1 Topic by Gee

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Topic: A newb Story - Da Vinci 1.0 And First Prints Included

Hi all,

I'll admit, buying a 3D printer was a bit of an impulse by for me and an expensive one. I am by no means 'well off' and paid £500 for my Da Vinci.

I like new tech and 3D printers simply looked great and cool so I wanted one! I really didn't have much idea of what I wanted to do with one, except for printing some cool and novelty type items from places like Thingiverse.

I read conflicting reports of how hard 3D printing is and how much trouble I will run into down the road and then on the other hand, people advising that they are newbies too and if they can do it anyone can!

I do have one idea in my head, a part from printing cool things for myself, I was thinking of a small, no frills print service aimed at students and designers etc. And I mean by no frills, they send a STL file and I print the item and send it for profit. However, I realise I do have so much to learn yet so we'll see. I would like to hear your thoughts on this though?

Anyway, while researching I opted for the Da Vinc mainly due to the below:

Price
Heated bed
Preassembled
Enclosed

The Da Vinci seems to get a lot of heat online about its quality and failure rate. Touch would I am ok for now but haven't printed much.

I think this printer though is as close as plug and play as you can get. My first print had issues with the first layer but it turns out the calibration was out. Since sorting this, the prints seem decent but I have nothing to compare them to.

Please see the pictures I have attached and let me know what you think.

Thanks for reading.

http://i871.photobucket.com/albums/ab271/SickleFoot/Mobile%20Uploads/20141110_212646_HDR_zps6xbulbld.jpg

http://i871.photobucket.com/albums/ab271/SickleFoot/Mobile%20Uploads/20141103_220814_zps6wkbl01x.jpg

http://i871.photobucket.com/albums/ab271/SickleFoot/Mobile%20Uploads/20141103_203448_zpsmihgho4c.jpg

http://i871.photobucket.com/albums/ab271/SickleFoot/Mobile%20Uploads/20141112_065759_HDR_zpsvpygc51c.jpg

http://i871.photobucket.com/albums/ab271/SickleFoot/Mobile%20Uploads/20141109_194506_zpsqnucrv2e.jpg

http://i871.photobucket.com/albums/ab271/SickleFoot/Mobile%20Uploads/20141112_065749_HDR_zpschsf3lni.jpg

2 Reply by scobo

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Re: A newb Story - Da Vinci 1.0 And First Prints Included

Those prints look pretty good to me.
I'm assuming your still using xyz filament. I found the quality of my prints improved with 3rd party filament plus it's a heck of a lot cheaper !
As for a printing service, I gave that a bit of thought too but there's someone doing this on ebay and not making very much money from it.
They've sold 7 prints in the past month for around £1.50 each. I suppose it could help cover the cost of filament.

Davinci 1.0 with repetier firmware & E3D V6 Lite
Anycubic Photon DLP printer, Einscan-S 3D scanner
Simplify3d, 123D Design, Meshmixer
http://www.thingiverse.com/scobo/designs

3 Reply by Gee (edited by Gee 2014-11-15 14:31:41)

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Re: A newb Story - Da Vinci 1.0 And First Prints Included

Hi Scobo,

Yes I am using XYZ filament. I am on the old firmware I believe so it can be hacked so that 3rd party filament can be used? What filament do you use and when you use 3rd party filament, is it still within the cartridge or do you insert it into an empty XYZ cartridge?

I have just had a look on eBay and seen a few people offering 3D printing services. Starting to think I really have jumped in feet first into something without giving it as much though and consideration that I should of.

Only had the printer a few weeks but already thinking of cutting my loses. I do love 3D printing but I'm not sure what use I can make of it now.

Dam it.

4 Reply by scobo (edited by scobo 2014-11-15 14:38:45)

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Re: A newb Story - Da Vinci 1.0 And First Prints Included

I've been using Sainsmart filament and some slightly cheaper stuff from Wedo3dprinting, both sell on Amazon. The cheaper stuff is just as good if not better.
You can use 3rd party filament with the stock firmware by making one of these cartridge resetters .... http://www.instructables.com/id/Da-Vinc … -Resetter/

I print from reels stored in these filament holders .... http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:457359

And this is the printing service I saw on ebay ....
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3D-Printing-S … 3ce3a2faff

Davinci 1.0 with repetier firmware & E3D V6 Lite
Anycubic Photon DLP printer, Einscan-S 3D scanner
Simplify3d, 123D Design, Meshmixer
http://www.thingiverse.com/scobo/designs

5 Reply by Gee

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Re: A newb Story - Da Vinci 1.0 And First Prints Included

Thanks for the information.

May I ask what the primary use of your printer is?

6 Reply by scobo (edited by scobo 2014-11-15 14:46:38)

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Re: A newb Story - Da Vinci 1.0 And First Prints Included

I see it as a more of a hobby at the moment although I have made a few working parts for things including a couple of components for the printer itself. You'll be surprised how handy it can come in especially if you can create your own 3d models with CAD software.
I'm hoping to buy a 3d scanner at some point although there aren't many to choose from just now and they're quite expensive (around £350).

Davinci 1.0 with repetier firmware & E3D V6 Lite
Anycubic Photon DLP printer, Einscan-S 3D scanner
Simplify3d, 123D Design, Meshmixer
http://www.thingiverse.com/scobo/designs

7 Reply by Gee

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Re: A newb Story - Da Vinci 1.0 And First Prints Included

Yeh. I don't know CAD but playing with Sketchup at the moment.

Which Da Vinci components have you printed? I could do them now as a preemptive strike!

8 Reply by scobo

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Re: A newb Story - Da Vinci 1.0 And First Prints Included

I would highly recommend printing these bearing mounts first ... http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:522632
They're much stronger than the original mounts which tend to break very easily. I had to replace 3 of mine within 20 hours of printing time.
You might also find my bed level adjusters handy .... http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:526058
They replace the 3 thumb screws making calibration much easier.
And these will stop bits of plastic getting into the holes in the corners of the printer floor ... http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:305780

Davinci 1.0 with repetier firmware & E3D V6 Lite
Anycubic Photon DLP printer, Einscan-S 3D scanner
Simplify3d, 123D Design, Meshmixer
http://www.thingiverse.com/scobo/designs

9 Reply by Gee

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Re: A newb Story - Da Vinci 1.0 And First Prints Included

Thank you very much, I will definitely print them.

10 Reply by scobo (edited by scobo 2014-11-15 16:49:33)

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Re: A newb Story - Da Vinci 1.0 And First Prints Included

No problem.
Forgot to mention, there is an easier way to get round the filament counter and use 3rd party filament. Switch to xyz firmware 1.1.E. They messed up the filament counter with this version and it doesn't count down ....
http://voltivo.com/forum/davinci-softwa … repository

You'll find that forum very useful by the way.

Davinci 1.0 with repetier firmware & E3D V6 Lite
Anycubic Photon DLP printer, Einscan-S 3D scanner
Simplify3d, 123D Design, Meshmixer
http://www.thingiverse.com/scobo/designs

11 Reply by Gee

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Re: A newb Story - Da Vinci 1.0 And First Prints Included

Thanks.

Got a lot to look into smile

12 Reply by scobo (edited by scobo 2014-11-15 17:37:59)

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Re: A newb Story - Da Vinci 1.0 And First Prints Included

Your welcome. Hope this has given you some inspiration.
Don't give up on your printer just yet. They really are cool bits of tech and the world of 3d printing is still in it's infancy. It can only get cooler. smile

Davinci 1.0 with repetier firmware & E3D V6 Lite
Anycubic Photon DLP printer, Einscan-S 3D scanner
Simplify3d, 123D Design, Meshmixer
http://www.thingiverse.com/scobo/designs

13 Reply by Gee

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Re: A newb Story - Da Vinci 1.0 And First Prints Included

Thanks mate.

I'm always back and forth but I've not given up yet.

14 Reply by carl_m1968

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Re: A newb Story - Da Vinci 1.0 And First Prints Included

scobo wrote:

I would highly recommend printing these bearing mounts first ... http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:522632
They're much stronger than the original mounts which tend to break very easily. I had to replace 3 of mine within 20 hours of printing time.
You might also find my bed level adjusters handy .... http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:526058
They replace the 3 thumb screws making calibration much easier.
And these will stop bits of plastic getting into the holes in the corners of the printer floor ... http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:305780


Maybe you have an earlier version. From what I understand there are at the very least three revs of this printer floating around. The one I have has been printing nearly non stop for a month now and the bearing cushions are still rock solid.

Printing since 2009 and still love it!
Anycubic 4MAX best $225 ever invested.
Voxelabs Proxima SLA. 6 inch 2k Mono LCD.
Anycubic Predator, massive Delta machine. 450 x 370 print envelope.

15 Reply by scobo (edited by scobo 2014-11-15 21:55:56)

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Re: A newb Story - Da Vinci 1.0 And First Prints Included

I've had mine since the begining of August. It's a really common fault with this printer, or at least it was with the earlier models. There's a long running thread about it here .... http://voltivo.com/forum/davinci-hwmods … ing-holder
Hopefully, you're right and xyz have now addressed the problem with better mounts in the newer machines.

Davinci 1.0 with repetier firmware & E3D V6 Lite
Anycubic Photon DLP printer, Einscan-S 3D scanner
Simplify3d, 123D Design, Meshmixer
http://www.thingiverse.com/scobo/designs