Excellent work Dave.

We've had some parts made using this kind of process but for our applications it doesn't seem the end product is robust enough for actual use and if they can't be made the same way as a model made that way it limits our interest in such a product. Now this may just be due to the material we had them made in, so can you answer a couple of questions on that subject please;

It is really aimed at rapid prototyping, but there is no real reason that you couldn't go on to use it.
1) Are different types of printable media available?

There are different types of material available yes - I have only used 2 different types namely ABS and PLA, bot seem pretty tough to be honest! I guess it depends what you are making.

2) What is the kind of price you can expect to pay for whatever types of media are available?
The going rate for filament seems to be about £30 per kilo, but you can get ABS pellets a lot cheaper but you then need to create the filament yourself or create a method to extrude in real time

3) Are there any other consumables to consider?
The only other consumable I can think of is TIME!! lol You can, as I do print on masking tape but you should be able to print directly on the hot bed.

4) How long can you expect a printing head (or whatever you call it) to last?
I dont see any reason that it cant last a long time, the design is very simple

5) Does it work along the lines of an accurately controlled hot glue gun?
That is exactly how it works, it is not very quick, but can print complex shapes that are difficult to make with traditional manufacturing methods
Many thanks

It is really aimed at rapid prototyping, but there is no real reason that you couldn't go on to use it.
Yes I realise that and we've tried to do both and while it's GREAT for creating none structurally demanding components, for our applications so far, we haven't found it to be suitable for an end product.

There are different types of material available yes - I have only used 2 different types namely ABS and PLA, bot seem pretty tough to be honest! I guess it depends what you are making.
The material the company who made our components used cracked very easily.

The going rate for filament seems to be about £30 per kilo, but you can get ABS pellets a lot cheaper but you then need to create the filament yourself or create a method to extrude in real time.
Sounds reasonable, especially considering we were told it was extremely expensive and that was why the parts were so expensive.

I dont see any reason that it cant last a long time, the design is very simple
They don't get gummed up and blocked then?

but can print complex shapes that are difficult to make with traditional manufacturing methods
That's why we chose it but now we've found it's not strong enough, we now have to redesign the component to get it made some other way, UNLESS we can find an alternative material that will do the job.
The most important part is a VERY SMALL one (about 30mm x 25mm x 20mm and weighs just a few grams as it's basically a shell), so is there any chance you could knock out a couple for us in the different materials, to see if they are any stronger than the ones we had made? I'd be happy to pay for them.