For me, 3D printing has become not just a distraction from the physical pain, but also gives me the ability to create again. Most home 3D printers don't have many disability-friendly features, so when I saw what you were developing, I just had to reach out and thank you. Your new RapidChange Revo ecosystem is going to change my life. I understand how that can sound like an exaggeration – it's hard to imagine your fingers not following your mind’s instructions – but that’s how it is for me.”

We love to hear stories like this from our community and we wish Marc all the best! Why not subscribe to his YouTube channel? And, if you have a similar story, why not drop our friendly Customer Service team a message to tell us about it?

Discover RapidChange Revo