by mxk » Sun Feb 05, 2012 4:34 pm
I've read many times on the reprapwiki about people using a heat gun or hot water to soften PLA bushings for their Prusa, but since I have a different model (Sells Mendel) I usually move on by.
My prints for bearings or captive nuts usually are very tight, enough that I usually must sand them lightly for the part to fit. Today I remembered the hot water trick, and popped an extruder idler into a cup of boiling water for a few seconds. It softened up enough for me to press-fit the bearing into place, and a few second later it was rock hard again, with a captive bearing and no plastic dust!