Trials and Tribulations with my Da Vinci 1.0 3D Printer

[Fawbish]

these are some latest 3D design work that I've done whilst keeping printing in mind, as it is for a small competition. (not looking to win, just gives me a good aim) - I probably wont print this, but it will be up on My Mini Factory for others to print if needed. It will sit on top of a small microdrone (quad copter).

It's the Batman vs Superman Dawn of Justice batwing (whispers: non-accurate interpretation)

 

[stigmorgan]

http://www.therpf.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=501685&stc=1http://www.therpf.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=501686&stc=1

these are some latest 3D design work that I've done whilst keeping printing in mind, as it is for a small competition. (not looking to win, just gives me a good aim) - I probably wont print this, but it will be up on My Mini Factory for others to print if needed. It will sit on top of a small microdrone (quad copter).

It's the Batman vs Superman Dawn of Justice batwing (whispers: non-accurate interpretation)

Awesome.

 

[Fawbish]

Cheers chief.

And now I have a model of the BvS batarang ready

which i'll probably print, and test my iron powder/xtc-3d combo on. good times

 

[Fawbish]

So I completed my first proper commission for stigmorgan which was the Arkham Knight gauntlets (designed by Bandiet) - and I finally sent them off to Stig yesterday! He should receive them tomorrow which is great, a finished commission/project is a great feeling. Here is how they looked in the end, and I believe Stig may be looking into getting them hydro dipped. As Stig had also done a quick design for his grenade top fuse boxes, I printed those off as well for him. Neat little things.

I'm proud of this work, but of course like anything, as it was my first commission (Stig was aware) there are things to be improved. Putting such large pieces together out of multiple smaller parts isnt the easiest for clean up afterwards - printers (mine anyway) arent as accurate as some people like to believe. Theres still a lot of post process. But we had honesty throughout the commission, pictures sent in detail and updates throughout so that Stig could critique or let me know he wasnt happy. But I think we've got there!

 

[Fawbish]

And the Batman vs Superman Batarang

 

[stigmorgan]

So I completed my first proper commission for @stigmorgan which was the Arkham Knight gauntlets (designed by @Bandiet) - and I finally sent them off to Stig yesterday! He should receive them tomorrow which is great, a finished commission/project is a great feeling. Here is how they looked in the end, and I believe Stig may be looking into getting them hydro dipped. As Stig had also done a quick design for his grenade top fuse boxes, I printed those off as well for him. Neat little things.

I'm proud of this work, but of course like anything, as it was my first commission (Stig was aware) there are things to be improved. Putting such large pieces together out of multiple smaller parts isnt the easiest for clean up afterwards - printers (mine anyway) arent as accurate as some people like to believe. Theres still a lot of post process. But we had honesty throughout the commission, pictures sent in detail and updates throughout so that Stig could critique or let me know he wasnt happy. But I think we've got there!

http://www.therpf.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=507261&stc=1http://www.therpf.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=507262&stc=1http://www.therpf.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=507263&stc=1http://www.therpf.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=507264&stc=1

I'd go along with that. And ypu looking into hydro dipping the larger pieces of my suit, its gonna be expensive so will prob just spray paint the smallr parts like handbplates biceps and shoulders.
Guys if you want something doing I would fully recommend fawbish, email updates every 1-3 days, 100% honest throughout and will no doubt be paasing work his way again in the future.

 

[Fawbish]

I'd go along with that. And ypu looking into hydro dipping the larger pieces of my suit, its gonna be expensive so will prob just spray paint the smallr parts like handbplates biceps and shoulders.
Guys if you want something doing I would fully recommend fawbish, email updates every 1-3 days, 100% honest throughout and will no doubt be paasing work his way again in the future.

Cheers for the kind words chief!

 

[Jardine]

Hey all, I've been playing with the printer more and more, and I've decided to move the mainly PLA for now. The biggest issue being though, is that the feed tube into the extruder gets too hot and causes the PLA to jam. I'm using Repetier host and I believe I can control the fan speed on the hot end to cool the feed area. Has anyone tried this yet??

 

[Fawbish]

I have seen somewhere online someone using a da vinci for nylon, think they actually changed the hot end though. Havent seen individual fan control anywhere though

 

[Jardine]

I've found a printed fan shroud that directs the air better into the feed area to keep the PLA from swelling and jamming up. I've also seen guys completely print a new carriage that allows you to swap out the E3D hot end so you can print exotics like Ninjaflex and Nylong among others.

 

[Fawbish]

So I've got a stage where my printer is making some high pitched whines from metal on metal when moving in the left direction as you face the door. I wiped down all the bars and applied some oil to them, which did seem to help. It seems to get worse as the printer gets hotter during a print. So not sure if one of the brass sleeves is failing maybe? I'm also getting a rare but noticeable momentary non feed on the plastic, so it doesnt extrude for a few mm during a pass. Not too bad at the moment but not sure why its doing it. I am using new filament for the first time (new being 3rd party) but is dry as a bone and not dirty. Anyhow. Those are my current issues. I need a full on maintenance manual for this printer!

 

[Fawbish]

So some of the issues were lessened when I carried out a quick "re-tension" on the x axis. Didnt do much though. I also sprayed some lubrication on the plastic bearing that holds the rubber belt. this eased some of the squeaking but it didnt disappear.

Here is the latest side project - a massive bloody teapot. This is for my other halfs company, they will paint it up with company logo to use for trade shows etc. printing at 0.4mm for speed and less material. and will start sanding/smoothing soon.

 

[Fawbish]

 

[Fawbish]

OK, so I had a crack at another Iron Man faceplate. Found a really great MK45 file, and shamefully can't remember whose file it was! I saved it under different names and now can't find it. Might have to go through history. Anyhow - it printed out really well once I sorted out some good slices, totally support free, and then I took a bit more time with sanding and smoothing. So pics!

 

[stigmorgan]

OK, so I had a crack at another Iron Man faceplate. Found a really great MK45 file, and shamefully can't remember whose file it was! I saved it under different names and now can't find it. Might have to go through history. Anyhow - it printed out really well once I sorted out some good slices, totally support free, and then I took a bit more time with sanding and smoothing. So pics!

http://www.therpf.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=522998&stc=1http://www.therpf.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=522999&stc=1http://www.therpf.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=523001&stc=1http://www.therpf.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=523000&stc=1http://www.therpf.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=523002&stc=1http://www.therpf.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=522997&stc=1http://www.therpf.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=523004&stc=1http://www.therpf.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=523003&stc=1

Very nice

 

[Fawbish]

Very nice

Cheers chief. Still not as smooth as I'd like! There's no substitution for time and effort I suppose haha

 

[stigmorgan]

Cheers chief. Still not as smooth as I'd like! There's no substitution for time and effort I suppose haha

I've found that someone else's time and effort works well ;-)

 

[AchillesPDX]

Hey everyone, long time lurker, first time poster. I've had a Da Vinci 1.0 for just over a year now and have been slowly making slight modifications to it to increase print quality and reliability and I thought I'd share a couple recent prints (which aren't prop related) to show the print quality that's possible with this printer.

This is my first 3D printer, so it's been a lot of trial and error. My first prints looked downright awful with horrible banding running up the sides of the print, and that was when I was actually able to get ABS to stick to the build plate long enough for the print to finish.

The most game-changing modification to this printer was my conversion from the stock firmware to Repetier Host, followed immediately by the conversion to PLA plastic instead of ABS. PLA sticks to blue painters tape on the build plate every time and doesn't shrink like ABS.

If anyone would like me to do a test print or two of your own files so we can compare print quality, I'd be more than happy to do that (as well as very curious to see the direct comparison.)

Here's a list of things that I've done to the printer, in order, as best as I can recollect:

• Added small pieces of rubber between the metal tabs that hold the glass and the glass itself - this prevents the glass from shifting around during printing
• Added shims between the linear bushings and the build plate
• Properly tensioned the X-Axis belt
• Added shims to the plastic housing of the machine to cut down on vibration and buzzing noises - http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:407970
• Converted to Repetier Host firmware
• Printed spool holder to hang off the back of the printer - http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:493912
• Stopped printing at 0.3mm! This was HUGE and is the main reason for the banding problems I had previously - 0.3mm is not a multiple of the thread pitch of the drive screws installed on this printer.
• Printed and installed new fan shroud to allow printing in PLA - http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:433113
• Insulated hotend with silicone tape to keep the hotend hot while keeping the feed tube cool
• Printed and installed print cooling fan to improve PLA print quality - http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:433148

It looks like a lot, but it's been spaced out over the past year or so. Below are the results of my tweaking - all in various colors of PLA. Coke can included for scale of the Millennium Falcon (that one stopped printing due to a clogged nozzle from cheap filament.)

 

[Fawbish]

Hey everyone, long time lurker, first time poster. I've had a Da Vinci 1.0 for just over a year now and have been slowly making slight modifications to it to increase print quality and reliability and I thought I'd share a couple recent prints (which aren't prop related) to show the print quality that's possible with this printer.

This is my first 3D printer, so it's been a lot of trial and error. My first prints looked downright awful with horrible banding running up the sides of the print, and that was when I was actually able to get ABS to stick to the build plate long enough for the print to finish.

The most game-changing modification to this printer was my conversion from the stock firmware to Repetier Host, followed immediately by the conversion to PLA plastic instead of ABS. PLA sticks to blue painters tape on the build plate every time and doesn't shrink like ABS.

If anyone would like me to do a test print or two of your own files so we can compare print quality, I'd be more than happy to do that (as well as very curious to see the direct comparison.)

Here's a list of things that I've done to the printer, in order, as best as I can recollect:

• Added small pieces of rubber between the metal tabs that hold the glass and the glass itself - this prevents the glass from shifting around during printing
• Added shims between the linear bushings and the build plate
• Properly tensioned the X-Axis belt
• Added shims to the plastic housing of the machine to cut down on vibration and buzzing noises - http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:407970
• Converted to Repetier Host firmware
• Printed spool holder to hang off the back of the printer - http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:493912
• Stopped printing at 0.3mm! This was HUGE and is the main reason for the banding problems I had previously - 0.3mm is not a multiple of the thread pitch of the drive screws installed on this printer.
• Printed and installed new fan shroud to allow printing in PLA - http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:433113
• Insulated hotend with silicone tape to keep the hotend hot while keeping the feed tube cool
• Printed and installed print cooling fan to improve PLA print quality - http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:433148

It looks like a lot, but it's been spaced out over the past year or so. Below are the results of my tweaking - all in various colors of PLA. Coke can included for scale of the Millennium Falcon (that one stopped printing due to a clogged nozzle from cheap filament.)
View attachment 523246View attachment 523247View attachment 523249View attachment 523248

Appreciate the input chief! Great to hear about the mods, and your prints look great. I'm personally a bigger fan of ABS, as I like working with it in post process. But good to know you can switch it up relatively easily. I might be sorting out that spool holder soon!

 

[Saber Concepts]

Haven't posted in this thread in a while and wanted to see if anyone has used the Da Vinici 1.0 Pro? XYZ Printing is running a special for people who have the Da Vinici 1.0 or 2.0 where you can get the Da Vinici 1.0 Pro for only $499 (you save $200). They are calling it an exchange but you don't have to send your old printer in and you get to keep it. The Pro version has an aluminum bed, Open source filament, easier calibration and better software. I just sent off for one and will let everyone know how well it performs straight out of the box. Here is the link that has the new features. http://us.xyzprinting.com/us_en/Product/da-Vinci-1.0-Professional#spec_single