UKC

I've lost the 'pusher' for my Mum's old Kenwood mixer, and had a thought with me having the dimensions needed due to having the hole it goes into, it might be possible to have a new one made if it's now obsolete and Kenwood can't supply me with one (they're looking into this).

Can anybody think of somewhere who might make me a part to fit if the dimensions were supplied, and what I might need to think about re type of plastic and anything being 'leached' from it during contact with food? It being a solid piece of plastic would do so long as it fitted. Alternatively, I might make one out of wood, and fix a carefully shaped piece of metal onto the end of it to act as the face of the pusher.

( Annoying the wheelie bin was emptied either today or yesterday, and my childhood neighbour (quite kindly) put the bin out for us after house clearing took place, which is where I'd suddenly remembered the pusher being put by my Dad. )

Many Thanks

In reply to Timmd:

I made a wooden one for somebody once. Fairly crude and without a metal face plate but Oak is fairly good at being antibacterial and non toxic. It shouldn't come into contact with the blade anyway.

You could whittle one with a sharp knife that would do the job.

In reply to George Fisher:
Aha, I'll contact my furniture making friend about supplying me with a piece of oak - that's a great idea about using oak with it's antibacterial properties. I thought it wouldn't be unsolvable.

In reply to Timmd:

Personally I'd probably just poke stuff in with a wooden spoon or something like that but I'm an idiot. Assuming you really want a replacement part then I'd cut a small plastic chopping board up (bandsaw/jigsaw) to make the pushing face, handle/depth-stop then link them with some M6 stainless threaded rod and a few locknuts. Simple DIY task, foodsafe materials and a few quid in bits.

The same could be made from wood with hand tools quite simply (unfinished oak, end-grain pushing face or similar).

You can get dishwasher safe 3d printed stuff from shapeways but it's not cheap (probably looking at £30+) and not foodsafe (though probably fine in reality for limited contact).

jk

In reply to Timmd:

How old is old? Plenty of spares websites... for things from the last 20 or so years. http://www.espares.co.uk/search/ma435pt1971/blenders---mixers---juicers/sma...

even if not the exact right model, that site has so many to choose from you could probably get one that is close enough.

In reply to Angrypenguin:
Rather disconcertingly it's about 30 years old (with me remembering it from when I was small), and there's no spares there to be had. I might go for cutting up a chopping board and fixing a piece from it onto the end of a piece of wood.

In reply to Timmd:

Well, you could 3D print one from polylactic acid:

https://www.creativemechanisms.com/blog/learn-about-polylactic-acid-pla-pro...

It's probably the most commonly-used filament for 3D printers, as it melts at a lower temperature than ABS, and doesn't give off the styrene fumes that ABS does (which really need a fume cabinet and extractor).

I don't know what a 'pusher' is, though...

In reply to captain paranoia:

It's apparently a technical term for a plastic bit which pushes things. I didn't know they had a name before today.

http://www.espares.co.uk/search/mt265pt1971/blenders---mixers---juicers/sma...

In reply to Timmd:

I'd say 3d printing/rapid prototyping is bound to be a good shot.

In reply to captain paranoia:
It almost seems like I could just make a mould to pour that polylactic acid into and have it set into the shape I need?

In reply to Timmd:
What are the dimensions? Is it just a cylinder?

3d printing is an option for this, as long as you choose the right plastic. (most PLA is foodsafe for example). You do need to bare in mind that what is produced will prob not be dishwasher safe, and the surface will be a little rough meaning it will need to be cleaned by hand well to stop any bacteria build up. However due to it's application this shouldn't be an issue as contact with food will not be prolonged like a bowl for instance would be that would allow soaking and seepage.

Edit. Is it Bare in mind of Bear in mind?

In reply to Timmd: ould you not just shape it by hand?

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/mindsets-polymorph-250g-n14at

In reply to balmybaldwin:

It's "bear in mind" meaning to remember it or in effect to carry it with you.

In reply to balmybaldwin:

The roughness and contamination did cross my mind.

Now I've remembered that 3D printed boxes aren't water-tight; there are tiny interstices between the layers, and water soaks through. You'd have to treat the surface. I've not tried re-melting the surface with a hot air gun to make it smooth, but I have used hot air gun to soften and bend a 3d printed form. So I think hot-air resurfacing would be prone to disaster...

In reply to Mike Stretford:
That looks like an interesting find for something else, but I think I'm either going to make something out of wood, or go with the 'cutting up a chopping board and fixing the shape onto the end of something' method.

Many thanks to all.

In reply to Timmd:

K2 plastics in Farsley, Leeds
0113 236 3353
They machine all sorts from solid blocks of various types of plastic.
Not sure if they can help but give them a ring and drop my name, you never know.

In reply to Timmd:

If you go down the PLA route, it's worth considering it will hydrolyse, and therefore degrade, over time, with exposure to food, and more importantly hot washing up water. This will release lactic acid, but (disclaimer, don't take my word on this) this shouldn't be too much of a toxicity concern. * *PLA is made using tin catalysts, however, and if your 'pusher' breaks down over time, you run the risk of ingesting some pretty nasty tin compounds (not to be recommended).* *

The other consideration is the tacticity of the polymer. Presumably 3-D printing filament will be fairly isotactic poly-L-lactic acid, which is good up to c.180 degrees C in terms of melting, but the glass transition temperature is much lower, so it would run the risk of going floppy and losing shape, depending how hot you washed it.

I reckon if it was me I'd stick to either wood, or a food-grade non-compostable plastic.

In reply to Strachan:


That's my thinking too. My friend will be being badgered for an oak off cut I think.

In reply to Alasdair Fulton:


Balmybaldwin beat me to this, but I'd be careful; most consumer level 3d printed stuff has a stepped or terraced surface finish as it's built layer by layer. This is a shape almost optimised for bacteria to grab hold of and live on.