Published August 22, 2021

Convert a XYZ Printing DaVinci Jr to HyperCube

Get a cheap XYZ Printing DaVinci Jr and turn it into a HyperCube

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Convert a XYZ Printing DaVinci Jr to HyperCube

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Convert a XYZ Printing DaVinci Jr to HyperCube

I’ve been 3D printing for around 4 years now, the first printer I had was one of those Prusa i3 clones built with plywood, it was taken apart, converted it to a Kossel Delta with 230 mm bed. It has been a working horse printing PLA, but I always wanted a dedicated printer to print ABS and try different printer structures, CoreXY is next on the list.

I bought Da Vinci junior from an auction for about 5000 Yen (50USD), then started this little project to turn it into a HyperCube (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1752766). Some stripped parts from the Da Vinci will be used to put together a laser engraver, so don’t throw them away yet.

Here is what I got for $50, it was in working condition, but the printer had its own issue. No heated bed, chipped filament, proprietary firmware, and software.

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Here is a list of what has been salvaged from the Da Vinci and used in HyperCube

1. Aluminum extrusion from the frame

2. Bottom cover of the Da Vinci jr, keep the plate where Y axis motor is mounted.

3. All steppers

4. Extruder can be reused if you want to

5. All Optical endstop can be reused with modification, pins are identified here, http://www.soliforum.com/topic/13074/teardown-pics-of-davicni-jr/

Together with the cable from the Da Vinci. I am not going into details.

6. LED strip, 5v controlled 12v LED.

http://www.soliforum.com/topic/14142/davinci-led-pinout/

7. Glass print bed if you do not need heated bed

Components purchased

1. E3D V6 Hotend

2. BLtouch bed level sensor

3. BTT E3 mini v2 + TFT43

4. 200 x 200 heated bed from AliExpress

5. Motor for Z axis with T8 lead screw from AliExpress

6. Meanwell 24v 350w PSU

7. Additional aluminum extrusion for the bed and make up the entire frame.

Get to work

Converting Da Vinci to a RAMP based printer is very common and fairly straight forward, it has been covered many times in the soliforum forum, but I haven’t seen anyone turn it into a Hypercube.

Tech2C has a great channel and tutorials about how to assemble a Hypercube so I am not going into details. https://www.youtube.com/c/Tech2C/about

1. Strip all the covers, top, side, bottom, extruder, and everything, leaving only the frame. Da Vinci uses a lot of Torx screws, having a Trox bit set with different sizes helps a lot.

2. Convert the Da Vinci frame to a square one by moving the 4 vertical aluminum extrusions to the corner and secure with a bracket.

Above is the frame with Z bracket/rod holder and X/Y bracket mounted.

Frame for the bed

Location of X and Y endstop

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Cable chain for heated bed

There is enough place to mount the control board after removing the original one from the bottom. Fit a blower fan next to it to cool the stepper is recommended.

This is the finished look with side panels and top cover mounted. They help to keep the interior temperature when printing ABS.