Looking through the shops which i got the nuts and bolts from, i could not find a brass bolt suitable for the heater element, and eventually gave up my search.

Then noticing in a charity shop lots of brass bits – candle sticks etc. maybe this could be a source of brass for a heater element? right i thought, i had a look but nothing suitable.

Went to the boot sale this morning, and rumaging around for a small tap so i can tap some more grub screws into the pulleys to make them fit squarely on the shaft of the stepper, i came accross 3 boxes of brass bits. Fantastic i thought, had a rummage, and came accross 2 bits of brass rod that seemed to not belong to anything. The lady running the stall said she didnt know what they were for, and allready had spent 20 mins trying to find its match, so she said i could have it for 20p. GREAT!

Just measured them, and they are diameter 7mm and 8mm, with a length of over the 50mm required – see my flickrpool. i also found a plastic rod – which i can use as the insulator… tho i dount its the PTFE i need… DOH, oh well… so im just going to cut the nicest piece into 50mm length, and see if i can make the heater barrel – shame i didnt buy the drill at the car boot sale 🙁 i really need one to drill these holes! HAAHAA