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Anet Prusa A8

REVIEW

is 22 cm × 22 cm × 24 cm, which is enough for a wide

range of hobbyist needs. It comes with a heated bed

out of the box, which improves bed adhesion and

allows users to print in ABS and other materials that

are prone to warping. The A8 also supports printing

from an SD card, meaning you can add your files from

your software of choice to the SD card, plug it into

your printer, then select them using the LCD screen.

While this doesn’t sound wildly exciting, the alternative

is to have your machine plugged into a computer at

all times. This feature gives you the freedom to place

your printer anywhere in the house (pending partner/

housemate approval of course).

A QUALITY PRINT

Getting down to brass tacks, the print quality from this

kit is not just good for the price, it’s plain good. You can

see the quality it’s capable of in our first ever print, and

we’ve never had any major issues with print quality

that haven’t been fixed with some form of calibration,

or by replacing cheap parts. You will quickly that learn

there are a plethora of factors that affect print quality

that could be the subject of a series of articles in

Anet Prusa A8

By Glenn Horan @batglenn13

3D printing that doesn’t break the bank

ANET AROUND £100 anet3d.com

Above

The Anet Prusa A8 is

a basic, but capable,

3D printer for people

who like to tinker

he RepRap (replicating

rapid prototyper)

movement was

started in 2005, at the

University of Bath, as

a means of fulfilling

what sounds like something out

of the realms of science fiction –

to design and build a 3D printer

that can print its own parts, thus

being able to replicate itself.

Undoubtedly, the most popular

example of this paradigm is the

Prusa-style design, epitomised by the

‘Original Prusa i3’, currently on its third

iteration. The Anet Prusa A8 is a printer built on

the same open-source design, but at approximately

one seventh of the price.

This is a printer kit with a ~10-hour build-time.

If you are looking for something that works out

of the box, the A8 is not for you. All the tools you

need for the build are included in the box, and there

are both written instructions and a link to a set of

YouTube videos, where you can follow along with an

instructional build of the printer. We found building

the printer an enjoyable process, and it forces you to

acquire knowledge regarding the intimate workings of

your new toy.

While the A8 doesn’t have all the bells and whistles

of the ‘Original Prusa’, it has all the important features

that a decent 3D printer should have. The print volume

T

It comes with a heated bed out-of-the-box, which

improves bed adhesion and allows users to print in

ABS and other materials that are prone to warping

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