There’s no denying that Tevo has carved out its own corner at the affordable end of the desktop 3D printer market. The company, based in Guangdong Province, China, is lead by ambitious entrepreneur Tan Qiangmin and is one of a number of companies to etch itself into the 3D printing public’s consciousness with 3D printer kits attracting widespread online coverage.
Up until recently, Tevo boasted a four printer lineup of build-it-yourself kits that one could argue do a good job splitting opinion. We found the Tevo Tarantula a chore, but a sizable online community can be found online lauding the printer’s worth, so hey ho.
But, in a departure from this kit-only product offerings, Tevo is sticking a fork in its business path and releasing a fully assembled 3D printer. It is called the Michelangelo and is a cantilever-style FDM 3D printer with an integrated control box.
What's in the Box?
At the time of writing there’s no official product page for the Michelangelo on Tevo’s own website, so we’re going off a data sheet that’s doing the rounds plus AliExpress and BangGood listings for the tech specs.
Occupying a small footprint that handily crams the brains and power supply into its base, the Tevo Michelangelo shares its mechanical arrangement with the likes of the Creality Ender 2, Wanhao Duplicator i3 Mini (Monoprice Select Mini) and Tronxy X1 — all cantilever style fused deposition modeling 3D printers.
Here the print bed moves on the Y-axis, with the print head moving independently on the X-axis on an arm that itself moves in the Z-axis on a lead screw. It’s the most commonly seen style of locomotion for an FDM 3D printer, with one defining differentiation being that the arm is fixed only on one end.
The nitty gritty goes as follows:
- Single extrusion
- 0.1mm max. Layer resolution
- Mk8 nozzle type – 0.4mm (replaceable)
- Dual part-cooling fans
- Titan Bowden extruder
- 150 x 150 x 150mm print bed
- Full Aluminum frame
- Accepts 1.75mm filament (PLA, TPU)
- SD card reader
- USB connectivity
- MKS Gen V1.0 motherboard
What's Not in the Box?
We haven’t gotten our hands on the Tevo Michelangelo yet, so couldn’t possibly say what exactly the deal is with the printer is yet. But we do have some initial thoughts from seeing the pictures and reading the specs.
We can’t help but notice the lack of a heated print bed on this machine. It not uncommon, with the Michelangelo’s aforementioned stablemates (mostly) all in the same boat here, so it’s not exactly a criticism. But it would’ve been a neat leg up over the competition, especially so when the likes of Monoprice Select Mini has had it from day one, and will soon release a 3rd generation machine with all the bells and whistles.
You could argue the machine then has safety in mind, with many education-targeted 3D printers omitting heated beds for simple PLA printing and “kid-friendliness”. Except here we see no kind of shroud making the potentially 200-degree nozzle inaccessible to wandering fingers.
So far we’ve only found the Tevo Michelangelo available to buy on BangGood and AliExpress for approximately USD $220. Although the latter lists this price as discounted, with the usual RRP at USD $259.99.
This places the Tevo Michelangelo above the company’s most affordable printer, the Tarantula.
The above all leave us scratching our heads at who exactly the Tevo Michelangelo is for. The naming suggests artistic intent, what with the renaissance figure of the same name responsible for the Sistine Chapel fresco and David statue.
Or maybe there are some fans of pizza guzzling ninja turtles over at the Tevo HQ.
Could we be on the cusp of a 3D printing renaissance with the Tevo Michelangelo leading the charge? Maybe not, but we’re reserving judgement until we’ve had a closer look and can provide you with a proper Tevo Michelangelo review.
License: The text of "Tevo Michelangelo 3D Printer: Review the Facts" by All3DP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.