Choosing a budget 3D printer is tough. It can be difficult to know what specifications are most important and which ones are just there to distract your attention from other matters if you are new to the hobby. It’s not necessary to spend hours researching: we have researched for you.
Today, we’re looking at a popular entry-level printer, the TEVO Tarantula. In the hope of helping you decide if the Tarantula is the right model for you, we’ll highlight its strengths and weaknesses. Let’s get started.
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TEVO Tarantula 3d printer Design
You should first know that the printer must be assembled from pieces. Although the process is not difficult, it can be time-consuming. It will be quite large for a printer at this price. This is not a negative thing.
There are some structural issues. Unfortunately, the frame is not as strong as possible and is susceptible to wobbling when printing. The print bed is extremely sticky, and the bed-leveling mechanism doesn’t work as well as we would like.
These issues are not necessarily dealbreakers. However, they can be resolved with some preparation.
The unit’s open design allows for many modifications. These modifications (such as additional support brackets) can help offset some of our earlier issues, but you don’t need to. You can even add WiFi support to complement the USB and SD card interfaces if you’d like.
Printing
Due to the lack of a cooling fan, it’s hard to print with anything other than PLA at first. Temperatures are too unpredictable. It is possible to make decent models at reasonable speeds if you have a fan. This printer isn’t a professional-level printer. However, it can be used around the house or at work.
Layer integration is a feature of the Tarantula. If you set up the printer properly, the printer can print at 50 microns. At this point, the layers are barely visible. It can be challenging to print a perfect Tarantula because of the possibility of spool tangles and heating problems.
Initially, we were impressed by the range of materials that this printer could handle. There are too many variables to keep track of, at least initially. Once you feel comfortable with this model, we recommend that you stick to the basic filaments.
TEVO Tarantula 3d printer Features
This printer is pretty basic in terms of functionality. The screen is small enough to control the printer from a distance, but it’s not very useful. It seems that the features that make people online excited are the ones that they have personally added.
A heated print bed is a minimum. Although this may seem to help your prints stay in place, it can prove difficult to remove them once they are done. This project is great for those who like to build things. However, if you want something that will work consistently, the Tarantula may not be the best choice.
One thing is certain: The build volume is much larger than what you would find on an entry-level printer. Considering how frequently the Tarantula has problems, it’s not clear if you will benefit from this.
TEVO Tarantula Cost
The TEVO Tarantula 3D printer is among the most affordable on the market. It is available for as low as $200 and has very low running costs due to using third-party materials. You will pay more for your time than what you save on cash.
You will need to build the printer from a kit. This can be a tedious process and could take several days if you are not experienced. Some users reported that their kits arrived without the essential parts or with incorrect fitting parts. You should expect to wait a few more days for replacements.
This is not a product that you can make quickly. The design of the extruder is simple, but it’s not difficult to see. Take a look at this image. This is a detailed diagram showing how the extruder fits onto an arm. We count 15 components, and all must be quality-checked and attached.
Support
The Tarantula support page can be described as basic, at best. It is a very complex printer construction guide. You can find firmware updates on Dropbox on a separate page. However, there are no tutorials or troubleshooting guides.
If you are stuck, you can reach TEVO via email or a support form. You will need to use forums or YouTube videos to understand the site’s broken English.
This website is by far the most amateurish we have ever seen. This is a shame, as $200 is still quite a large sum, and customers should be able to get some after-purchase support. TEVO’s iterative design methods mean that much of the information available becomes less useful each time an update is released.
This could lead to you having to solve problems yourself. Choosing a budget 3D printer is tough. It can be difficult to know what specifications are most important and which ones are just there to distract your attention from other matters if you are new to the hobby. It’s not necessary to spend hours researching: we have researched for you.
Today, we’re looking at a popular entry-level printer, the TEVO Tarantula. In the hope of helping you decide if the Tarantula is the right model for you, we’ll highlight its strengths and weaknesses. Let’s get started.
Design
You should first know that the printer must be assembled from pieces. Although the process is not difficult, it can be time-consuming. It will be quite large for a printer at this price. This is not a negative thing.
There are some structural issues. Unfortunately, the frame is not as strong as possible and is susceptible to wobbling when printing. The print bed is extremely sticky, and the bed-leveling mechanism doesn’t work as well as we would like.
These issues are not necessarily dealbreakers. However, they can be resolved with some preparation.
The unit’s open design allows for many modifications. These modifications (such as additional support brackets) can help offset some of our earlier issues, but you don’t need to. You can even add WiFi support to complement the USB and SD card interfaces if you’d like.
Printing
Due to the lack of a cooling fan, it’s hard to print with anything other than PLA at first. Temperatures are too unpredictable. It is possible to make decent models at reasonable speeds if you have a fan. This printer isn’t a professional-level printer. However, it can be used around the house or at work.
Layer integration is a feature of the Tarantula. If you set up the printer properly, the printer can print at 50 microns. At this point, the layers are barely visible. It can be challenging to print a perfect Tarantula because of the possibility of spool tangles and heating problems.
Initially, we were impressed by the range of materials that this printer could handle. There are too many variables to keep track of, at least initially. Once you feel comfortable with this model, we recommend that you stick to the basic filaments.
Features
This printer is pretty basic in terms of functionality. The screen is small enough to control the printer from a distance, but it’s not very useful. It seems that the features that make people online excited are the ones that they have personally added.
A heated print bed is a minimum. Although this may seem to help your prints stay in place, it can prove difficult to remove them once they are done. This project is great for those who like to build things. However, if you want something that will work consistently, the Tarantula may not be the best choice.
One thing is certain: The build volume is much larger than what you would find on an entry-level printer. Considering how frequently the Tarantula has problems, it’s not clear if you will benefit from this.
Cost
The TEVO Tarantula 3D printer is among the most affordable on the market. It is available for as low as $200 and has very low running costs due to using third-party materials. You will pay more for your time than what you save on cash.
You will need to build the printer from a kit. This can be a tedious process and could take several days if you are not experienced. Some users reported that their kits arrived without the essential parts or with incorrect fitting parts. You should expect to wait a few more days for replacements.
This is not a product that you can make quickly. The design of the extruder is simple, but it’s not difficult to see. Take a look at this image. This is a detailed diagram showing how the extruder fits onto an arm. We count 15 components, and all must be quality-checked and attached.
Support
The Tarantula support page can be described as basic, at best. It is a very complex printer construction guide. You can find firmware updates on Dropbox on a separate page. However, there are no tutorials or troubleshooting guides.
If you are stuck, you can reach TEVO via email or a support form. You will need to use forums or YouTube videos to understand the site’s broken English.
This website is by far the most amateurish we have ever seen. This is a shame, as $200 is still quite a large sum, and customers should be able to get some after-purchase support. TEVO’s iterative design methods mean that much of the information available becomes less useful each time an update is released. This could lead to you having to solve problems yourself.
