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TEVO Tarantula - The new king of kits March 10, 2016 02:26AM |
I love building printers, and I even love it more when they actually work. So far I've done 2x Folger Tech i3 2020 (Still use both), 1x GEEETech i3 (Sold it), 2x Makibox A6 HT (Sold 1, other for sale), 1x Kwuson Delta (For Sale) and now the Tevo Tarantula.
Of the lot, I'd have to say the Tarantula was the easiest to build and best thought out and packaged. Not to say there weren't issues needing attention (there were, and I will explain them), but I found it took me less time to build than any of the other kits excepting the Makibox. Tuning was a breeze as well, it almost ran perfect right out of the box. I was initially suspicious of the price; $325 CAD shipped? Must be junk, right? Not so much. I now kinda wish I had room for another 1 or 3 of these! I'm even considering selling my workhorse FolgerTech machines to replace with the Tarantula and I love the FT's so that's saying a lot.
The biggest factor in this kit being such a breeze is the Facebook group dedicated to it. One of the members made a set of videos that go through the build step-by-step and although his Mic was noisy, the vids saved the kit and the helpful people in the group made it even better. The guy who makes and sells the kits is also an active member on the group which says a lot for the integrity of the company to me!
I ordered through AliExpress and asked for ABS as I prefer it to PLA. Unfortunately they responded (within a couple hours) that they had no more ABS so I said PLA would be fine and figured I'd just give the rolls away with my printers I'm selling. That's not going to happen...more details further down.
The Good:
- Rails and wheels = zero noise. The fans are the loudest thing about this machine! It's quieter than my Delta and eliminated the LM8UU that is the bane of my FT Prusas.
- 200x200x200 advertised, but in reality, 205x205x210 as it comes.
- Highly stable
- Well packaged and organized.
- Responsive customer service.
- Free SD card with the kit for untethered printing.
- Free spools of PLA (hit or miss, I got two and one was hit, the other a miss)
- Toolkit includes most things you need for assembly.
- So very easy to build when you get proper instruction.
The Bad:
- Included instructions are incomplete
- included PLA... I got a roll of Green that was garbage and a roll of white that was not great quality, but was usable.
- the tiny Allan key for the frame braces is the wrong size and will strip the little inserts.
- Hot End needs a good check and cleanup. Don't even think about setting it up without this!
- PSU handling... not really a deal breaker, but I'm used to kit where the PSU can mount somewhere to the frame. With the Tarantula, it just kinda sits off to the side. I'm probably just being picky with this one.
Here's the box, and let it be known that I love spiders; I love that they eat bugs and all that stuff, but they creep the hell out of me. I prefer them nowhere near me. When I brought the box in the house, my kids said "Don't look, but there's a giant spider going to get you!" For the record, it got me.
On opening, I was relieved to not find any spiders big or small swarming about or jumping at me. It was a very well packed and organized kit. Nothing askew at all.
I grabbed the instruction booklet and started building it right away... then I realized the booklet was pretty much useless but pushed on anyway. Now, by this point I was aware of and part of the Facebook group; I knew about the videos but hadn't watched any as I wanted to go at the kit like anyone else and see how far it could take me on it's own. I got the carriages assembled and the frame assembled, but then the book stops and shows a single, very small picture of all the parts going together. honestly, the only part really worth having the book around for is the picture of the control board connections. My advice, forget the manual, watch the videos.
Exploded diagrams aren't awful, but the orientation of the plates is hard to see since the pictures are so dark.
Hot End constructed, but the one bolt wasn't able to be attached do to misalignment of the hole. Not really a big deal but others on the Facebook page have shown much worse alignment issues. Now with the Hot End, You NEEEED to take it apart and clean it up. Inside and out. Mine had shaving all through the fins that needed to be brushed off and the inner aspect needed to be deburred and smoothed out a bit. I used an M3 Allan key to push off the burrs and ridges although something like a tiny wire brush or sanding stick might have worked as good or better. This was also an afterthought as I'd assembled and started printing, then had a clog as some of the debris got into my nozzle. An ounce of prevention....
Y-Axis plate and parts. Went together well but they really needed to add another washer on the Eccentric Nut side of things for leveling. Adding the single nut to both of those shafts helped in big ways later on. There's plenty of extras in the kit so just do it now!
X-Axis and Carriage. Build as described.
Bottom frame...I assumed the braces were to be centered but it doesn't really say in the Manual. I centered with 19mm on either side and it's working so if it ain't broke...
Now here's how I ended after 2 hours from kit opening to being ready to head to bed. It's also as far as the instruction booklet went so you can see there's a lot more to guess at (or watch the videos!!) from this point on. I went to bed and opened the vids the next day.
More to come....
Sigil Pickups || Stunt Monkey Pedals
Of the lot, I'd have to say the Tarantula was the easiest to build and best thought out and packaged. Not to say there weren't issues needing attention (there were, and I will explain them), but I found it took me less time to build than any of the other kits excepting the Makibox. Tuning was a breeze as well, it almost ran perfect right out of the box. I was initially suspicious of the price; $325 CAD shipped? Must be junk, right? Not so much. I now kinda wish I had room for another 1 or 3 of these! I'm even considering selling my workhorse FolgerTech machines to replace with the Tarantula and I love the FT's so that's saying a lot.
The biggest factor in this kit being such a breeze is the Facebook group dedicated to it. One of the members made a set of videos that go through the build step-by-step and although his Mic was noisy, the vids saved the kit and the helpful people in the group made it even better. The guy who makes and sells the kits is also an active member on the group which says a lot for the integrity of the company to me!
I ordered through AliExpress and asked for ABS as I prefer it to PLA. Unfortunately they responded (within a couple hours) that they had no more ABS so I said PLA would be fine and figured I'd just give the rolls away with my printers I'm selling. That's not going to happen...more details further down.
The Good:
- Rails and wheels = zero noise. The fans are the loudest thing about this machine! It's quieter than my Delta and eliminated the LM8UU that is the bane of my FT Prusas.
- 200x200x200 advertised, but in reality, 205x205x210 as it comes.
- Highly stable
- Well packaged and organized.
- Responsive customer service.
- Free SD card with the kit for untethered printing.
- Free spools of PLA (hit or miss, I got two and one was hit, the other a miss)
- Toolkit includes most things you need for assembly.
- So very easy to build when you get proper instruction.
The Bad:
- Included instructions are incomplete
- included PLA... I got a roll of Green that was garbage and a roll of white that was not great quality, but was usable.
- the tiny Allan key for the frame braces is the wrong size and will strip the little inserts.
- Hot End needs a good check and cleanup. Don't even think about setting it up without this!
- PSU handling... not really a deal breaker, but I'm used to kit where the PSU can mount somewhere to the frame. With the Tarantula, it just kinda sits off to the side. I'm probably just being picky with this one.
Here's the box, and let it be known that I love spiders; I love that they eat bugs and all that stuff, but they creep the hell out of me. I prefer them nowhere near me. When I brought the box in the house, my kids said "Don't look, but there's a giant spider going to get you!" For the record, it got me.
On opening, I was relieved to not find any spiders big or small swarming about or jumping at me. It was a very well packed and organized kit. Nothing askew at all.
I grabbed the instruction booklet and started building it right away... then I realized the booklet was pretty much useless but pushed on anyway. Now, by this point I was aware of and part of the Facebook group; I knew about the videos but hadn't watched any as I wanted to go at the kit like anyone else and see how far it could take me on it's own. I got the carriages assembled and the frame assembled, but then the book stops and shows a single, very small picture of all the parts going together. honestly, the only part really worth having the book around for is the picture of the control board connections. My advice, forget the manual, watch the videos.
Exploded diagrams aren't awful, but the orientation of the plates is hard to see since the pictures are so dark.
Hot End constructed, but the one bolt wasn't able to be attached do to misalignment of the hole. Not really a big deal but others on the Facebook page have shown much worse alignment issues. Now with the Hot End, You NEEEED to take it apart and clean it up. Inside and out. Mine had shaving all through the fins that needed to be brushed off and the inner aspect needed to be deburred and smoothed out a bit. I used an M3 Allan key to push off the burrs and ridges although something like a tiny wire brush or sanding stick might have worked as good or better. This was also an afterthought as I'd assembled and started printing, then had a clog as some of the debris got into my nozzle. An ounce of prevention....
Y-Axis plate and parts. Went together well but they really needed to add another washer on the Eccentric Nut side of things for leveling. Adding the single nut to both of those shafts helped in big ways later on. There's plenty of extras in the kit so just do it now!
X-Axis and Carriage. Build as described.
Bottom frame...I assumed the braces were to be centered but it doesn't really say in the Manual. I centered with 19mm on either side and it's working so if it ain't broke...
Now here's how I ended after 2 hours from kit opening to being ready to head to bed. It's also as far as the instruction booklet went so you can see there's a lot more to guess at (or watch the videos!!) from this point on. I went to bed and opened the vids the next day.
More to come....
Sigil Pickups || Stunt Monkey Pedals
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Re: TEVO Tarantula - The new king of kits March 10, 2016 11:48PM |
Thanks Ed, and your videos were what made this kit work for me. Great job on them and THANK YOU for taking the time.
Now some more pics and thoughts...
When it came to leveling the X-Axis, I was having a time of it with the carriages moving and the T-Nuts not grabbing...I thought I'd make use of the Y-tray before putting it in. I used it to hold the X-Axis in place perfectly level for tightening everything up. The sides fit in the extrusion slots without any wiggle.
Now affixing the X-carriage and top brackets I printed...not necessary, but they do add some stability! (Ignore the motor standoff, it was removed in short order.)
First real issue... the Bowden tube thingy snapped when I tightened it into the Extruder arm. I had to work it out with some pliers and then the remaining part fit perfectly without further issue.
Here's the Y-Axis finding it's way onto the machine; I remixed a tensioner from Thingiverse that I used on my Folger Tech machines so it fit the Tarantula. Doesn't interfere with the pulleys in any way.
Installed;
To get the bed pre-leveled, I used a couple extra L-brackets that I didn't use. I printed them before fully digging into the kit and finding the existing Acrylic L-brackets.
I also found an adjustable Z-Stop on Thingiverse that sounded like a good idea so printed and installed it as well.
And the X-axis tensioner...the Y-tensioner I made didn't fit up here without hitting the Axis bolts so I had to slim it down considerably.
Final assembly with wires cleaned up and LCD mounted up top. Clean wire routes seems to be half the battle on most printer kits and I wanted it done asap.
And first print after fine tuning the software. I opted to switch to Marlin as it's what I run on all my machines and found a recent and fully updated version linked on the Facebook Group;
Now here's something funny... I don't use PLA but figured I'd try the stuff they sent and this is what I found on opening the package. LOTs of little breaks.
I read that a lot of people had the same thing and some reported that it was only for a few inches. I started to despool it to see if it was usable a bit deeper in. Nope. It was all broken throughout. The other roll of White PLA was perfectly usable though so I did try it, but again it's not my forte so the print was pretty bad. I have used one other roll of PLA from another company on my Delta with beautiful results, so not sure if it's the filament or my settings.
Afterthoughts... I do love this machine and will buy another one, likely within the next week. The price is ridiculous (cheap) for what you get. It's faster printing than any of my other machines and the quality is superb with ABS. It seems very stable and when I moved it downstairs I didn't even have to relevel the bed. It's nearly silent and just works! I've had to upgrade my other machines to take care of some shortcomings but this one needed nothing. The upgrades I added are purely for my own benefit and aesthetics. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to get into 3D Printing!
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/10/2016 11:49PM by CheopisIV.
Sigil Pickups || Stunt Monkey Pedals
Now some more pics and thoughts...
When it came to leveling the X-Axis, I was having a time of it with the carriages moving and the T-Nuts not grabbing...I thought I'd make use of the Y-tray before putting it in. I used it to hold the X-Axis in place perfectly level for tightening everything up. The sides fit in the extrusion slots without any wiggle.
Now affixing the X-carriage and top brackets I printed...not necessary, but they do add some stability! (Ignore the motor standoff, it was removed in short order.)
First real issue... the Bowden tube thingy snapped when I tightened it into the Extruder arm. I had to work it out with some pliers and then the remaining part fit perfectly without further issue.
Here's the Y-Axis finding it's way onto the machine; I remixed a tensioner from Thingiverse that I used on my Folger Tech machines so it fit the Tarantula. Doesn't interfere with the pulleys in any way.
Installed;
To get the bed pre-leveled, I used a couple extra L-brackets that I didn't use. I printed them before fully digging into the kit and finding the existing Acrylic L-brackets.
I also found an adjustable Z-Stop on Thingiverse that sounded like a good idea so printed and installed it as well.
And the X-axis tensioner...the Y-tensioner I made didn't fit up here without hitting the Axis bolts so I had to slim it down considerably.
Final assembly with wires cleaned up and LCD mounted up top. Clean wire routes seems to be half the battle on most printer kits and I wanted it done asap.
And first print after fine tuning the software. I opted to switch to Marlin as it's what I run on all my machines and found a recent and fully updated version linked on the Facebook Group;
Now here's something funny... I don't use PLA but figured I'd try the stuff they sent and this is what I found on opening the package. LOTs of little breaks.
I read that a lot of people had the same thing and some reported that it was only for a few inches. I started to despool it to see if it was usable a bit deeper in. Nope. It was all broken throughout. The other roll of White PLA was perfectly usable though so I did try it, but again it's not my forte so the print was pretty bad. I have used one other roll of PLA from another company on my Delta with beautiful results, so not sure if it's the filament or my settings.
Afterthoughts... I do love this machine and will buy another one, likely within the next week. The price is ridiculous (cheap) for what you get. It's faster printing than any of my other machines and the quality is superb with ABS. It seems very stable and when I moved it downstairs I didn't even have to relevel the bed. It's nearly silent and just works! I've had to upgrade my other machines to take care of some shortcomings but this one needed nothing. The upgrades I added are purely for my own benefit and aesthetics. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to get into 3D Printing!
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/10/2016 11:49PM by CheopisIV.
Sigil Pickups || Stunt Monkey Pedals
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Re: TEVO Tarantula - The new king of kits March 17, 2016 03:20PM |
Hi, im new to 3d printing . I started with a prussa i3 acrylic frame geetech. I aim to upgrade it to aluminum frame but i will need in the future a few more printers proceed with my work flow. Im happy with the geetech so far even with the acrylic frame.So here is my question : i saw this model and i really like it is it worth it compare to the aluminum frame prussa i3 geetech or compare to hephestos and form those models what is more stable from the basic models and less parts that need replacement after usage .I hope my question is clear thanks in advance 
i calculated and need about 5 printers to run my projects faster
i calculated and need about 5 printers to run my projects faster
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Re: TEVO Tarantula - The new king of kits March 17, 2016 03:51PM |
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The Mighty Gorgonion
Hi, im new to 3d printing . I started with a prussa i3 acrylic frame geetech. I aim to upgrade it to aluminum frame but i will need in the future a few more printers proceed with my work flow. Im happy with the geetech so far even with the acrylic frame.So here is my question : i saw this model and i really like it is it worth it compare to the aluminum frame prussa i3 geetech or compare to hephestos and form those models what is more stable from the basic models and less parts that need replacement after usage .I hope my question is clear thanks in advance
Haha, can never have too many printers!!! I'm currently up to 4 running and a Mega Delta nearing completion. For upkeep, the Tarantula will need the least maintenance once completed. The wheels are the most suspect for wear. Most other Prusa derivatives use LM8UU or other linear bearings that wear out, especially when you get cheap ones from eBay. I printed some in ABS for my Folger Tech i3 machines and they lasted ~4 months before needing replacement, then the steel ball LM8UU I put in were worn in a couple weeks and need attention once more.
I run direct drive Wade's extruders on my Folger Tech machines so do all materials on them, the small delta and Tarantula have Bowden tubes so I stick to PLA and ABS on them so far. I'm sure the Tarantula will handle all materials once I dial it in a bit better in the Firmware. I'm going to get another one if I can sell the small Delta off.
Sigil Pickups || Stunt Monkey Pedals
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Re: TEVO Tarantula - The new king of kits March 18, 2016 06:15AM |
Thanks.I think when i have the bucks i will go for it. i need a cheap base model that has sturdy frame and the rest you can change latter.So its good to hear that wont need much to maintain.The geetech i have has a mk8 extruder on it the acrylic frame is garbage also the base that hold the nozzle etc Also i have no idea what board is better to have i have sunguilololu and i have the idea that is not the best not that i m an expert its the only one i ever lay hands on .I was thinking to go fro the aluminum frame for it (the geetech) but then i saw this and i thought this might be better if you have any other model suggestion feel free to share also i have the feeling the rods are more durable and from that more precise or not? .Thanks for the respond i hope when i finish my project i can share it here i hope il have my work shop up and running this year.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/18/2016 07:11AM by The Mighty Gorgonion.
.I was thinking to go fro the aluminum frame for it (the geetech) but then i saw this and i thought this might be better if you have any other model suggestion feel free to share also i have the feeling the rods are more durable and from that more precise or not? .Thanks for the respond i hope when i finish my project i can share it here i hope il have my work shop up and running this year.Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/18/2016 07:11AM by The Mighty Gorgonion.
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Re: TEVO Tarantula - The new king of kits March 18, 2016 04:53PM |
The X axis is hanging from one lead screw plus a flexible coupler then motor isn't ?
As for the bed, can you try to put let's say 100g on one corner and measure the deflection with a micrometer ? How much ? When I see the narrow track, I think about the way the police ask to walk to check if you are sober
ANd they still use smooth idler pulleys !
PS: linear ball bearing guides are easily damaged by poor installation, improper guide rods, improper lubrication. Plastic wheels because of their elasticity can tolerate poor alignement and their bigger ball bearings won't give up.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/18/2016 04:53PM by MKSA.
As for the bed, can you try to put let's say 100g on one corner and measure the deflection with a micrometer ? How much ? When I see the narrow track, I think about the way the police ask to walk to check if you are sober
ANd they still use smooth idler pulleys !
PS: linear ball bearing guides are easily damaged by poor installation, improper guide rods, improper lubrication. Plastic wheels because of their elasticity can tolerate poor alignement and their bigger ball bearings won't give up.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/18/2016 04:53PM by MKSA.
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Re: TEVO Tarantula - The new king of kits March 18, 2016 08:33PM |
Quote
MKSA
The X axis is hanging from one lead screw plus a flexible coupler then motor isn't ?
As for the bed, can you try to put let's say 100g on one corner and measure the deflection with a micrometer ? How much ? When I see the narrow track, I think about the way the police ask to walk to check if you are sober
ANd they still use smooth idler pulleys !
PS: linear ball bearing guides are easily damaged by poor installation, improper guide rods, improper lubrication. Plastic wheels because of their elasticity can tolerate poor alignement and their bigger ball bearings won't give up.
X-Axis is (edit: hanging from) a single motor, leadscrew and coupler. So far I get more precise prints and zero Z axis drift or wobble. Compared to my Folger Tech i3 2020s, this one is more capable of precision fitting parts without manipulating settings in S3D.
I have no deflection on the plate as tightened the springs down a lot. They are huge and I thought it would wobble or vibrate but give enough tension and there's no movement. When do you have 100G weights sitting on your print bed btw??
Idlers are smooth, again I don't see the issue here as long as the belts are tensioned properly. No different than running them on bearings like most kits which are also smooth.
Yeah, you could nick the wheels if not built properly, but you can damage anything is not built properly. The benefit I can see of these type over the plastic wheels I used on my Deltas is these are perfectly silent. Slippage and wear...yet to be determined
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/19/2016 10:17AM by CheopisIV.
Sigil Pickups || Stunt Monkey Pedals
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Re: TEVO Tarantula - The new king of kits March 19, 2016 01:50AM |
Quote
CheopisIV
X-Axis is a single motor, leadscrew and coupler. So far I get more precise prints and zero Z axis drift or wobble. Compared to my Folger Tech i3 2020s, this one is more capable of precision fitting parts without manipulating settings in S3D.
I have no deflection on the plate as tightened the springs down a lot. They are huge and I thought it would wobble or vibrate but give enough tension and there's no movement. When do you have 100G weights sitting on your print bed btw??
Idlers are smooth, again I don't see the issue here as long as the belts are tensioned properly. No different than running them on bearings like most kits which are also smooth.
Yeah, you could nick the wheels if not built properly, but you can damage anything is not built properly. The benefit I can see of these type over the plastic wheels I used on my Deltas is these are perfectly silent. Slippage and wear...yet to be determined
You didn't answer my questions.
If the X axis carriage (rails,motor , hotend...) is hanging from this Z FLEXIBLE coupler, it is bad !
With this 100 g weight (or about that, a Nema17 40mm stepper motor is about 250 g) I wanted to see how rigid the Y set up is.
Refer to proper use of timing belts technical references regarding the idler pulleys.
The Folger is flawed , can't be used as a reference but this is not the subject.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/19/2016 05:46AM by MKSA.
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Re: TEVO Tarantula - The new king of kits March 31, 2016 12:21AM |
Quote
tjnamtiw
Quote
CheopisIV
I don;t use autoleveling on any of my machines except the Delta. After playing with that I might look into doing it up though, it's pretty slick! One of the Facebook Group Members did up an Autolevel setup guide in PDF, I'll link it here;
[www.sigilpickups.com]
I've been printing off some parts for my next project (Mosly Printed CNC) and have found I'm limited to ~65mm print speeds. The Y-Axis isn't an issue but the Z-Axis wobbles back and forth quite a bit when going over 70mm/s but mostly just the first 6 layers then settles down. I'm going to replace the little internal 'L' connectors with something more robust and see if it improved. Truth be told, I stripped some of the little nubs on them before realizing the Allan key (included) was the wrong size so it might just need some of those.
Thanks for the info on the autolevel feature on the Tarantula. They simply plug it in in place of the Z limit switch, as usual, but for servo type or the BLTOUCH, you need a servo output as well as the Z limit. Both servo and BLTOUCH allow you to use a glass plate printing surface without the hassle of trying to place a metal sheet below it. It makes it much simpler.
Well now you've done it. I just ordered a few BL Touch units from eBay for my FolgerTech machines, the Mega Delta and one to try on the Tarantula. I'll post my findings when they arrive
Sigil Pickups || Stunt Monkey Pedals
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