Extruder idler replacement

Well I have one I'm not using

Have another plan, going to try a printed idler using Bronzefill.
That should hopefully be harder wearing.

I think the groove just helps stop the idler slipping on the filament. That's what happened when I tried turning the stock idler round.
I printed a replacement in pla and it's working great although I'm not sure it'll last much longer than the abs one I was using.
A printed idler with two bearings works surprisingly well but only lasts a few months with plastic.
Like I said, I'm going to print one in Bronzefill today, I have another couple of 8mm bearings I can use with it.
It's a lot harder than regular filament so should last much longer.

lead would deform quickly its quite soft.  But you could do a lost pla cast in aluminum or bronze

for small parts you could use something like this to melt the metal

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SK8P7RA?psc=1

Get one of those http://www.ebay.com/itm/3D-Printer-1-75 … SwWTRWzl3t should work without too much modding.

Here's the Bronzefill idler with the 8mm bearings ....

It's rock hard and quite a bit heavier than the pla or abs one. I'll run with the pla one till it starts to wear then replace it with this one.

Update :
The bronzefill doesn't seem to be any harder wearing than normal pla, it's showing signs of wear already.
However, I made one with TPU (see post further down) and so far it's performing well.

Yeah I guess you could try something like that, although it would be tricky printing something that small.

Update :

I had a crazy idea about trying an idler printed with TPU but wasn't sure if it would be too pliable.
So I printed one off and surprisingly it works great !
The bearings fitted much easier since TPU is semi flexible.
It'll be interesting to see how long it lasts compared with PLA and ABS.

Edit :-

The TPU idler works great with pla and abs but not quite so well with flexi.
It seems to be slightly under extruding when printing flexi possibly due to the TPU idler being slightly softer than the pla/abs one.
I've ordered a sample of nylon filament to try that next. The Taulman stuff claims to be far more durable than other filaments.
The other option of course is to replace the stock extruder completely. Some of the ones on Thingiverse look like they could be made to fit the Davinci without too much trouble.

Just finished the E3D mount with combined extruder and it’s working great with all types of filament I’ve tried including flexible. (Ignore the untidy cables, haven't got round to that yet.)
I’ve uploaded the files to Thingiverse if anyone wants to try it …… http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1723817