A robust idler wheel was needed for my plastic extruder in order to withstand prolonged periods of printing. So I found some nice scrap round stock aluminum and lathe’d one up.
Newly Machined Aluminum Idler Wheel
Side View
Idler Wheel mounted into the extruder
In the above image the filament is squeezed between a knurled pulley [left] and the idler wheel [right]. The black part is the front plate of the extruder. Everything runs quite smoothly with repeatable extrusions.
Is the plastic extruder your own design? Any more details about where you got the electronics for your machine?
No it is not, the plastic extruder is a modified version of a RepRap pinch wheel extruder. The electronics are Generation 3 RepRap electronics; they can be found online from a couple of vendors.