Viral videos and making mistakes (Patreon)

Dear Patrons,

It's been a crazy couple of months, including the Endurance Lasers saga, a viral video on Non-planar 3D printing and recently having to pull the AC heated bed video.

I've listened to all of the feedback and the video is back up tomorrow morning with additions like a thermal fuse, chassis grounding and a guide to spotting fake SSRs. Mistakes are something I really fear, especially when they could harm someone. I made the original video to the same standard as what current manufacturers include in printers with AC beds, but it was clear early on the community expected more, so hopefully that's what I'll now be delivering.

This experience has made me consider what's worth covering and how to approach subjects such as this in future. Trying to adapt, I have a nice new disclaimer for any video concerning mains voltage now, just as I have been making companies agree to my review policy since the Endurance review. I had a policy 80% written for a few months now but hadn't had it checked over until recently. If you're interested in seeing it, here's the link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D32DUEt6sChpzKFNihk5ix71uxAcKg2zF1yNEnp0n9U/edit?usp=sharing

Finally, the viral video. I don't necessarily think they're a good thing, I prefer steady and honest growth. Viral videos reach audiences that don't care as much about the hobby and with that comes a worse like to dislike ratio and more negative/trolling comments. Many new subscribers from the video are unlikely to watch future videos and will probably just unsubscribe in time anyway. There's also the come down for the next video, where everything comes crashing back to earth. Fortunately I experienced this early on with the Aldi viral video and knew exactly what was coming this time. Just got to keep your head down and soldier on.

Tomorrow I'm assembling the SK-Go kit, that printer is hopefully going to be a huge winner. It's meant to be the printer you want as your second printer after learning a bunch on your first. It has many of the features out of the box you'd likely add as upgrades to an existing printer. As such I can't wait to see how it goes.

I should also be finishing the Chinese laser buyers guide in the near future. The finals bits and bobs have arrived to get it working to the minimum standard I want for part 1.

Thank you all for your support, there's many cool videos and projects on the horizon I can't wait to share.

Michael