bar shower developed a continuous drip from the 1/4 turn flow
valve. Got a tuit so pulled out the old to measure & get a
new.

Oh dear. No online source had the same spec. Nearest was very
close but the splined head of the spindle was 7.6mm, diameter of
my original dud was 9.8mm....

For 7 quid posted I ordered one yesterday & it arrived today (tap
magician, eBay).

So out with the polymorph

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B017SA92O4

and ten minutes later I had moulded myself a bush to enable the
smaller replacement spindle to fit snugly & exactly into the the
shower control knob.

All back together & job done! Assuming the shower doesn't get
above 60deg all should be ok :-)

Result IMHO.

--
Jim K


----Android NewsGroup Reader----
http://usenet.sinaapp.com/

On 23/02/2017 17:10, jim wrote:

bar shower developed a continuous drip from the 1/4 turn flow
valve. Got a tuit so pulled out the old to measure & get a
new.

Oh dear. No online source had the same spec. Nearest was very
close but the splined head of the spindle was 7.6mm, diameter of
my original dud was 9.8mm....

For 7 quid posted I ordered one yesterday & it arrived today (tap
magician, eBay).

So out with the polymorph

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B017SA92O4

and ten minutes later I had moulded myself a bush to enable the
smaller replacement spindle to fit snugly & exactly into the the
shower control knob.

All back together & job done! Assuming the shower doesn't get
above 60deg all should be ok :-)

Result IMHO.


Do you have to work that stuff whilst it's boiling hot? How?

GB Wrote in message:
On 23/02/2017 17:10, jim wrote:

bar shower developed a continuous drip from the 1/4 turn flow
valve. Got a tuit so pulled out the old to measure & get a
new.

Oh dear. No online source had the same spec. Nearest was very
close but the splined head of the spindle was 7.6mm, diameter of
my original dud was 9.8mm....

For 7 quid posted I ordered one yesterday & it arrived today (tap
magician, eBay).

So out with the polymorph

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B017SA92O4

and ten minutes later I had moulded myself a bush to enable the
smaller replacement spindle to fit snugly & exactly into the the
shower control knob.

All back together & job done! Assuming the shower doesn't get
above 60deg all should be ok :-)

Result IMHO.


Do you have to work that stuff whilst it's boiling hot? How?



"Polymorph plastic is a Nylon-like plastic that can be softened
in 62°C (140°F) and shaped by hand. Once set, it is extremely
strong - so if you're fixing something with it, it will last
forever. Plastic can be melted over and over again. Directions of
use: 1. Prepare a container for the pellets - this can be a mug,
a bowl, etc. 2. Add pellets into container 3. Pour boiling water
into container 4. Wait for the pellets to become transparent 5.
Carefully remove from hot water, drain, and squeeze out water
trapped in beteween the pellets 6. Start moulding!"

I didn't use boiling water, just bloody hot :-)
--
Jim K


----Android NewsGroup Reader----
http://usenet.sinaapp.com/

On 23/02/17 17:21, jim wrote:
GB Wrote in message:
On 23/02/2017 17:10, jim wrote:

bar shower developed a continuous drip from the 1/4 turn flow
valve. Got a tuit so pulled out the old to measure & get a
new.

Oh dear. No online source had the same spec. Nearest was very
close but the splined head of the spindle was 7.6mm, diameter of
my original dud was 9.8mm....

For 7 quid posted I ordered one yesterday & it arrived today (tap
magician, eBay).

So out with the polymorph

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B017SA92O4

and ten minutes later I had moulded myself a bush to enable the
smaller replacement spindle to fit snugly & exactly into the the
shower control knob.

All back together & job done! Assuming the shower doesn't get
above 60deg all should be ok :-)

Result IMHO.


Do you have to work that stuff whilst it's boiling hot? How?



"Polymorph plastic is a Nylon-like plastic that can be softened
in 62°C (140°F) and shaped by hand. Once set, it is extremely
strong - so if you're fixing something with it, it will last
forever. Plastic can be melted over and over again.

Shame that hot water can be over 62C...


Directions of
use: 1. Prepare a container for the pellets - this can be a mug,
a bowl, etc. 2. Add pellets into container 3. Pour boiling water
into container 4. Wait for the pellets to become transparent 5.
Carefully remove from hot water, drain, and squeeze out water
trapped in beteween the pellets 6. Start moulding!"

I didn't use boiling water, just bloody hot :-)



--
Canada is all right really, though not for the whole weekend.

"Saki"

The Natural Philosopher Wrote in message:
On 23/02/17 17:21, jim wrote:
GB Wrote in message:
On 23/02/2017 17:10, jim wrote:

bar shower developed a continuous drip from the 1/4 turn flow
valve. Got a tuit so pulled out the old to measure & get a
new.

Oh dear. No online source had the same spec. Nearest was very
close but the splined head of the spindle was 7.6mm, diameter of
my original dud was 9.8mm....

For 7 quid posted I ordered one yesterday & it arrived today (tap
magician, eBay).

So out with the polymorph

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B017SA92O4

and ten minutes later I had moulded myself a bush to enable the
smaller replacement spindle to fit snugly & exactly into the the
shower control knob.

All back together & job done! Assuming the shower doesn't get
above 60deg all should be ok :-)

Result IMHO.


Do you have to work that stuff whilst it's boiling hot? How?



"Polymorph plastic is a Nylon-like plastic that can be softened
in 62°C (140°F) and shaped by hand. Once set, it is extremely
strong - so if you're fixing something with it, it will last
forever. Plastic can be melted over and over again.

Shame that hot water can be over 62C...


Yeah I hear it boils at 100deg C!

How hot do you have your shower?

--
Jim K


----Android NewsGroup Reader----
http://usenet.sinaapp.com/

On 24/02/17 08:25, jim wrote:
The Natural Philosopher Wrote in message:
On 23/02/17 17:21, jim wrote:
GB Wrote in message:
On 23/02/2017 17:10, jim wrote:

bar shower developed a continuous drip from the 1/4 turn flow
valve. Got a tuit so pulled out the old to measure & get a
new.

Oh dear. No online source had the same spec. Nearest was very
close but the splined head of the spindle was 7.6mm, diameter of
my original dud was 9.8mm....

For 7 quid posted I ordered one yesterday & it arrived today (tap
magician, eBay).

So out with the polymorph

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B017SA92O4

and ten minutes later I had moulded myself a bush to enable the
smaller replacement spindle to fit snugly & exactly into the the
shower control knob.

All back together & job done! Assuming the shower doesn't get
above 60deg all should be ok :-)

Result IMHO.


Do you have to work that stuff whilst it's boiling hot? How?



"Polymorph plastic is a Nylon-like plastic that can be softened
in 62°C (140°F) and shaped by hand. Once set, it is extremely
strong - so if you're fixing something with it, it will last
forever. Plastic can be melted over and over again.

Shame that hot water can be over 62C...


Yeah I hear it boils at 100deg C!

How hot do you have your shower?

Well current premises are equipped with a combi. so about 27C

I was talking about REAL hot water


--
"Anyone who believes that the laws of physics are mere social
conventions is invited to try transgressing those conventions from the
windows of my apartment. (I live on the twenty-first floor.) "

Alan Sokal

On Friday, 24 February 2017 04:59:51 UTC, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

"Polymorph plastic is a Nylon-like plastic that can be softened
in 62°C (140°F) and shaped by hand. Once set, it is extremely
strong - so if you're fixing something with it, it will last
forever. Plastic can be melted over and over again.

Shame that hot water can be over 62C...

62 C is about the temeprature of a cup of 'hot' tea.

I've used this.
https://www.rapidonline.com/major-br...-1000g-87-0093

one of a new generation of polymers with all the characteristics of a tough, machinable engineering material, yet fuses and becomes easily mouldable between 30°C and 62°C.

I used a hot air blower to heat it up.

whisky-dave Wrote in message:
On Friday, 24 February 2017 04:59:51 UTC, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

"Polymorph plastic is a Nylon-like plastic that can be softened
in 62°C (140°F) and shaped by hand. Once set, it is extremely
strong - so if you're fixing something with it, it will last
forever. Plastic can be melted over and over again.

Shame that hot water can be over 62C...

62 C is about the temeprature of a cup of 'hot' tea.

I've used this.
https://www.rapidonline.com/major-br...-1000g-87-0093

one of a new generation of polymers with all the characteristics of a tough, machinable engineering material, yet fuses and becomes easily mouldable between 30°C and 62°C.

I used a hot air blower to heat it up.

That would appear to be the same stuff.

--
Jim K


----Android NewsGroup Reader----
http://usenet.sinaapp.com/

There used to be some wonderful epoxy that did this kind of thing.Iyt was OK
at high temps but I found that over time it tended to shrink and knobs fell
off or the grip on the spindle stopped.

Brian

--
----- -
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please!
"GB" wrote in message
news
On 23/02/2017 17:10, jim wrote:

bar shower developed a continuous drip from the 1/4 turn flow
valve. Got a tuit so pulled out the old to measure & get a
new.

Oh dear. No online source had the same spec. Nearest was very
close but the splined head of the spindle was 7.6mm, diameter of
my original dud was 9.8mm....

For 7 quid posted I ordered one yesterday & it arrived today (tap
magician, eBay).

So out with the polymorph

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B017SA92O4

and ten minutes later I had moulded myself a bush to enable the
smaller replacement spindle to fit snugly & exactly into the the
shower control knob.

All back together & job done! Assuming the shower doesn't get
above 60deg all should be ok :-)

Result IMHO.


Do you have to work that stuff whilst it's boiling hot? How?

"Brian Gaff" Wrote in message:
There used to be some wonderful epoxy that did this kind of thing.Iyt was OK
at high temps but I found that over time it tended to shrink and knobs fell
off or the grip on the spindle stopped.

Brian


We'll see :-)
--
Jim K


----Android NewsGroup Reader----
http://usenet.sinaapp.com/

On Thu, 23 Feb 2017 17:14:39 +0000, GB
wrote:

Do you have to work that stuff whilst it's boiling hot? How?

http://remaponline.org.uk/remapedia/...tic-polymorph/

Peter Parry Wrote in message:
On Thu, 23 Feb 2017 17:14:39 +0000, GB
wrote:

Do you have to work that stuff whilst it's boiling hot? How?

http://remaponline.org.uk/remapedia/...tic-polymorph/


That's a nice link w pics.
Cheers
--
Jim K


----Android NewsGroup Reader----
http://usenet.sinaapp.com/

On Thu, 23 Feb 2017 17:10:26 +0000 (GMT+00:00), jim k wrote:

bar shower developed a continuous drip from the 1/4 turn flow
valve. Got a tuit so pulled out the old to measure & get a
new.

Oh dear. No online source had the same spec. Nearest was very
close but the splined head of the spindle was 7.6mm, diameter of
my original dud was 9.8mm....

For 7 quid posted I ordered one yesterday & it arrived today (tap
magician, eBay).

So out with the polymorph

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B017SA92O4

and ten minutes later I had moulded myself a bush to enable the
smaller replacement spindle to fit snugly & exactly into the the
shower control knob.

All back together & job done! Assuming the shower doesn't get
above 60deg all should be ok :-)

Result IMHO.

Anything that works and lasts can be considered 'a result' I'd say.
;-)

Had the relative diameters had a slightly bigger I think I would have
3D printed a converter collar [1] and PLA is probably good for 150
DegC (it's extruded at 200 DegC).

That said, if these were splined (rather than with flats / D section)
I'm not sure you would get sufficient detail to print the splines
without going down to a very vine nozzle (currently .5mm).

A metal spindle would probably cut it's own into the inside of the
collar but the collar to plastic knob might need gluing (or melt
tacking) in to be sure.

You could print a complete new knob of course. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[1] For those interested in what it would take to design and print an
adaptor (and assuming you have access to a 3D printer of course), it
typically takes the following steps.

Open (free) Sketchup (Windows and Mac only I'm afraid), open a new
template and use the circle tool to draw a circle to the inner
diameter (spindle OD). Draw another circle over the first to the OD.
Select the inner circle and erase it. Use the drag tool to drag the
washer shape into a tube of your desired length (about 20 seconds so
far). 'Export STL' to filesystem.

Open RepetiorHost (free Win / Lin / Mac), load the .stl file and
'slice' the object to generate the .gcode file (another couple of
seconds). Hit print and watch while your adaptor appears in a few
minutes. ;-)

Yesterday I did very similar in that I designed and printed 30 off
very small (12 mm OD x 3mm thick) plastic 'feet' to screw underneath
our daughters large rabbit cage / run so it can stand just out of the
water where it sits on the concrete (hoping it will then wood will
last longer).

Cheers, T i m

T i m Wrote in message:
On Thu, 23 Feb 2017 17:10:26 +0000 (GMT+00:00), jim k wrote:

bar shower developed a continuous drip from the 1/4 turn flow
valve. Got a tuit so pulled out the old to measure & get a
new.

Oh dear. No online source had the same spec. Nearest was very
close but the splined head of the spindle was 7.6mm, diameter of
my original dud was 9.8mm....

For 7 quid posted I ordered one yesterday & it arrived today (tap
magician, eBay).

So out with the polymorph

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B017SA92O4

and ten minutes later I had moulded myself a bush to enable the
smaller replacement spindle to fit snugly & exactly into the the
shower control knob.

All back together & job done! Assuming the shower doesn't get
above 60deg all should be ok :-)

Result IMHO.

Anything that works and lasts can be considered 'a result' I'd say.
;-)

How long is "last"?

Had the relative diameters had a slightly bigger I think I would have
3D printed a converter collar [1] and PLA is probably good for 150
DegC (it's extruded at 200 DegC).

That said, if these were splined (rather than with flats / D section)
I'm not sure you would get sufficient detail to print the splines
without going down to a very vine nozzle (currently .5mm).

Splined (as per op).

A metal spindle would probably cut it's own into the inside of the
collar but the collar to plastic knob might need gluing (or melt
tacking) in to be sure.

It would need to be removable for the next time the valve fails...

You could print a complete new knob of course. ;-)

In chrome?

Interesting but sounds like a lot more work & kludge along the way?

Open (free) Sketchup (Windows and Mac only I'm afraid)

Eh? I run Sketchup on Ubuntu with Wine
;-)
--
Jim K


----Android NewsGroup Reader----
http://usenet.sinaapp.com/

On Fri, 24 Feb 2017 12:14:28 +0000 (GMT+00:00), jim k wrote:

snip

All back together & job done! Assuming the shower doesn't get
above 60deg all should be ok :-)

Result IMHO.

Anything that works and lasts can be considered 'a result' I'd say.
;-)

How long is "last"?

The same length as a piece of string I guess but for most people that
would be long enough that re-doing the job wouldn't be considered
worse than the alternatives?

Had the relative diameters had a slightly bigger I think I would have
3D printed a converter collar [1] and PLA is probably good for 150
DegC (it's extruded at 200 DegC).

That said, if these were splined (rather than with flats / D section)
I'm not sure you would get sufficient detail to print the splines
without going down to a very vine nozzle (currently .5mm).

Splined (as per op).

Yes, it's called 'thinking out loud'. ;-)

A metal spindle would probably cut it's own into the inside of the
collar but the collar to plastic knob might need gluing (or melt
tacking) in to be sure.

It would need to be removable for the next time the valve fails...

It would be though wouldn't it, the knob and insert pull off the metal
splined shaft, as per the original?

You could print a complete new knob of course. ;-)

In chrome?

It has to be chrome to function?

Interesting but sounds like a lot more work & kludge along the way?

To you I'm guessing. Do you have or have you used a 3D printer OOI?

Open (free) Sketchup (Windows and Mac only I'm afraid)

Eh? I run Sketchup on Ubuntu with Wine

I was talking of Officially supported OS's and weren't you the one
talking about kludges? ;-)

Sounds encouraging ... (not).

https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManag...sion&iId=34500

"Rating: Garbage

What works: Install

What does not: Running the program"

I guess that counts as a result in the Linux world weg (and you
started this remember). ;-)

Now if only someone could help me install Logview on Mint 18 (Mate) 32
bit I wouldn't have to run Windows 8 on my Acer netbook ... ;-(

Cheers, T i m

On Fri, 24 Feb 2017 09:28:50 -0000, T i m wrote:

On Thu, 23 Feb 2017 17:10:26 +0000 (GMT+00:00), jim k wrote:

bar shower developed a continuous drip from the 1/4 turn flow
valve. Got a tuit so pulled out the old to measure & get a
new.

Oh dear. No online source had the same spec. Nearest was very
close but the splined head of the spindle was 7.6mm, diameter of
my original dud was 9.8mm....

For 7 quid posted I ordered one yesterday & it arrived today (tap
magician, eBay).

So out with the polymorph

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B017SA92O4

and ten minutes later I had moulded myself a bush to enable the
smaller replacement spindle to fit snugly & exactly into the the
shower control knob.

All back together & job done! Assuming the shower doesn't get
above 60deg all should be ok :-)

Result IMHO.

Anything that works and lasts can be considered 'a result' I'd say.
;-)

Had the relative diameters had a slightly bigger I think I would have
3D printed a converter collar [1] and PLA is probably good for 150
DegC (it's extruded at 200 DegC).

That said, if these were splined (rather than with flats / D section)
I'm not sure you would get sufficient detail to print the splines
without going down to a very vine nozzle (currently .5mm).

A metal spindle would probably cut it's own into the inside of the
collar but the collar to plastic knob might need gluing (or melt
tacking) in to be sure.

You could print a complete new knob of course. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[1] For those interested in what it would take to design and print an
adaptor (and assuming you have access to a 3D printer of course), it
typically takes the following steps.

Open (free) Sketchup (Windows and Mac only I'm afraid), open a new
template and use the circle tool to draw a circle to the inner
diameter (spindle OD). Draw another circle over the first to the OD.
Select the inner circle and erase it. Use the drag tool to drag the
washer shape into a tube of your desired length (about 20 seconds so
far). 'Export STL' to filesystem.

Open RepetiorHost (free Win / Lin / Mac), load the .stl file and
'slice' the object to generate the .gcode file (another couple of
seconds). Hit print and watch while your adaptor appears in a few
minutes. ;-)

Yesterday I did very similar in that I designed and printed 30 off
very small (12 mm OD x 3mm thick) plastic 'feet' to screw underneath
our daughters large rabbit cage / run so it can stand just out of the
water where it sits on the concrete (hoping it will then wood will
last longer).

How much was your 3D printer, what model is it, and what are its limitations if any?

--
The three most common expressions (or famous last words) in aviation a
"Why is it doing that?", "Where the hell are we?", and "Oh ****!"

On Fri, 24 Feb 2017 22:30:53 -0000, "James Wilkinson Sword"
wrote:

snip

Yesterday I did very similar in that I designed and printed 30 off
very small (12 mm OD x 3mm thick) plastic 'feet' to screw underneath
our daughters large rabbit cage / run so it can stand just out of the
water where it sits on the concrete (hoping it will then wood will
last longer).

How much was your 3D printer,

It's not mine (yet) but my mate paid about £600 for the complete kit
about 18 months (possibly more) ago as the deluxe version with twin
extruders and .9 degree stepper motors.

what model is it,

It's a MendelMax 1 - 1.5 as I don't think any two d-i-y built printers
will be the same (that's part of the point / fun / benefit of them).

Something like this:

http://www.achatzmediaserver.com/sup...-introduction/

and what are its limitations if any?

The print volume can be a limit (200(x) x 200(y) x 150(z) mm) and the
cost, but that is partly the function of being a very good (rigid)
design.

Yesterday it ran one print job for nearly 7 hours. Today it printed
another 2 hr job and several shorter ones.

When my mate was looking into getting one he asked me for my advice
but as I hadn't dealt with one before, I did some research and came up
with the following points I understood to be worthy of note.

UK based kit supplier (for support and quick access to spares / addons
etc).

A very rigid frame.

All open source.

Reliable in use.

Good reviews.

His Mrs actually landed on the MendelMax and we still believe it to be
a good decision. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

On Sat, 25 Feb 2017 22:54:17 -0000, T i m wrote:

On Fri, 24 Feb 2017 22:30:53 -0000, "James Wilkinson Sword"
wrote:

snip

Yesterday I did very similar in that I designed and printed 30 off
very small (12 mm OD x 3mm thick) plastic 'feet' to screw underneath
our daughters large rabbit cage / run so it can stand just out of the
water where it sits on the concrete (hoping it will then wood will
last longer).

How much was your 3D printer,

It's not mine (yet) but my mate paid about £600 for the complete kit
about 18 months (possibly more) ago as the deluxe version with twin
extruders and .9 degree stepper motors.

Not too costly then, and I assume they will have come down a bit by now.

what model is it,

It's a MendelMax 1 - 1.5 as I don't think any two d-i-y built printers
will be the same (that's part of the point / fun / benefit of them).

Something like this:

http://www.achatzmediaserver.com/sup...-introduction/

"Furthermore the printer can reproduce its own plastic parts." - oh now that's cool!

and what are its limitations if any?

The print volume can be a limit (200(x) x 200(y) x 150(z) mm) and the
cost, but that is partly the function of being a very good (rigid)
design.

Yesterday it ran one print job for nearly 7 hours. Today it printed
another 2 hr job and several shorter ones.

When my mate was looking into getting one he asked me for my advice
but as I hadn't dealt with one before, I did some research and came up
with the following points I understood to be worthy of note.

UK based kit supplier (for support and quick access to spares / addons
etc).

A very rigid frame.

All open source.

Reliable in use.

Good reviews.

His Mrs actually landed on the MendelMax and we still believe it to be
a good decision. ;-)

It sounds like fun, but I'm not sure I'd make enough use of it. What sort of things have you printed? I'm thinking replacements for broken parts on other things. Or you need an odd shape to form part of something you're building, and cutting wood/metal into that shape would be difficult. How strong is the material it prints?

--
The early bird gets the worm but the second mouse gets the cheese
-- Billy Wilson, Tough Guy, http://www.toughguy.co.uk

On Sat, 25 Feb 2017 23:38:57 -0000, "James Wilkinson Sword"
wrote:

snip

http://www.achatzmediaserver.com/sup...-introduction/

"Furthermore the printer can reproduce its own plastic parts." - oh now that's cool!

It is indeed (we have two sets ready and waiting for mates).

snip

His Mrs actually landed on the MendelMax and we still believe it to be
a good decision. ;-)

It sounds like fun,

It's fun, fascinating, productive and money and time saving. ;-)

but I'm not sure I'd make enough use of it.

I'd have to say it's been running nearly all the time (reasonably)
since we built it.

What sort of things have you printed?

Loads of cases for Arduino, Raspberry Pi and other projects.

Some round 1" diameter axle to square section chassis adaptors (for a
garden chipper re-work).

A mount to allow us to fit a flat wall PIR lantern to the external
wall / corner of a building.

Some mounts to carry trailer cover support poles (thanks to John Rumm
here).

A 'U' type hook / bracket to hang a strimmer on the wall.

Some plastic feet to raise some boarding off the floor in a garage to
stop stuff getting wet if rain gets in.

Some smaller plastic feet to raise a rabbit run off the ground
slightly to help keep the wooden frame aired.

Some PC case hard drive mount sliders.

4 large 'feet' to raise a sofa to make it easier for my Mum to get on
and off.

Numerous Logos and badges.

Shoulder strap mounts for a 5F torch (originals broke and identically
weak replacements were £10 each).

Makeup mirror stand.

Hamster water bottle holder.

Ornate Chinese Hand fans (printed directly onto paper).

Tools for undoing Vape parts without marking.

Holders for vape bottles and spares.

Ducting and fan holders for a clean cabinet.

PC 5-1/4" - 120mm cooling fan bay with front vent.

A 'Cyclops' 3D image scanner plastic parts.
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:740357

Numerous drilling and marking templates.

Virtual goggles for smartphone.

Various cooling fan grilles.

Upgrades for the 3D printer.

And there are still loads more things in the pipeline (like a round to
square dinghy mast step foot and adaptor).

I'm thinking replacements for broken parts on other things.

Yup, if you can design it and fit it on the bed then pretty well
anything is doable. ;-) (The idea of dual extruders is you can use a
water soluble support filament to make it easier to print hollow
shapes). The printing software can automatically add easily removable
support material when printing long horizontal overhangs and bridges.

Or you need an odd shape to form part of something you're building, and cutting wood/metal into that shape would be difficult.

Whilst that makes it far more rewarding and there are many things I've
printed rather than fabricating or turning, you can also use it for
the plain and simple stuff, because it's cheap and easy to do.

How strong is the material it prints?

I'd say 'surprisingly, when you consider what and how light it is.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polylactic_acid

When we made the split ring shaped clamps that went round the 5D torch
(think Maglite) we were given the wrong diameter and they were printed
too small (easy to re-scale and re-print). Because the first ones were
of no use and about 10mm wide and 3mm thick (flexible enough to flex
and clamp round the torch with a bolt and inset nut), we let the torch
owner bend the unwanted ones to destruction. He was *very* surprised
just how much effort it took to both bend and finally break. It feels
like a reasonably resilient but also fairly stiff plastic?

You also have control to print them solid (100%) down to 5% (honeycomb
infill), depending on the requirement. For most things, 50% is a good
compromise between weight / material used and strength.

A 1kg roll of 1.75mm diameter filament (£10-20) will produce just
under 1kgs worth of objects as there is generally very little wastage
(other than design mistakes or printer hiccups etc).

Everyone who has seen it running will stop and watch it and is
fascinated to find out how it works (to varying degrees etc).

Nearly as much fun as watching a fish tank. ;-)

This is a fairly laid back overview of a MendelMax in action:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytxTRv9vAU8

In spite of having access to the printer for ~18 months now, the idea
that I can think of something I need / want in the morning and often
have it (or many identical copies) in my hand that afternoon (in one
of many colours) and without having to do much more than use a mouse,
is still pretty amazing. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

On Sat, 25 Feb 2017 23:38:57 -0000, "James Wilkinson Sword"
wrote:

snip

What sort of things have you printed? I'm thinking replacements for broken parts on other things. Or you need an odd shape to form part of something you're building, and cutting wood/metal into that shape would be difficult.

I forgot to add the following to the list of things you could print
with it ... ;-)

https://www.thingiverse.com/

Cheers, T i m