I’m creeping up to 131g as I push forward on my project to build a tool to draw water up with an old drainpipe. I’ve done a few small test prints and one that I thought was going to be the one but where I turned out to have got a key dimension wrong in my measuring. I think I’m nearly there though. One more print to do but, since it will take an hour or so, I’ll wait a day or two before I set it going. We’re getting a reasonable amount of rain at the moment so it doesn’t seem quite as pressing as after weeks of hot, dry weather.

Meanwhile, the purchase of one commercial part had another benefit. I was able to take some of the design ideas and learn from them for my own model – not an exact copy but it has been interesting to see how it provides a snug fit without being too tight. In essence, the commercial part has four flat splines around the cylinder. Those are slightly larger than the internal diameter of the pipe while the main cylinder is slightly smaller. Because the material has some flexibility, it can deform enough to grip the joint but doesn’t have to stretch so far it is permanently damaged. I come to similar ideas myself in the past but it was good to see it implemented (and be reminded to reuse it) in this case.