A colleague at work bought a XYZ DaVinci 3D printer. I watched his break-in progress with great interest. This printer has a fantastic price point: $500 MSRP. I purchased mine on sale for USD$400. I’ve waited for the right time to purchase a 3D printer. I strongly believe this is a paradigm shifting technology, and my children need to be introduced to it. I’ve equated 3D printers as the “Mac moment.” In 1985, I remember when my Dad brought home a Macintosh. I remember him unboxing it, turning it on, then griping over the star screws that Apple used in the chassis. It forever changed my family. I think 3D printers are the same.
My first experiences with the XYZ are:
- The extruder carriage was off by several steps on the belt. I had to push it back into alignment.
- It appears the UHU glue sticks really are the best thing to use.
- The unit needed calibration right off.
- The units comes with a half-size filament cartridge. This lasts surprising long.
- There is a lot of flex on the chassis. You can see overlapping metal walls lift off each other. This is easily remedied by a few extra rivets.
- The ball bearing holders are bad of plastic. This will eventually decay and crack.
- The XYZ software is incredible limited…but still adequate. I’m still running it.
- After a month, the glass bed is already starting loose pieces of the glass when scraping off the product. These slivers are not large enough to affect the print quality, but this is the first piece that is going to need to be replaced. I’ve read on forums that XYZ will not warranty the glass bed.
