prusa I3 mk2.75
Building a Prusa i3 mk2 ish from an old Chinese kit.
Introduction
Back in 2015, I bought a Prusa i3 mk1.5 kit from Replikeo and I paid a wapping 356 euros at the time (adding another 50 euros of DHL import fee if I recall). Looking back this was a lot of money for a poor-quality printer. Nowadays, you can have a Creality Ender 3 for less than 200 euros delivered. But it was the beginning of the 3d printer spread and that was the cheapest kit I had found!
And sadly, I’ve never achieved a successful print on this piece of hardware. Most of the printers of the era used 3mm type filament and mine was no exception. Way before the E3D revolution, the hot-end provided in the kit was a J-head. terrific stuff.
A new project
Today, I’ve started a new journey to rework this printer (rework the Prusa 1.5 rework to get a rework reworded printer, still following ?) And hopefully, I will end up with a "brand-new" machine that I can use and trust for long prints.
A lot has happened since the release of this kit. Much better printing surface, the whole industry switching to 1.75mm filament, 24 volts becoming the norm, and so on.
The plan is simple. Download the original Prusa mk2 and avoid as many as possible modifications.
Why the mk2?
It’s the newest version of the original Prusa available at the time of writing this with killer features and improved design, but I want to end this project someday and avoid spending too much on sensors and parts.
At the time of rewriting this post, the mk4 has been released. Time flies. I'll still go with mk2 / mk2.5 files because I want to use cheap threaded rods instead of buying aluminum profiles. BUT, I'll not hesitate to mix and match newer features to this test printer.
What do I have from my 2015 kit and what do I need to buy? I have the frame; surprisingly, it has changed very little over the years. so I can reuse it. It was also what kept me away from the mk3 since the frame has changed and I’m reluctant to the idea of buying aluminum profiles and drilling the frame. I also have all the motors, smooth rods, and some 10mm threaded shaft
I’ll need: * 8mm threaded rods, since my kit, is all 10mm but it is very cheap and I still want to be as close as possible to the original mk2. acme screws + nuts // ?????
https://shop.prusa3d.com/fr/mk3mk3s/590-bearing-housing-623h.html