Materializing the pencil hinge

Now that I have my pencil hinge design in the computer; it would be awesome if I could hit a 'materialize' button and have it in my hands a few moments later! Just like in a SF movie. But wait: with the current 3D printing technology, that is no longer science fiction! I was curious how this part would look like when printed with a hobby 3D printer. I found a very friendly person how had build a Prusa Mendel. He build it a year ago but never got it working correctly. After some unsuccessful attempts to get it working he put it the closet. There was a problem with the alignment and the printer head. He was willing to lend it to me. The deal was: if I would calibrate it and get it up and running I could print my pencil hinge part for free. How awesome is that? Only the experience of getting my hands dirty with this printer is great. In the past I already had considered building one but new found a good use for it.

Prusa Mendel 3D printer