FrankMartin - 8-5-2011 at 15:57
I have had great luck in mining an old color printer for SS stirrer shafts. These are extracted from the plethora of rollers inside the machine (an
OKI). These have turned our to be of varying diameters 3mm, 5mm, 6,, 8mm & 10mm. All are about 25cm in length.
The stainless steel is attracted by a magnet, so the quality is not to SS316 standard. Good enough for many jobs though.
Arthur Dent - 9-5-2011 at 04:53
Always fun to salvage stuff to make ghetto setups! 
When I bought my stirplate a few months ago, I had noticed three screw holes at the back, for a stand assembly that wasn't there... after rummaging
through my junk drawer, I found a plumbing fitting that closely matched the three holes, and fitted perfectly a 3/8 shaft I recovered from a defunct
Xerox copier...
After a bit of grinding and drilling, my stirplate is now outfitted with a 35 cm shaft, which is extremely useful I must admit!
I had this old desklamp that was broken, it had a very heavy solid iron base. I fitted an electrical wire clamp in the hole and secured another 3/8
shaft from that same copier. Instant glassware stand, and even sturdier and heavier than the real thing! Now that's ghetto! 
And to think that these shafts had been in my junk drawer for something like 25 years! I'm such a hoarder LOL!
Robert
Mixell - 9-5-2011 at 04:59
One of my favorite things is building ghetto setups, its always nice to know that I am able to build working things out of scraps.
My recent project was a magnetic stirrer, works like a charm, and today I added a device that can change its rotation speed.
Also I plan to build a mini fume hood out of an old microwave and stuff I got laying around.
Arthur Dent - 9-5-2011 at 05:54
oops sorry, double post... clicked on "Send Post" too many times, LOL
[Edited on 9-5-2011 by Arthur Dent]