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.
Hi, I have one of these. It’s very good at what it does but it isn’t the best quality straight out of the box. I’m using mine for making the odd items I want and learning how to design for 3D printing. If you drecide to buy, my advice is to take your time putting it together. I spent two weeks working slowly and carefully. You also need to know that unless you have a computer right beside you, building will be very difficult as there are over 300 pages to the instructions and you will need every single one, trust me. I also recommend buying the official glass plate from Velleman as it really helps with print quality. The problem with the power supply is now solved as Vellman upped the rating in the current version. Good luck, I will monitor this post for a while in case I can be of further help.
I upgraded / added 24V power supply for bed to get to temps that held the prints down
I always use glass with glue stick - works great!
I upgraded the z-axis rod - not required immediately
I upgraded from the 3mm extruder to the Direct Drive 1.75mm extruder from Velleman. It came with a burnt out driver for the controller. Their support was awesome and they sent me a new one sight unseen!
Shortly after, I upgraded to the E3D V6 for the 1.75 which I was running for the 3mm prior and highly recommend.
There is alot to learn! You will definitely know the basics and troubleshooting after using this printer. The forums are also great and some great helpful people on their genuinely willing to help!
When I bought my printer it was the best balance between price, simplicity in building it and upgradability.
I’m not implying it is easy to build though. I study engineering and it took me 25 hours spread over a week (yes I timed it^^) to build. It requires mechanical prowess and soldering skills, as well as a sceptical eye for the not always perfect manual (600 pages!). But compared to trying to get all the parts yourself and building your printer from scratch it’s simple. All the parts are there, you just need the tools and the time, and if there’s a problem or you break something the Vellemann support is quite good (I broke the hotend when mounting it first time, no problem they sent me a new one).
But its by no means perfect. The first 5 things I printed were upgrades for the printer (Electronics case, Z-Motor holder, Y-Axis cable bridge, X-axis belt tightener, Fan nozzle), and 2 years later I’m still improving bits of it. A printer like this is always a work in progress. If you’re OK with that then go for it!
As you can see from the other posts this printer will need to be upgraded for you to get any good prints from it.
I would not recommend this printer to anyone. I have had mine for almost a year now and have only just started to get good results after using most of the upgrades mentioned. Velleman support is terrible, it is all web forum and the technical support never reply to your posts. There are faulty and cheap parts in the kit and although velleman will replace them it takes a long time and a lot of effort to get them.
By the time that you have applied all of the upgrades and replaced the cheap parts fro better quality parts the printer is not cheap. I would choose a slightly more expensive printer which has better reviews.
For information: I also timed the K8400 montage and it took me between 15 and 20 hours. I really think the K8400 is easier to mount (solderless, good frame, … )
Not saying that K8400 is a must buy comparing to other brands… just saying that I think the K8400 is better comparing to the K8200 (ease of mount, speed of mount, reliability, quality of prints, … )
My comments are based on personal experience. I was told that all support was through the velleman forum and was not given a tech support e mail address. I have posted on the forum several times and have never had a reply from velleman, it has always been other users that have helped me out.
As for repairs, I had to return the main circuit board as it was supplied damged and it took 6 weeks to get it back. This is not great service and I will not recommend velleman to anyone and will actively tell people to buy other printers.
Hi The K8200 is a very easy printer to start with. The printer is very easy to build. The build manual is very detailed with over 500 pages. The good thing with the velleman K8200 is that there are alot of easy upgrades at Thingiverse.com that will make the more reliable and making better print. I have upgrades mine with a aluminium heatbed for faster heating. E3D extruder which make it able print alot of different filament and also different nozzles. 0,25mm and up. I am very satisfied with the K8200 and I am sure this printer is a good printer to start with, if you like DIY kits.
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.
