Updating/Upgrading a Prusa v1: What to and costs

Hi,

A few years ago I built a Prusa v1 and printed quite a bit with it, however after moving rooms and various other things happening (my niece being born and living in the same house) it got stored away.
About 12 months or so back I changed the print bed to a heated print bed and electronics then did a few test prints which where ok. However upon closer inspection some of the printed parts were showing there age and a I replaced a few of the parts, although I didn't/don't have a full set of parts to replace them all. On top of this I noticed parts of the original printbed (the base plate) wasn't the correct size.
After some tinker added "Upgrade/Update 3d printer" to my todo list and promptly forgot about it.

I was originally looking at the mendel90, but parts seem a little hard to come by (although I might be able to set some laser cut steel from my work) so I'm open to anything.

My current setup is:
Ramps 1.3 (got a 1.4 put I fubared the soldering)
5 nema17 motors
Heated print bed- MK2a
J-Head print head - 0.5mm
Wades extractor
T5 belts
The rest is just the standard Prusa v1 setup with pla brushing

Ideally I want to keep the cost as low as possible to get me back up and printing (I've got a few projects ready for printed parts), but don't want to spend 99p when a £1 part is noticeably better and I'll end up buying the £1 version anyway.

Thanks in advance

Print up parts for an i3 box frame, find a local friend to cut up the wood parts, that is my plan once I get my i2 running enough to print

The prusa i3 does look great.
tbh I wouldn't trust the plastics on the clips or frame supports to last long enough to get a full set of prints.

Is there any hardware difference between the i1 and i3? ie would I need longer threads or anything.

Don't know much about the diffs but here's the i3 bom
[reprap.org]
There are tons of i3 plastic kits available on eBay, that's a fast way of getting some, when I built my i2 I commissioned someone I found on Craigslist to print up my parts.
To be honest I have been drooling over an i3 for a while, it's just a long process for me because I want to reuse as much as possible from my i2

You can probably use a lot of the current parts if you upgrade to something like a Prism. I'm biased, but it's as sturdy as anything else on the market and provides an easy upgrade path. you will have to print all the parts as i doubt anyone sells them.

regardless, Most of what you have is still good. your wades is still good. i use mine from 3 years ago with no problems. same with the j-head.

Do whatever you can to firm up your prusa, because you will need it to be able to print your upgrades. reinforce the clamps with a bunch of tape or lash them together with string if you were a boyscout(couldn't hurt) .

Update your firmware, slicer, and host to modern versions. it makes a world of difference in your prints compared to years-old software.

update the frame. threaded rod is mostly out of style; pick a box frame or extruded aluminum design. (with Prism you can reuse your x axis and y carriage, for now. the extrusion costs around $60 plus t-nuts at $20-30, if i remember correctly from when i sourced it)

updating your frame will get you much better results while you plan and print your next updates.
-Move to GT2 belts and machined pulleys- <$30, mostly drop in replacements depending on how the belt is fixed to the carriages
-salvage your smooth rods and upgrade to lm8uu bearings on all axes (~$20-30 and a lot of printing)

at that point, your printer is up to date and you can be confident you aren't too far behind the times.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/21/2014 05:18PM by Buback.

Thanks for the replies.
I've just priced up a conversion kit (well sourced a suppliers and got quotes) and it looks like I should be able to get it all for sub £90 as long as I cut the wood myself.
Which includes GT2 pulleys and belts as well as a lm8uu upgrade

Can someone please confirm my current Wades extruder will work on the prusa i3?
Looks like this (not mine just the closest I could find)