The XYZprinting Da Vinci 1.0 is a complete 3D printer priced at $499 for personal, home use, small business and the education market. It offers high-quality build design at a modest price, with an impressive feature set for all but hardcore users. It was voted the 2014 CES Editors’ Choice Award Winner – The Most Affordable 3D Printer.
The Da Vinci 1.0 is a plug-and-play out-of-the-box personal printer, with no assembly or equipment adjustments needed. It has a large enclosed build area of 7.8 x 7.8 x 7.8 inches or 20x20x20 cm. The build area is surrounded by double-paned transparent walls that allow users to view the objects while they are printing. The full enclosure protects users from the high temperature at the printing nozzle and ensures that printing by-products are kept within the build area. As a safety measure, the door locks once printing has started.
The front panel has a green LCD that displays the time elapsed and estimated time remaining while printing. The 7.8 x 7.8 inch build plate has an assisted leveling function and is heated. The heating element ensures that the first layer deposited sticks well and the finished object releases cleanly. The plate leveling function (calibration) is done by turning one of three spring-loaded leveling screws. The Da Vinci tells you which of the three x,y,z screws to turn and how much; the process then repeats until the adjustment is complete.
The Da Vinci ships with a demonstration model, ABS filament and XYZWare software to easily print a model of a miniature birdbath. An open-source database of 3D object files allows users to also download and customize 3D models for their own projects.
The Da Vinci features a three-step EZ Mode designed to make 3D printing simple and painless for non-experienced users. The software allows users to resize and rotate and print objects but lacks drawing capabilities. The Da Vinci however does work with many separate 3D modeling, solid modeling and 3D scanning software programs that will generate compatible output files. These software vendors include Siemens PLM, Autodesk, Pixologic, SolidWorks, MS Kinect, 3D Systems.
The fused filament fabrication (FFF) technology uses single-use filament cartridges with 600 gram or 240 m length. It will not accept substitute cartridges or refillable cartridges. These filament cartridges however offer the following advantages:
- The cartridges feed easily into the nozzle, avoiding problems that can happen with spools.
- The cartridges keep the filament dry for better builds.
- The printer automatically knows what temperature setting to use at the nozzle.
- The printer tracks the amount of filament used by meters.
- The printer automatically knows how much filament material remains, so it won’t run out in the middle of a run.
It’s advisable to level the build platform before large or multiple print jobs, and the calibration procedure can easily be done while waiting for the platform to warm up to temperature. The print speed is slower than that of many other printers, but that modest inconvenience is more than offset by the price.
Specifications
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XYZ Printing Da Vinci is a nearly fool-proof 3D printer that just works. It balances affordability, high build quality design and usability to appeal strongly to all but hard-core 3D modelers.
My impression after the first couple of days is good. The unit was cleanly assembled and seemed solidly built right out of the box. When I ran into an issue with the filament not feeding on my first attempt at printing, I emailed support and received a call back within an hour. The representative was knowledgeable and friendly and we were able to track down the problem quickly. After realigning the print head I was up and going. The first object I printed was their sample and it came out perfectly. Next I tried to print one of my own designs from Solid Works and ran into some trouble. I reached out to support again and the same rep from the first time replied in short order showing me how to convert my STL files for use with their software. There are a number of web services which make this process automatic. Once that was taken care of I had my first parts printed out in ABS plastic exactly to my specifications. The accuracy is as good as stereo lithography prototyping with about a 7% savings on weight. This is great for my current prototype since weight is a big factor in the design. So far all of my parts have printed out perfectly and I am on my way to assembling the prototype.
Here are a few things I wish I would have known form the beginning.
1) The filament comes in a non-refillable cartridge rather than a roll as is depicted on amazon and similar sites.
2) The included software lacks any drawing capabilities. All design work will have to be done in another program.
3) There is no documentation or guide for how to use the included software to make adjustments or what the settings do.
4) Customer support is amazing. These guys are knowledgeable and ready to help on short notice. Don’t hesitate to contact them if you have any issue.
5) Pick up some jeweler’s files. You will need them for touch ups
6) STL files from solid works need to be corrected to print properly but there are several reputable web services that can handle this for you.
7) Some types of virus scanners may interfere with installing the print drivers. I had to disable mine then install then turn it back on.
After one week:
During the first week I have ran the printer pretty much non-stop. I changed out the filament cartridge with no trouble and have printed dozens of parts for use in constructing my prototype models. The machine is still performing exactly as I would want it to. I have even used the import feature to print multiple copies of the same part simultaneously.
One month and still going strong.
Still no major issues. I have went through nearly 2 600 gm cartridges and have had no clogs or jams. I did have to adjust the x belt slightly but it was a simple process is becoming easier to use for making minor adjustments. I would recommend checking calibration during the warm up process before any major print job just to be sure. It seems tedious but only takes 10-15 min.
6 month final update.
After hundreds of hours of use I still have not run into any problems which caused bad prints or malfunctions. Here are a couple of things I picked up that ensure smooth sailing. First positioning of parts is extremely important to print quality. Inverting concave items where the bowl shape is facing up rather than the default down helps. I recommend calibrating everything about every 20 hours of use to keep slippage to a minimum. If things are starting to print slightly out of round it is likely the x belt needing adjustment. Finally small fibers build up on the extruder head and can be removed with a brush but a light coating of mold release spray makes cleaning the head a breeze. This unit has paid for itself many times over since I purchased it. If the instructions were better I would give it 5 of 5.
This printer is about what you would expect for the price in a lot of ways. But with a little tinkering it was consistently exceeding my expectations. If you are ordering a 3d printer for the home there is a good chance you are a tinkerer already so this should be right up your alley.
My unit came out of the box with a few issues. First the LCD screen was dead from the start. When I turned the unit on only the x motor would move to center and the screen stayed dead. I noticed some residue on the extruder head which made it seem like maybe it was a preowned unit. After tracing some wires I realized that the y axis motor had come unplugged in transit and once it was reconnected it homed perfectly. I removed the led display and found a small tear in the ribbon cable which connected it to the unit. A quick repair and the screen lit up like it was supposed to.
The software was a bit of a pain to learn since the printed instructions are the only ones in English and next to useless. Once I got it figured out all it does is interpret 3d drawings into a language the printer understands. There are all kinds of fine tune settings to allow small adjustments to how an item is printed. I find these pretty cool but they may be confusing to those less inclined to tinkering around with things.
On my first try at printing I noticed that the head was dragging against the bed making the base layers print incorrectly. To solve this I ended up putting a small piece of folded aluminum foil over the contacts giving the head a little space to move from zero. This fixed the problem and the print quality was better than I expected. If you are buying this as a hobby it is a worthwhile investment. If you just want hassle free 3d printing you should probably resign yourself to paying for one of the more expensive models which require less effort on the part of the user. Good but not great.
I got this two days ago and so I love it. It took no time to set up and I was able to print my first sample in less than 20 minutes from opening the box. The print speed is a little slow compared to my full size Makerbot but for the price difference it really is a small thing. The only issue I have had is when changing cartridges you have to press the new cartridge in firmly while you close the clip to secure it or else it will not read the cartridge as being installed.
One week update and everything is still going better than I expected. Aside from the cartridge issue the only thing I have had to do is put a little glue down before starting a new print to keep the base layers form coming loose and sticking to the head. Great print quality.
After over 100 hours of use there have still been no issues. I ran a six hour print on it the other day and it performed flawlessly. For 500 dollars I really didn’t expect much from this unit but it has consistently surprised me with its durability and print quality. The complete lack of issues common to so many low end printers make this a must buy for anyone looking to get into the 3d printing game.
This is the best buy for the money in the current market. I have involved in 3d printing for over 5 years and this is really the first machine in the low price range to offer the level of technology it does. After running it for 20 hours continuously it has shown no signs of problems.
Pros:
Easy setup and adjustment.
All metal heated parts
Files transfer directly from your computer to the printer.
Onboard LCD display
Large build area with a self-leveling bed
Cons:
Somewhat slow compared to other printers
Object surface quality needs some improvement in texture
Overall a great deal at 500 dollars.
This is my first 3d printer. I have been wanting one for a while but the price along with attempting to assemble a precision instrument in a house full of kids and pets was not appealing. When I saw this ready-to-go out of the box model for 500 dollars, I decided to put it on my amazon account where I could pay it off over time and my wife not get as angry.
This is a great printer to start with. It needs a few tweaks but hey that is probably why you would buy one of these in the first place, to tweak things. There are a few things I think I should mention about this printer.
– It was necessary to attach a magnet to help secure the door.
– You can bypass the expensive cartridges and use standard spools of filament using an Arduino. You can use it to reset the filament counter to 999 and bypass the need to use cartridges.
– Some STL files must be reformatted and exported as corrected STL or gcode files in order to work with the printer software. Using gcode you can copy the file to the removable SD card and print directly from there.
Overall this is a great little printer. I already saved 26 dollars by printing a router guide for my dremel. This thing should pay for itself without even selling anything I make.
The first issue I had was that it wouldn’t print a perfectly round circle. A loose x axis pulley was responsible. If you are having this problem just look of the little screw on the pulley and loosen it slightly to reset the spring then tighten it down to secure it and the problem is solved. Mine has been working perfectly ever since.
Overall for the price and functionality you can’t beat it.
All in all I really like this little printer. It is well designed and preassembled. When you get the calibration and settings right it prints fantastic. I have only had it a few days but at this point my recommendation is buy. A lot of people talk about getting a busted unit out of the box. I wouldn’t worry about it too much mine was fine and the support service is very helpful fixing or replacing units.
Update:
I finally ran into an issue I haven’t been able to solve. When running really long jobs in the 8+ hour range, the printer will suddenly stop and everything resets. I have contacted support and they have been extremely helpful but we have not yet been able to solve it since I have not seen it happen. Other than that it has performed superbly. The print quality is much better than I was expecting. I would still classify this one as a buy.