I am considering a 3D printer as an option for creating some plastic slides that will slide smoothly on an aluminium profiles rather than machining them out of UHMWPE as I do at present.

I have two questions:

- Can a printer print a solid model ie like a plastic bar of 20mm x 20mm cross section (lenth will depend on the size of printer I guess but would need to be abput 100mm long).
- what are the most durable materiels that can be used in a printer ie can take some wear and tear as the slide along the profile.

Anyone care to advise?

Thanks