Go to homepage
3D Printing
3D Printing Service
FDM SLA/DLP SLS MJF DMLS/SLM Material Jetting
CNC Machining
CNC Machining Service
CNC Milling CNC Turning Surface Finishing Part Marking
Injection Molding
Sheet Metal Fabrication
Resources
3D Printing Guide CNC Machining Guide Injection Molding Guide Metal 3D Printing Guide Knowledge Base Webinars Help Center
Get instant quote
Jul 2016
1 / 5
Jul 2016
Jul 2016
cobnut
Jul '16

My first printer was a K8200 “loaned” to me by a friend who no longer wanted it. I’ve now upgraded to a Flashforge Pro and the K8200 is sitting forlornly in a corner of the room. The original owner has said I can keep it (in return for a nominal remittance) but I’m strangely reluctant to sell it. Being quite fascinated by all aspects of 3D printing, it seems to me I should be doing something with the K8200. Maybe trying to upgrade it to improve quality, or turn it into a…?

I’m severely limited for room and my office is inside my home so CNC or anything else “messy” is probably out of the question, so, what should I do with it?

  • created

    Jul '16

  • last reply

    Jul '16
  • 4

    replies

  • 4.2k

    views

  • 4

    users

  • 5

    links

Tammo
Jul '16

There are probably a lot of things you can do to your velleman. If you have the stock k8200 you can hugely improve the quality by upgrading it with parts provided by velleman. Examples of upgrades are:

- the improved threaded rod (https://www.vellemanstore.com/en/velleman-k8204-z-axis-upgrade-kit-rod-coupler-k8200 75)

- improved direct drive extruder (https://www.vellemanstore.com/en/velleman-k8203-035mm-extruder-upgrade-kit-3d-printer-k8200 81)

- make it stand alone by adding a lcd screen(https://www.vellemanstore.com/en/velleman-vm8201-stand-alone-controller-for-3d-printer 36)

An other option is by upgrading it with 3D printed parts. There is a very nice collection on thingiverse with al sorts of uprades and added parts for the k8200: K8200 Upgrades - Collections - Area51 - Thingiverse 91

If you want, I have seen a lot of people put a dremel on the printed so they can engrave stuff. Seems like a lot of fun! I myself haven’t experienced with this but maybe you can contain the mess made by making an enclosure for the printer. Plexiglass seems like a nice material to do this with. Also if you make it stand alone with the controller you can maybe place the printer/engraver somewhere else where you can make some mess.

If you are feeling completely experimental and want to print food, try the chocolate version! With this I do not have any experience but seems like a lot of fun (3Drag is now printing with Chocolate! - Open Electronics - Open Electronics 23)

I hope this helped to deside what to do with the printer!

Tammo

cobnut
Jul '16

Hi folks, thanks for the replies.

@3DPrintedDebris, thanks for the offer, but I think the shipping to the US would make it a tad expensive :slight_smile:

@Tammo, some great ideas, but most are limited by my space/environment. The improvements to the K8200 as a “normal” FDM printer are interesting, but to be honest none seem to address the key issue I found with it which appeared to be inaccuracy in X/Y positioning.

@Perry_1, something to consider, though I believe my local school has better kit than I do…