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Prusa Mendel iteration 3

As of today (september 2013), Prusa Mendel i3 is one of the latest models cooking at reprap.org (http://reprap.org/wiki/Prusa_i3). It was published about September 2012, and is still under some minor development. It is often recommended for beginners, as its assembly complexity is fairly balanced with its capabilities.

It is an evolution over the early Prusa Mendel that, according to this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQuUqd9ldUU), has some issues due to a not very good design:

1. Y axis wobbling
2. Hard maintenance
3. Wire strain problems
4. Unbalancing between the two Z axis motors
5. Z axis progressive deterioration and slip downwards

So, if one wishes to assemble his/her own Prusa Mendel, there are basically three options:

• Buying a full kit online, paying the price that the retailer wants to ask (from 350$ to 1000$).
• Attending a workshop and pay around 700$, but one gets home with an assembled printer and some knowledge.
• Buying the pieces separately with the help of the buyer’s guide from reprap (http://reprap.org/wiki/Prusa_i3_Buyers_Guide).

In case our reader dares with the third option, the parts are mainly ten (extracted from the same link as above):

1. Frame (Cheapest: $14, Cheapest with best sourcing options: $22, Most expensive: $112)
2. Rods (Cheapest: $18, Cheapest with best sourcing options: $92, Most expensive: $267)
3. Plastic Parts, excluding extruder (Cheapest: $40, Cheapest with best sourcing options: $40, Most expensive: $79)
4. Sources for Belts and Pulleys (Cheapest: $18, Cheapest with best sourcing options: $18, Most expensive: $28)
5. Extruder:            – Cold end (Cheapest: $38, Cheapest with best sourcing options: $43, Most expensive: $48)-Hot end (Cheapest: $38, Cheapest of best sourcing options: $38, Most expensive: $38)
6. Controller Electronics (Cheapest: $57, Cheapest of best sourcing options: $107, Most expensive: $292)
7. Misc. Electronics: Motors, fans,… (Cheapest: $62, Cheapest of best sourcing options: $107, Most expensive: $222)
8. Bed Parts (Cheapest: $4, Cheapest of best sourcing options: $39, Most expensive: $51)
9. Mechanical Parts (Cheapest: $24, Cheapest of best sourcing options: $24, Most expensive: $50)
10. Nuts and Bolts (Cheapest: ~$25?, Cheapest of best sourcing options: $???, Most expensive: ~$50?)

This totals to a price ranging between 300$ to 1237$, which considering the hassle of chasing each provider, finding the right measures and the high potential of failure in some specification of any of the ten orders, makes it highly recommendable (at least for the beginner) to either attend a course or buy the full kit and follow instructions on some youtube video.