TEVO Tarantula 3D Printer Prusa I3 Based Unassembled DIY Kit Aluminium Alloy Framed with Single Titan Extruder, Large Heatbed, Free Filament Rolls, SD card, Compatible with Windows, Linux & Mac

 This printer requires self assemble and I actually think anyone into 3D printing at present should build rather than buying off the shelf. Firstly off the shelf ready to print printer is way too expensive. Secondly once you built your own you will know exactly what needs to be fine tuned. 3D printing has come a long way from a few years back but one thing it did not change is the variables which things can go wrong. A single nut not tighten will mess up your 3 hour printing project and once it started printing there is no way to fix an error, you will end up with waste plastic or worse a broken printer.Tevo did a good job at making this a DIY printer. There are hundreds of parts and they are all sorted in sealed plastic bags with reference code printed on it. My built took just over 8 hours and I have the official video guide on my phone while I was assembling it. Everything was there , no missing part, no missing bolts. I could have finished it in less than 6 hours but I want to take time to learn how it works at the same time and making sure everything went perfect. There are occasion that I have built a part but have to dissemble and start again but that is due to tiredness and not paying attention to orientation of the part as not all parts are asymmetrical. For someone who did not have any idea about 3D printer I think I did quite well, I am sure anyone who is good with attention with detail can do this better than I did.Once the printer is built I started installing software on my PC and also started looking for things to print. I use Things universe for designs and footprints and a ultimaker Cura as a slicer software. Don't get put off by all the jargon, all it is is download the blueprint and then convert it to a format your printer understands. transfer the file to the included sd card and then choose print from SD card function and the printer will do the rest. The difficult part is to set up your printer bed level correctly. There is Tevo online video to show you everything you need to know. There is also facebook group just for this printer, an advance group and a user group. Anything you need to know it is out there online already.I followed other people advice and started with fan modification and strength the brackets holding the printer frame together, as printing success relies heavily on your printer assemble quality.

I've always toyed with the idea of buying a 3D printer, but was initially put off by the cost and a lack of things to print. I was wrong on both fronts! I was staggered to learn that you could buy a 3DP for under £200, and that the results looked really good. I bought a Tarantula because it is easily upgradeable (mostly with parts you can print at home) and because there is a large online community of users who can share experiences and problems.The first thing to note is that this 3DP comes entirely in kit form. There is a lot of mechanical assembly required, but all electronics are plug in (and a few screw terminals). I suppose it took me about 8 hours to build the printer, but for me this was a really fun part and meant that I really knew the printer from the ground up. The instructions provided are TERRIBLE. You can muddle your way through as I did, or you can watch a build video on YouTube. I had to rebuild a few bits owing to a combination of poor instructions and user error when selecting the lengths of aluminium extrusion to use for certain parts. Another note - the Tee Nuts provided are very annoying and fiddly, and I'd recommend buying a load (perhaps 50?) of M4 Spring Tee Nuts, which will make the build far easier. I also had to open a few holes in the acrylic parts to make sure the wheels could run close enough to the extrusion - not a difficult job at all. You should also spend a bit of time tidying the wiring up afterwards as well.I've printed a few things so far - mostly little parts for the printer, like a fan shroud to cool the printed parts, some belt tensioners and some brackets to mount the LCD screen to the top gantry. I've also made a couple of fun projects for my toddler son - a steam train whistle is his favourite. These were all downloaded from Thingiverse and sliced with Cura, before being loaded onto an SD card and printed. You don't need a laptop plugged in to print. This process sounds laborious but takes seconds. Thingiverse has a spectacular directory of projects to print, all free and available to download. Cura is also free and is very simple to use. I have started to print my own designs - downloaded projects can be edited in Sketchup or Fusion 360 (both free) - and the possibilities really are endless.In summary, I'm really enjoying the Tarantula. The print quality is really good, the printing itself is fascinating to watch, and the build of the printer can be fun if you like a good project. There are loads of upgrades and fiddles to be done if that's your thing, and loads of fun parts to either download or design and then print.