Prusa i2 or i3?

I recently asked a question about a J-head hot-end. Thank you all for the help on that! I know this question probably gets asked a lot but, what is better the i2 or the i3. What is best for a first time repraper?

Maybe like what are some pros and cons from both?

Thanks!,
-Stack

i3 has no Y-Z rigidity, you can bend it few milimeters with pinky, and that is not accetable for cnc machine.

also you can not setup y-z angle.

if printing i3 get the version with belt tensioner on both, x and y axis.

il rather suggest mendel max 1.5, its about +100 usd for misumi extrusions...better options then i2 or i3.
also if i2 adrians version has diagonal threaded rod beneath y axis, this is very important detail for rigidity and everything.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/19/2013 12:40AM by woo.

So you recommend the mendel max 1.5 or a prusa? I don't completely understand..

i have prusa, and i am sorry that i didnt buy mendelmax...

Are you losing anything with a medelmax? Like build area or anything? Also can you use like Wades extruder, a J-Head hot-end and RAMPS 1.4 with it?

Thanks,
-Stack

I am totaly happy with my Makerfarm Prusa i3 and would recommend it ^^
[puu.sh]

Tolerance is at the Z around 0.1 depends how you calibirated it,
X and Y are most of the time dead on, also with the Makerfarm it seems more rigid as x/y on Z and not being able to bend that easly.

So you wouldnt recommend a prusa i2 to anyone anymore? The top repraps are the Prusa i3 and MendelMax?

The i3 is a lot more easy to build and set up, the makerfarm kit is pretty good value, and assembly is straight forward even for the beginner, it prints good quality prints but its true that it isnt the most rigid machine out there, so you wont be printing lightning fast, but for the normal user its a great compromise between price and quality, if you throw in some extra dollars and get a alu frame later you will have a great machine for a long time.

Well the mendlemax looks like a great build and so does the i3 but self sourcing that is not going to be easy and both are a bit more pricey then the i2.

Thats why we tell that Makerfarm would be a great option,
Its a Kit, www.makerfarm.com

Go with the MakerFarm i3. It's a great price and will work fine. My biggest gripe with the i2 has always been the build height. It is about 4.5 inches compared to about 8 inches for the i3.

I can show you 50 pictures of nice prints on i3 alu frame but becouse i have one right now. But as a person who have cnc world for atleast 10 years 99% of printers are designed by kids and computer geeks and are not worth even to comment it. So in MY opinion mendel max is the most rigid and thats important.

I am verry sorry that i have spend money to buy it, but i waz in hurry so i take shortcut and buy one...never again.

And one more thing.it depeends what will you print.for vases,owls dildos etc it doesnt matter what you have for printer...


2 stack: try to sorcing mendwlmax parts separarly it will be cheaper then when you buy a kit.

I can find the misumi extrusions but for the printed parts i cant find much anywhere. There is also no Bill of materials, though my guess is that the electronics and stuff are the same. I like the design of the mendelmax and want to make it but cant find a list of the things needed. If anyone knows where to find a list or something and not the one on the mendelmax site because that one is really confusing.

Thank you all for all your help!

MendelMax is Open Hardware, but their priority is shipping kits, not providing info or support to self builders. If the info you need is not at [www.mendelmax.com] then it is probably nowhere.

There are a few projects similar to MendelMax which may have more accessible info/support, e.g [reprap.org], there is also a version of Mendel90 using extrusions.

The bottom line is that if you buy a kit it may seem expensive, but it's an all in one package and you should get some retailer support. If you self source, you must expect to deal with some unclear/incomplete design which you have to fill in the gaps, and you also need to have a good knowledge of material suppliers, otherwise after shipping you can end up paying more.

For a first printer, I would definitely recommend a retail kit, unless you are already an experienced builder of CNC or similar. There are plenty of people who say they have had a printer for months but never managed to get it to print, that must be maddening. A first build is always a learning curve, you may end up deciding you would rather have a ready assembled plug'n'play product.

The makerfarm i3 is a good value kit, the makerstoolworks Mendel 2.0 is a top end kit but 2.5 the price. For most users, I think the makerfarm i3 is definitely a good place to start.

Stack,

For MendelMax BOM, you could take a look at the Trinity labs, instruction manual [docs.google.com] it has a list of parts at the front.

You could also look in the Blomker build kit, instructions [blomker.com] (The parts that are used as listed at the start of each chapter).

I suspect that if you ordered the parts separately, they would end up more expensive than buying a kit.

I built mine from the Blomker kit (as it was the cheapest kit I could find), and on the whole I"m happy with the printer. However the Blomker kit is cheaper than others e.g. the Trinity labs kit, as it doesnt have the newer Y axis track, it still uses 2 x 8mm round steel rods. Also it doesn't come with the LCD display or an SD card reader, so you can only operate it direct from a PC. It also doesn't come with a RAMPS fan or heat sinks on the stepper drivers, which in my opinion are essential.

In my case, I unfortunately damaged the Arduino and it in turn destroyed the stepper drivers, so I had to order replacements on eBay, so I now had heat sinks, a fan and SD card reader (and can live without the LCD display at the moment)

BTW. I'm not sure if the Trinity labs etc kits come with Kaptop tape or the glass for the bed, and I had to source these myself as well.


But overall, I'd still recommend the Blomker kit.

Considering the current controversy with Trinity Labs, it may be best to avoid them for now. See [forums.reprap.org]

Blomker seems to be located in Malaysia, which explains why the kit is so cheap. They use T5 belts... while everybody these days uses T2.5 or GT2 (don't ask me why it's better, but that's the consensus among experienced RepRappers).

But, the good thing is that RepRaps are upgradable. For example, once you've got that printer running, you can print parts to upgrade your machine. Or purchase better hardware components.

the frame rigidity on the i2 is a joke, the mendel max is multitudes better. the issue is the threaded rods and the vertexes. the threaded rods are 8mm rods, but because its threaded, they act like 5mm smooth rods.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/22/2013 12:27AM by aduy.

I've got a Lulzbot AO-100, which is based on the MendelMax 1.0/1.5, but it's slightly smaller. It's closer to the original Prusa Mendel's outer dimensions (the MM1.5 is bigger).

When Lulzbot was selling this printer, they had a picture of the R&D guy standing up on it. The frame is definitely strong!

The print volume of the AO-100/101 is 190x200x100mm, but an easy mod can bring the max build height to 160mm. [www.thingiverse.com]

I would say what's nice with the i3 and MendelMax 2 is the fact that the Z axes are in front of the upper frame, which clears the whole front of the printer. One could design an aluminum t-slot i3 to get a more rigid frame. Stephanie Shaltes started on one but hasn't completed her design. [plus.google.com] and [github.com]

You should also look nophead's Mendel90 up, it's a very good machine too.

NormandC Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Considering the current controversy with Trinity
> Labs, it may be best to avoid them for now. See
> [forums.reprap.org]
>
> Blomker seems to be located in Malaysia, which
> explains why the kit is so cheap. They use T5
> belts... while everybody these days uses T2.5 or
> GT2 (don't ask me why it's better, but that's the
> consensus among experienced RepRappers).
>
> But, the good thing is that RepRaps are
> upgradable. For example, once you've got that
> printer running, you can print parts to upgrade
> your machine. Or purchase better hardware
> components.

With Trinity labs, I was just referring to their manual that has a BOM

With Blomker, they now ship with GT2 belts, and aluminium oulleys. See
[blomker.com]

Note. I have a blomker kit and get quite good results with it. I think they are pretty good value for money

Hey, sorry if I seemed to imply that the Blomker kit did not give good results, it was unintended. (I don't even know this kit)

What I meant to say is that for RepRap printers that already get good results, it's almost always possible to improve these results. I'm not a big tinkerer, I prefer to use my machine rather than upgrade it, but many people seem to have as much fun tweaking their printers as printing with them.

Have any of you looked at the i3 frames with the support brackets. I don't see how this couldn't make it more rigid. You might just have to take a few things into your own hands. I'm going to mount mine on a 20mm MDF sheet with brackets to attach the frame and the rods to the sheet. Just because the thing wont just stand on the table as designed and print 0.01 mm layer height prints looking like silk doesn't mean you should just dismiss it.

@NormandC no offense taken ;-)

I've needed to do loads of tinkering of my kit from Blomker, as after all its still a reprap.

I found this site for the Mendelmax and its really great but its missing the threaded rod and the smooth rod. It looks like he has everything else. Is he missing anything? And what rods do i need.

[www.metamaker.net]

Sourcing parts from here and there can save you money. If you haven't done this before, getting the *right* parts can be a real pain. You don't really know (yet) what you are looking at. You also can find a *lot* of threads around here starting out "I bought a bunch of parts and can't get them to work...". A kit with good support (Maker Farm is one, there are many others) is worth a *lot* when it comes to getting things going the first time. You will upgrade / modify / rebuild / improve what ever you get. In a couple of years / months / weeks you will decide that only having one printer is just not enough. Get something straightforward for your first printer and save the customization for later on ....