Hello 3D Printing

Having a 3D printer is a dream I have had for a very long time. For some reason, I was not brave enough to get one until recently.
But I thought that it was time to own a 3D printer. So, the story begins.

The Search

There are far too many options to select. Since this is my first 3D printer and I have no experience in 3D printing, I had two goals when I was searching:

1. Ease of setup (It should not be a DIY kit.)
2. Affordability (I might throw it away. That’s one of my bad habits.)

After a few days of searching, I decided to buy a Tevo Tornado. It’s a massive printer with an affordable price.

Tevo Tornado on Ali Express

It’s a pretty new printer from a decent Chinese company. They’ve made some very good 3D printers in the past.
And this is an upgraded version of the CR-10 (which is one of the most mentioned 3D printers in 2017), but with a lower price tag.

The Wait

There was a huge demand for the Tevo Tornado and the company couldn’t satisfy it. So, I had to wait almost two months to get it.
I almost lost interest in 3D printing.

Finally they shipped my product in late November. It took almost two weeks for it to reach Sri Lanka. To make things worse, Sri Lanka Customs held it and asked me for more information.

I then had to wait another week to resolve that situation.

It’s Time

Even thought this is not a DIY kit, it’s not a plug and play device like an inkjet printer.
I had to assemble a few parts and do some wiring. I had great support from my wife for that. Without her, I would have screwed things up.

It’s always a better idea to assemble a 3D printer with someone else who can help you.

But unfortunately, one of the parts was broken when I received it.

You see, the printing bed is not flat. The glass under the green sheet was broken.

Tevo was generous enough to send me a replacement part. But, I couldn’t wait another month for that.

So, I tried to print some small objects in areas where the surface is flat. It went okay, but I wanted a proper solution.

The Fix

I separated the heating silicon sheet under the broken glass and pasted it to a glass I cut from a glass shop next to my house.

This is the heating silicon sheet which stays under the glass bed.

Yeah, it was a success! Now I can start printing properly.

That glass also broke due to the force around a screw. But the heating sheet kept things together and the bed was flat, so I could continue.

Then I pasted the extra printing surface I received onto the glass and here’s the final result.

Modifications

Usually, with these budget 3D printers, we have to do some modifications. But for the Tevo Tornado, there’s no modifications related to functionality.

I just had to print a spool holder and some knobs for bed leveling screws.
(You can see them in the image above.)

Automatic Bed Leveling

The first thing we needed to do before printing is to level the bed. Most of the new printers come with an automated solution for that, but not Tevo Tornado.

So I ordered a BL Touch sensor added it to my machine. I had to open up the control box, do some wiring and flash a new firmware.

It went well and It was fun.

This is the BL Touch sensor shown with an arrow next to the printing head (AKA: Hotend).

Printing, Printing and Printing

I was printing a lot and had to face many issues. I assume these are pretty usual for anyone who is starting 3D printing.

Luckily, most of these issues are not unique to the Tornado. I just had to do some Googling and there are a plenty of YouTube videos to rescue me.

And the best thing is the community. It’s an officially endorsed but community-maintained Facebook group.

Wow. Everyone is helping each other. It’s an amazing knowledge base with a great set of experienced people.

One of the things I don’t like is the structure of discussions. That’s totally a Facebook issue. So it’s always better to search before posting.

Salmon Skin Issue

One of the bad things about the Tornado is the salmon skin issue, which probably comes about due to its cheap stepper motor drivers.
(It’s an onboard driver, so you can’t simply replace the driver.)

Basically, there is no good solution to this, other than replacing the motherboard with a completely new one with some good quality drivers.

Is the Tevo Tornado Worth It?

For the money I spent it’s definitely worth it. I had no idea about 3D printing and the Tornado is very good starting place. It’s not a DIY kit, so you can get started in a few hours.
And it’s based on a generic design and there’s a good community.

I wish the Tornado came with better stepper drivers (even though it might cost a little more), but this is the way it is.

Would I buy a Tornado Again?

No. Here’s why.

I bought the Tornado to try out 3D printing. It’s a wise choice and it’s doing its job. I may want to buy a new 3D printer for two reasons:

1. As a way to help my 3D designing skills — But then, I’d buy a Prusa.
2. To explore 3D printers — But then, I’d buy a DIY kit like the Tevo Tarantula and upgrade it from there.

For now, I can live with the salmon skin issue. So I’m not going to do any major modifications to the Tornado. That’s because I can print stuff as I learn 3D printing without any interruption.

But I might also build a Tevo Tarantula since I’m very interested in the tech behind the 3D printers.