The 3D Printer That Changed EVERYTHING For Makers

Darwin Evo Open Source files: www.printables.com/model/6851...
The full Darwin Evo Story: vector3d.co.uk/2023/12/the-da...
Darwin Evo Kits: vector3d.co.uk/product/darwin...
Sponsor Links
BigTreeTech: biqu.equipment/
LDO Motors: docs.ldomotors.com/en/voron/v...
E3D: e3d-online.com/
RatRig: ratrig.com/
Prusament: www.prusa3d.com/category/prus...
Other Printed Files
3DBenchy: www.3dbenchy.com/
Other Links
RepRap: reprap.org/wiki/RepRap
Buy my designs: vector3d.shop
Support me Via Patreon: / vector3d
Chat on Twitter: @Adam_V3D
Join the Vector 3D Discord: / discord
0:00 RepRap Darwin Evo
1:29 Why is Darwin so Significant
4:05 Darwin Evo Design Process
5:44 My Darwin Evo Design
5:51 Main Frame Design
6:39 Z Axis Design
8:01 Cross Brace Design
8:49 Bed Assembly Design
9:46 Y Axis Design
10:27 X Axis Design
11:09 X Carriage Design
12:16 Toolhead Design
13:46 Electronics Selection
15:39 Accessories
16:49 Darwin Evo STL Files
17:31 Personal Significance
18:32 Was it a success?
19:35 News Announcement!

[@Vector3DP]

This is my Darwin Evo, what would you do if you took on the same project? or if you started with evo, what would you do next?

[@TejaSays]

Hey hope you doing well ❤ I'm from india and I work in an engineering College. Here students are lack of practical knowledge bcz they never get to know about these technologies. But I want to bring that change by introducing 3D printers to my college and I want to review your machine as well. Currently I own an ender machine but after seeing your build I want to try it out.. hope we can talk.. Take care ❤

[@speadskater]

Realistically, coreXYify it

[@SirRobinII]

I dont have any croxy, so I would convert it to that and add more threaded rods so the gantry linear rods are enforced.

[@eski5195]

I'm so happy to see all those old printers get some love, really awesome project ! I've recently built a Prusa Mendel i've retrofitted with Klipper, a Fysetc Cheetah V2 board and a E3D Titan direct drive printhead, i'd love to upgrade it to 24v but its waiting for funds to be finally finished. its capable of doing quite good prints so far and i plan on putting a bed probe on it too !

[@SixOThree]

@@TejaSays Agreed. Do a Core XY.

[@dowhilegeek]

first time in a long while that reprap has gotten the love it deserves. Its really popular right now to not care about open source or the roots of our hobby, and I'm really glad there are those, like yourself that not only care, but celebrate it with fantastic projects like this. 👏

[@Vector3DP]

Thanks. I totally agree, it's important that we remember.

[@thirtythreeeyes8624]

I get very upset with people who don't understand and respect the importance of open source and are cool with companies taking all the hard work of the community and benefiting off it without giving anything back to or even spitting in the face of what allowed them to make their money in the first place.

[@lajoyalobos2009]

As with most technologies, they all unfortunately reach the "appliance phase" where any random Tom, Dick or Harry doesn't care to learn anything new, but just wants to push a button or two and have it done for them.

[@Jman116Films]

My first 3D printer was a Robo3D R1+ back in 2014. Came with an all-metal hexagon hotend, 3:1 direct drive extruder, heated glass bed, and auto bed levelling. I pretty much bought it for the all-metal hotend and the auto bed levelling. That thing was an investment that paid dividends. It directly led me to a full-ride + R&B scholarship, so I'd say that $800 was worth it!

[@Vector3DP]

That's great to hear!

[@ScytheNoire]

Amazing job modernizing a historically significant printer design. I really love how it goes from two influential open source designs: RepRap to Voron.

[@joehimes9898]

Great job. Wishing you health ahead and can't wait to see what you produce. Thank you for enriching my life.

[@Vector3DP]

You're welcome, thankyou!

[@mr_voron]

This is truly glorious! 😂 Great meeting you at the event. Hope to see you there next year.

[@Evinosx]

Oh man I like your blockified Stealthburner. Im building a voron 2.4 right now and might have to copy your printhead.

[@williampowell2078]

Mend well! Thank you for sharing this. I might build this for fun.

[@ww2fly]

What a great video. Thanks so much with inspiring us all and best wishes for your recovery. Also, thanks to your sponsors for supporting this.

[@geekmystique]

Beautiful design, engineering is the best therapy! I Wish you a successful and else-wise super uneventful new year!

[@Vector3DP]

It definitely was a great therapy for me. Thanks, you too!

[@AerialWaviator]

Congratulations, on having designed a successful Retro-RepRap. Great story behind this too!

[@drippythegamecat5365]

Great video! Glad to see you back up & at it after your recovery. Keep at it and happy holidays ❤🎉

[@Vector3DP]

Thank you! You too!

[@SanjayMortimerFoundation]

This is fabulous news! Thank you so much Adam. Firstly for the contribution of your incredible Darwin for SMRRF23. Secondly to you and Joseph Prusa for your next build, and for his donation to the SMF. The SMF is unbelievably grateful☺ to you both.

[@lexdysic416]

This thing is very cool. One note though. You don't need a U2C. The Octopus max can be a canbus controller without it. You just need slightly different firmware and use the onboard can pins to connect to the printhead.

[@dognoseranger]

Wish you the best on your recovery. I had similar surgery this year and it has not been great, that's for sure.

[@Vector3DP]

Sorry to hear that, wish you all the best too!

[@patronus123]

Very cleverly done. I think this may be the beginning of something special, just like the original.

[@Vector3DP]

I think so too! Thanks

[@JernD]

What an awesome project and such a labor of love! Very worthwhile to document how the actions of a few have impacted so many!

[@constantinosevangelou8849]

Wishing you all the best and quick recovery!

[@timmallard5360]

Fantastic Job! Modern retro projects are some of the most fun of all👍

[@rods87175]

Absolutely awesome modern rendition of the original Darwin. Good to see you appearing to be getting better in your recent videos. Such a great project you produced while recovering from cancer and then using it to raise money for the SMF makes it even more special. Enjoy the Holidays!

[@CBJamo]

This is awesome. I started sourcing parts for a Darwin in high school, but switched gears and built a Mendel when that design was released. Home 3d printing has come so far, and we all owe the designers of those early machines a huge debt for open sourcing their designs.

[@Standbackforscience]

I'm so sorry to hear about your health situation, hope things are going the right way. This is an amazing and inspiring build.

[@daveroche689]

Marvelous video, thankyou for the insight into origin of reprap. I hope you stay well.

[@goeland86]

Fantastic video. Was great seeing it in person at SMRRF and talking to you about it. Excited about a kit, now I just need to find the space for the finished product to fit in my workspace 😅😂

[@luciogonzalez5029]

Congrats, your Darwin is beautiful, reminds me when I built my Mendel back in Rep Rap years.

[@nEuDyYT]

Thanks for not letting RepRap forgotten ❤ my first 3d printer was a Mendel Max, which I've build out of plywood and then printed more strong parts, to replace the wood and temporaty stuff

[@user-uf8nn6he3e]

Amazing! Never knew! Thank you!

[@MarlinFirmware]

Really nice upgrade to this classic design and historically significant machine! It triggers our nostalgia in the best way.

[@Vector3DP]

Glad you like it!

[@henrymach]

This looks like one of those traps from the Saw movies. I love it. The 'blockified' extruder/hotend block is how every extruder/hotend block should look

[@Vector3DP]

ummm, ok! 😅

[@1234fishnet]

I love this Retro Hotend/Extruder Design. The look is amazing. I would prefer this design instead of the original Voron Design

[@MrHeHim]

Makerbot Replicator Dual for $250 back in 2012 when there were tons of flash sales from companies thinking the 3D printing revolution was going to take off and were stuck with overstock. 10 years later! It has 😅

[@darrelduke]

$75.00. the guy was so frustrated with the upgrades (and he had all the original parts) he did to "make it work" that he wanted it out of his sight. he just could not get it to print properly. it was an ender 3.

[@ChrisD__]

Sounds about right

[@MichaelRainabbaRichardson]

Kudos for sharing all this! I look forward to getting pricing info.

[@HerrickAaron]

Love the blockified Stealthburner! reminds me a bit of the ABBN-30 (Which was my prototype/POC for stealthburner) Wishing you good health for 2024!

[@almonster2066]

Thank you and wishing you the best of health in years to come.

[@leesmithsworkshop]

fantastic work, it was nice to see it at SMRRF and also to chat with you.

[@Vector3DP]

Hi Lee, it was great to meet you too.

[@workinprogress9483]

this is incredibly cool, fantastic work!

[@PhilippensTube]

Fantastic idea and it's gorgeous printer! A true hommage to the original Darwin with modern components. I don't think I'll be building one (I really don't have the room for more printers) but it's a printer with a (his)story behind it, eventhough it's new. Also a great guesture to donate to the Sanjay Mortimer Foundation. I didn't have the honour of knowing him personally, but I thoroughly enjoyed his enthousiasm for the stuff he was working on. He was a true mad scientist (in the most positive way possible) with a great sense of humour and he gave a lot to the community. Such a shame that he isn't among us in person anymore, although he'll be with us in spirit forever.

[@leandrok24]

Amazing project man! Congrats!

[@martindds2011]

Amazing work! I would love a kit!!!

[@AndrewAHayes]

My first machine was a Mendel 90 but I dont remember what it cost as I bought quite a few spares at the same time, I am thinking of getting it back up and running, I have borrowed some parts from it over the years and never replaced them.

[@mindbendernine]

Get well soon - Sending you warm vibes and I hope your recovery will be successful. Best of wishes and Happy Holidays to you and your family.

[@JohnOlson]

Amazing work Adam!

[@HReality]

Absolutely awesome work

[@JuanJDumeP]

First printer was ender 3 V1 2018-9 $174 shipped from Ali or bangood. Good ol days. Still working printing a temp tower as I type this. 80mms

[@SpectraV3i]

Great Video. Thank You.

[@wildBill83]

I built my first Darwin from wood and parts from old 2D printers and scanners. I always had problems with the extrusion back then and the materials available were not as forgiving to print.

[@DavidLayM]

My first printer is an ender 3 original bought for next to nothing new a few years ago, so I'm fairly new to the hobby. It is now more a pet than a tool, but boy have I learnt a lot about marling and firmware in general, motion systems, extruders and hotends, etc. I'm fully aware of where the ender 3 comes from, the lineage of reprap that innovated so it could get to that point and the work of super important people like Naomi Woo that were always pushing for open source, tinkering and innovation.

[@AmericanMaking]

The nostalgia is hitting hard right now. Lol

[@kbyethx]

Wonderful project Vector 3D! I love so much about the look of it, but I'm on the fence about having it be totally open versus enclosed. Obviously being open makes working on it easier. I'm tempted to build one. I'm a bit out of touch lately, can someone teach me what the major differences between this rendition of a Darin and a Voron would be?

[@Rushmere3D]

Ready 😁

[@DiThi]

My first printer was a RepRap Prusa i3 in 2014 before there was any kits available for me to buy (at least in my country) other than the few custom parts like the frame. Someone lend me his printer for me to print the pieces. My Prusa has gone many upgrades, the two main ones being an Afterburner and using Klipper instead of Marlin. But the hotend (an original v6) finally died after 9 years of service.

[@tchakizera4569]

Loved the design! . . . so, how long until a CoreXY Remix?

[@KennethScharf]

Looks like what you get if you crossed the first Reprap with Voron. My first 3D printer was a Repstrap of my own design. Made with bits of steel and aluminum stock from HomeDepot, Ardunio Mega / RAMPS, surplus stepper motors, and other assorted junque. You missed out on some 'Modern' possibilities with the design of this DARWIN. It could have been a coreXY, And it STILL would have looked like a DAWIN, (if you didn't nitpick). I like the way you did get the bed tramming into the Z axis like a cross between the Voron 2.4 and Trident.

[@gouichichefarouk2329]

Well done

[@sierraecho884]

Pretty cool, well done mate. I like the idea of using the old design and modernizing it, kind of like a classic car rebuild with an electric motor. Since I am sick a home (flu) 1 day before X-Max eve, I wish you health and a great X-Mas.

[@maiorciprian]

Aaaahhhh... The good ole days! I still have the original Bfb Rapman and my Mendel Sells.

[@Vector3DP]

Nice!

[@carloseduardoforero1722]

Thanks!

[@spyke3575]

Hi Vector3d. I see you your calilantern is currently out of stock. I bought it yesterday... Is it out of stock temporarily while it's being updated like the califlower? Or is it permanently out of stock

[@zpbeats3938]

Wishing you the best of health and recovery sir. Focus on life and what's best for you!

[@ricardovela1215]

amazing job! May you have a satisfactory recovery and we hope that you continue doing these types of interesting projects! Greetings from Bolivia!

[@Vector3DP]

Thankyou!

[@MrBaskins2010]

this is truly incredible

[@SirRobinII]

I'm not ready yet for a vector3dp foundation, stay healthy.

[@dgriff4000]

Bravo!

[@tjpprojects7192]

First printer? XYZ Davinci pro didn't get too many prints out of it since it was quite limited. Got an Ender 3 v2 later and have been using it a lot ever since.

[@sneg__]

Nice design, but using a proprietary nozzle design to commemorate reprap is a kind of strange choice in my opinion.

[@Vector3DP]

humm, ye, maybe. Not sure there are any modern open source options though?

[@dowhilegeek]

@@Vector3DP Ubis and J-head are all that come to mind, and theyre both ancient. V6 is also pretty ancient. I dont think you had a decent *modern* open source choice.

[@sneg__]

Fair enough, you seem to be right.. I understand why manufacturers don't want to open source their nozzles, but still it's kinda sad considering the awesome open source roots of the whole 3d printing scene. Maybe something new will come along! Anyways, thanks for pointing that out to me and I hope you both have great holidays! :)

[@AnnaVannieuwenhuyse]

I regret not seeing it when I was at SMRRF. I'm sure I walked by it so many times.

[@speadskater]

Incoming immediate coreXY rebuilt.

[@andreyansimov5442]

When you switched to electronics, I started to grow my eyes. Its really an overengineering for such an old concept. Thumbs up for redesigning, especially Voron's printhead. I will continue to work and upgrade my h-bot, with SKR 1.3 and just two TMC2208 drivers working with Marlin 2. Because... why I need all this modern stuff? I dont know. I started to read Reprap site and wiki back in 2019, and about Prusa history... And bought printer in 2020.

[@BhindiBhaji888]

Best wishes 👍

[@mhgscrubadub9917]

Hehe I was staring at that z belt from the start of the video trying to wrap my head around why it was there

[@TheDarckstart]

Why didn't you go with the Manta M8P ?

[@klschofield71]

Really cool project! If you are able to get some kits together, it would be nice to see a portion of the proceeds go to the Sanjay Mortimer Fund. I know I wouldn't mind paying a little more to honor a unique individual as Sanjay, plus it would be in the spirit of the RepRap movement. Looking forward to the Prusa build, but ALL of Joe's components should be Open Source, anything less would be in poor taste.

[@alexey_sychev]

I don't care about this printer, but it is nice to see you fighting cancer and recovering very well, this is most important. I wish you a Merry Christmas ;)

[@thirtythreeeyes8624]

I hope you mean you don't care about this printer in the modern world because it deserves a lot of respect without it 3d printing as we know it wouldn't exist.

[@alexey_sychev]

@@thirtythreeeyes8624 No

[@magicmanac]

What is the projected cost to build one it looks amazing. Keep your chin up recovery is always a hard time

[@Vector3DP]

It depends on lots of things, my current guess is around £1200.

[@magicmanac]

@@Vector3DP thats not bad at all really for a 300 mm bed

[@lajoyalobos2009]

I was late to the game although my interest was piqued in 2012 I believe. I ended up buying a broken printer to repair for $120. Now that one is running, and I want to do the same with another.

[@eewls]

that intro music

[@vladimirjar3800]

That is more than 1200 nzd can you make a budget version?

[@Vector3DP]

Its all open source, you could do it yourself if you wish!

[@vladimirjar3800]

I have never built a 3dprinter befor so I have no clue how@@Vector3DP

[@0mym]

In all fairness, it's FDM patent expiration in 2009 that is responsible for the drop in the prices of 3D printers.

[@Vector3DP]

Patent expiration doesn't start anything.

[@0mym]

Right, but it was Prusa i3 which was later copied by Chinese manufacturers that got us to every maker's garage full of 3d printers. I've been through it all and can't remember anyone really enjoying printing before i3s came on stage.

[@the3dprintingbelgian]

I paid like 4000 for my first printer. sharebot NG+ was wild and shitty

[@user-ue1ti3ri3w]

Wish you healthy life 🙏

[@Confusedengineer-qw5tn]

What’s the price

[@Vector3DP]

TBD in terms of kits, but my estimate for self source BOM at the moment is about £1200.

[@user-ud3lh1bu6m]

В наше время это все похоже на эксгумацию.

[@aceyriot]

I bet that original looked so cool in 2007, now it looks like a swiss beach chair or like it's made to catch raccoons. I actually don’t mean that to be insulting, It just looks so odd in a world with x1's and vorons.

[@Splarkszter]

And people keep being dumb enough to not understand that parents and closed-sourced stuff just makes our lifes worse.

[@HeshamALAhdal]

am i seeing +6000 GBP !!!! wtf ?!!!

[@SLAVKINGRED]

200.

[@OriginalJetForMe]

$4k

[@Vector3DP]

Oh, your first printer? what was it?

[@onealja61]

$250

[@TAPSSebas]

second

[@SpectraV3i]

First

[@Pasha4ur]

Screen on the printhead = useless engineer, imho.

[@testboga5991]

Did these guys also sell their STL s via a webshop, you grifter?

[@Vector3DP]

Its basically the most open source project possible, all entirely free to download my over 100+ hours of work. You're welcome.

[@therealbasstard]

beautiful machine, I love that toolhead. now I want one for my X2 :D what is the name and brand of the filament you used?

[@Vector3DP]

Prusament asa

[@therealbasstard]

@@Vector3DP thank you!