In this post I’m going to review and assemble the Tevo Tarantula 3D printer which costs under $200 with shipping included.
Watch the video review
Where to buy
You can purchase the Tevo Tarantula 3D Printer Kit on GearBest.
Unboxing the 3D printer
Let’s start the unboxing…
It comes with a small manual that only has some of the instructions that are required to assemble the 3d printer.
However they mention this playlist of videos that takes you step by step on how to build each part of the 3d printer and they were very helpful.
3D printing filament spool
The 3D printer comes with two small samples of filament: ABS and PLA. You can use it for your first prints and it’s very handy if you forgot to order filament or if it hasn’t arrived yet.
The item is very well packaged and everything is nicely placed.
The build process
The build process took a little longer than I expected. It probably took more than 20 hours to put everything together, but I’ve verified if everything was placed correctly before proceeding to the next step.
Of course there were a few setbacks, for example: a motor was placed incorrectly, I forgot to place the 3D printer bed and I had to unscrew some parts. I also made other small mistakes along the way that made me remove parts and start over…
As far as the assembly goes, it is finished for now. I can say that all the parts feel sturdy. The 3D printer wires were still a bit messy at this point, but I wanted to make that it was printing correctly before I started organizing the wires…
I recommend using painters tape so that it’s easier to remove the 3D printed items from the bed.
Note: in my prints I’ve used PLA filament, SketchUp to design the 3D parts, Slic3r to generate the G-code and these config files for Slic3r.
About my first prints
My first couple of prints failed, because I was still trying to level the bed. After some tests, I finally printed a small cube that turned out quite nice. After that, I’ve designed an enclosure on a software called SketchUp for a future ESP8266 project.
Here’s the final result…
It should have two holes on the side. One to place an OLED screen and the other for the wires to pass, however I messed up some of the slicer settings and it used a lot of support material.
But the print came out right and all the sides are very smooth.
Wrapping up
After organizing the wires with cable ties, here’s how it looks like.
It’s still messy, but that’s the best I could do at the moment.
My final thoughts: I think that for the price point, it’s the best option for someone that wants to get started with 3D printing. However, assembling a 3D printer is quite time consuming task and some of the steps are not straightforward, so it can be quite frustrating to assemble some parts.
So far I got good results, I’ll be posting future projects that will require some sort of 3D printed item and after more prints I’ll have a better idea on how good the 3D printer performs in the long run.
You might also like reading:
- Creality 3D CR – 10 3D Printer Review – Best 3D Printer under $400
- Top 11 Accessories and Supplies for 3D Printers
Thanks for reading!
I followed the URL to gearbest and when you specify a US plug for this printer, the price jumps to $240.65 with free shipping. If you leave it with the EU plug, the price with shipping is 195.99 and you see a ‘flash sale’ sign under the item in your cart. Why this isn’t applicable to the US, I do not know.
I’m not sure why that happens Samer, at the time of the review it costed less than $200, I’m not sure why it costs that price for the US plug… Sorry about that!
Congrats on getting into 3d printing ! Theres a lot to learn. I bouht a preassembled Flashforge and spend a lot of time levelling and testing different temperatures and speeds before I get good results for a new design or even different filaments.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Alex, there are so many alternatives to choose from. The levelling and testing is definitely very time consuming. I’m still experimenting and trying to find the best settings
I have the Tevo Black Widow, the big brother to the Tarantula. It is a lot of wotk to setup a Tevo printer and you have to upgrade several components to be satisfied. Bottom line is that if you want to learn by assembling a kit printer, and expect to purchase better parts to complete it, then Tevo may be for you.
Thanks for your input Scott!
Dear Rui. This printer is great I got it a few days ago. Follow some Youtube videos on upgrading it from ruiraptor. Get a piece of glass it is more easy to detach the print from the glass than directly from the bed. Finally there is a VERY active facebook group dedicated only on this printer very friendly people with lots of advice. Hope that you enjoy yours as much as I ‘m enjoying mine. Take care and thanks again for all your contribution to us and the electronics community.
I agree Belen! I’m also in the facebook group, it’s very helpful and great tips that we can find there.
Thanks for sharing
I’ve had my Tarantula for about 9 months. It performs quite well overall.
There are MANY upgrades and enhancements that you can do to improve the printer and I recommend looking into Octoprint to make life much easier.
Be warned, adjusting, modifying and tuning your Tarantula will eat up lots of time … it’s ver addictive!
Yes, I’ll be trying to upgrade some of the parts, I’ve already downloaded some of them from thingiverse
How do I make money out of this? I can use this printer for what applications?
Are there any improved versions of this?
You can print parts that allows you to improve the 3D printer itself. I’m not sure how you can make money with it.
These 3D printers are targeted to hobbyists, I want to use it toprint enclosures for my projects and robot parts that I design
Good product. great review.
Thanks Alan!
Good afternoon, If I purchase it now using pay pal, in the USA, what will be the cost of the tevo tarantula 3d printer.
Hi Thomas,
I don’t know the exact cost for you… You’ll have to check that with Gearbest and the final price should appear in the checkout page