FWIW
Originally shared by Prusa 3D by Josef Prusa
Hi man,
first, my name is pronounced “proosha”.
As you said, its old model, no reason to bitch about it in 2013 you are three years too late 
It is still built as there are thousands of ppl who can help you with it.
Hanging Z axis was made because it transfers less wobble to the print, now with tube couplings, its not needed. Your coupling slid out of the shafts either because they were oversized or you didnt tighten them. Sanding the motor shafts helps a lot too. Your cables broke as you didn’t bolt them to the Y carriage or used poor cables. Two motor Z axis is much easier to maintain then the original mendel one, if you would built original mendel, you would know. That thing sucked to calibrate. The x axis wobble is true, but during prints it wasn’t affecting the quality too much. …
Anyway, keep up the good work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQuUqd9ldUU
Well, that just irritates the hell out of me,
Sure, that model is not perfect. Anyone with even a little bit of common sense can tell you that. But… all thinghs mentioned in this ridiculous video, is very easy to solve. What iiritates me the most, is the total lack of respect for mr.Prusa, and the effort that went in this printer, and every other printer that is available today. And I know what I am talking about, as I am building my own, from scratch, learning the hard way that it is not as simple as it seems. There were many times I thought some things others designed were easily improved, only to discover why they did what they did, and that they were not as stupid as I in my limitless arrogance thought they were. And through the efforts of people like Josef Prusa, 3D-printing is where it is today.
To the person in this video, I would like to say 'stop bitching, get your lazy ass in gear, and make some improvements, share them, and in that way contribute, because that is the only way forward, dumbass;.
Funny how a guy who had little mechanical experience is botching about user error. Thanks for the laugh
I think that the guy gave credit for all the good the model represented and then proceeded to highlight a number of valid issues, many of which have already been addressed in subsequent models (but that doesn’t invalidate them)… and this is all part of how the open process goes. So I don’t see the need for high emotion here even if the guy may have lacked some tact.
I loved my Prusa Mendel, learned so much putting it back together for the 10th time, recalibrating, creating new parts etc. Never had problems with the wires. There are much better models now (v3 for instance) But I still love my little Prusa…
@Josef_Prusa This guy is a clown, you are constantly updating your designs, he is just jealous he doesn’t have a printer with his name on it.
As always, it would be far better to make a video highlighting ways to fix issues rather than criticize. Our human tendency to point out how something sux usually wins, though. I would recommend the video creator focus on sharing fixes and suggestions for improvement in the future.
“It requires ALOT of maintenance” yea that’s why after a solid year of printing and kilograms of filament the only maintenance I’ve had to do is on my extruder itself.
And if he’s ever looked at a “real” CNC a almost all z axes are hanging. Gravity helps over come back lash and if your coupler is slipping why don’t you make one of the hundreds of couplers out there? Or drill three holes in some aluminum rod? Seriously
My i2 is coming up on two years of service and is by far the easiest to calibrate and most reliable of the three different machines I’ve built. It is my go-to when I need a printer as a tool and not a toy. The occasional Z skew adjustment isn’t a big deal.
If you can’t create , criticize.
I have not yet got my i3 up to the quality I had on my i2 before tearing it down and using it for the i3. There is plenty of designs on thingverse to stabilize the x axis. My final version only had the barclamps left of the original Prusa i2, but still 
for no reason at all this video has been popping ut quite close to the top of my youtube 3dprinter-related searches. Can not call it nice though…
I’ve had a 3D printer manufacturer approach me with their printer which ships as a “some assembly required” machine. The idea is that you have to bolt together about 4 subsystems together. The sales rep spun that as a positive - in essence, to give people who are not really technically inclined a sense of accomplishment for putting their printer together…
As a kit machine, the quality of the printer is as much (or even more so) a reflection of the kit builder than the design.