I have removed my Gear Spheres

I want to first thank everyone who has supported me with both versions of my Gear Sphere by reaching out via text, social media and of course purchasing the file from Thangs. However, today I've decided to pull the file from my Thangs page. I was reached out by RuvenBals to remove my models a few days ago. I was open to the idea and we began negotiating a way to resolve this dispute. We attempted to negotiate a resolution which would work for both of us but unfortunately, we were unable to come to any agreement. Sadly, communication between us had eroded and those discussions ended. I was then reached out by another designer who I have a tremendous amount of respect for who has also made the same request. I've put further thought into the idea and have decided to remove the two sphere designs. While I am truly sad that I am removing something I worked very hard on to make, not just re-create, please understand that this is my decision to remove the files. (Just to be clear, no one has ever threatened me to remove the sphere files.)

I want to state and re-iterate that when I designed my Gear Sphere(s), the design was inspired by RuvenBals' design. I have a great amount of respect for RuvenBals and his design. I believe his design is beautifully crafted; it's such a simple design which he cleverly transformed into something that looks both complex and truly mesmerizing. I thought my version could be seen as an homage to him - but because of the way I released my similar looking "Gear Sphere" and sold a license to those who wanted something like his design at a significantly reduced price was understandably not very well received by him. Therefore, I write this as a public apology to RuvenBals. I am sorry I did not reach out to you, RuvenBals, to let you know I was going to make my own version of his Gear Ball which, in hindsight, was not a great way to show my appreciation to you as both a designer and someone I genuinely admire. Additionally, I did not credit you to the extent that I could have, nor should have when I posted my videos with my design. I will learn from this experience and look forward to doing better next time.

With that said. I hope we will be able to look past this selfish and shortsighted approach I took and hope we can work together someday in the future.

I encourage anyone who enjoyed my ball to follow RuvenBals on Thangs and support him in any way you can. You can do that by using the following link (non-affiliate): Gear Ball - 3D model by RuvenBals on Thangs

Those of you who have already purchased either Gear Sphere I've designed, you may continue to use the file at your leisure and for commercial purposes, of course. If you need assistance with the files you've downloaded, you can e-mail me at trynottobreakanything@gmail.com. I will make them available to you privately if you need to re-download the files.

- Erik (TryNotToBreakAnything)