im 16 years old and im soon going to start studying to get the education i want (gunsmith) and since i have to learn a lot about prototyping and i am generaly verry interested in 3d printing i am concidering getting a velleman 8200 bechause it isnt too expensive and it is open Source With loads of after market support. (i have a radio amateur lisence and some technical experience working With Technology so im fairly certain i can build the printer)
Great to hear that you want to start 3d printing! I’m a student myself too (currently 19 years old) and my 3d printer is the velleman 8200. This actually is my first 3d printer too.
One of the main reasons I bought this particular 3d printer is: you assemble it yourself! With this you get to know your 3d printer very well! This is the main advantage in comparison to buying a ready to print version. Because when something stops working or breaks you know where to look.
The kit itself is great and comes with good (online) instructions. I didn’t have any problems assembling the printer and because you have technical experience i think it won’t be a problem for you!
Althought it is a good printer, in time I made a lot of adjustments to make it work very well. There are a lot of “velleman approved” upgrades to this printer. Here are the ones I did:
With these upgrades my printer is now working like a charm! I am NOT saying that you must install these upgrades the minute you get your kit. I would highly discourage you to do so! You have to see it as a longer term project. First get to know your printer and the piece by piece upgrade it.
If you consider a Velleman printer, you should perhaps think of the Vertex K8400. It is the evolution of the 8200. The printer is really easier to mount and more reliable. I have one and sell some.
It is easy to upgrade (I am adding e3D hotends and a silicone heated bed).
The printer is quite cheap (CHF 589.-) and the frame is very robust.
However, if you think you are technically able to mount a printer from scratch, you should perhaps consider sourcing parts by yourself (by buying through e3d-online for example). With a bit of search and time, you’ll mount a great printer that you will know by heart.
Do not hesitate to contact me for further information and… have a great print!
My first 3D printer was a K8200 that I purchased 2 years ago for $900. Since then I’ve assembled 3 other kits - a Prusa I3, a Rostock Mini and the Velleman K8400. The instructions for the Prusa were horrible but I was able to figure it out easily because of the knowledge I gained from building the 8200.
The K8200 is a first generation printer and there are now many 2nd generation printers @ the same or better price.
Anyways, the K8200 is a great printer to learn the concepts. Its open framed design make it very easy to modify - Mine is now more a test bed. I’ve replaced the extremely heavy 0.5mm (nozzle) direct drive extruder with 2 Metal hotends (0.3mm) being fed with 2 Bowden extruders mounted on the top bar. I fried the K8200 controller board that came with it and replaced it with the regular Arduino 2560 and the Ramps 1.4 shield which gave me the the 2 extruder capability.
It depends on your location. I’m from Canada and 3D printers are just starting to hit the market. Metric nuts and bolts are somewhat rare.
DO NOT buy a K8200, it has a lot of defects that have a visible impact on print quality. I have the k8200 for nearly 2 years now and I have spent a lot of time trying to improve print quality which is still clearly lower than what I can see on Internet. I am now considering spending about €100 to buy new parts to correct some design defects.
The kit is fairly easy to put together, however you may be limited on what materials you can use. When I first put the k8200 together, the power supply wasn’t strong enough to supply both the extruder hot end and heat bed at the same time, at higher temperatures for a print. The kit would have a brown-out effect where it would reset itself. I would take a look at Printrbot Simple Metal or Play however the build volumes are smaller.
I went ahead and replaced most of the components for the kit.
Im not that technicaly experienced, i do put togethr the odd diy kit from velleman or adafruit and i have fooled around with the raspberry pi a bit. (Also built a custom watercooled computer last summer)
Then you will really like the K8200. Y ou will find a lot of upgradding possibilities on Thingiverse. Just be aware that upgrading this printer can cost a lot of money depending of which solution you choose. My blog (http://www.3d-couverte.fr/ 2) lists some upgrading solution only with printed parts, but this kind of upgrading is less effective than buying hight quality parts.
