Can you really work from a broken piece of plastic?
Yes, and most of our work arrives exactly that way. A snapped fitting, no part number, no drawing and no supplier. We measure it, draw it properly and print the replacement.
It is worth saying plainly because a lot of printing services will not. Several ask for a file, or at best a photo and a sketch, which puts the hardest part of the job back on you. Handing over the actual broken part is both easier for you and far more accurate.
What is the difference between sending a part and sending photos?
Accuracy, mainly. A photograph gives us the outline. The physical part gives us wall thicknesses, draft angles, internal ribs and the exact profile of whatever has to clip into something.
Photos are fine for a flat part with simple features — a plate, a spacer, a bracket with two holes. Put a steel rule in the frame, shoot square on rather than at an angle, and include a shot of where it fits.
For anything stepped, curved, hooked or clipped, the real thing saves a round of revisions. The measuring guide covers which dimensions matter most if posting it is not an option.
What if part of it is missing?
We rebuild from what survives plus the thing it mounts into. Screw spacing, symmetry, the shape of the recess and the mating part normally pin the missing section down closely.
The best possible version of this is when the appliance or vehicle has a matching part on the other side. Send the intact one, we mirror it, and you get the pair back — the original untouched and a new handed copy.
If nothing intact survives and nothing mates with it, we will tell you honestly that we are guessing and roughly how confident we are, before you spend anything.
How do you know it will fit?
We decide which dimensions must match, confirm them with you in writing, and where a fit is critical we print just that feature as a test piece before committing to the whole part.
That test print costs very little and saves the entire job. A clip whose engagement is a quarter of a millimetre out is useless; a ten minute test piece settles it.
Printing has limits worth knowing here: holes come out slightly undersize and shafts slightly oversize, so clearances get designed in deliberately rather than hoped for. The tolerances guide explains the numbers.
What does the drawing work add to the price?
For a simple clip, bracket or knob, a modest addition quoted before anything starts. Complex geometry costs more, and we tell you the figure upfront rather than after the work.
It is a one-off cost. Once your part is drawn we keep the file, so a second copy, a spare or a replacement in three years is just the printing. If several of the same part have gone, order them together and the drawing is spread across all of them.
What should I actually send or bring?
All the broken pieces, the intact one from the other side if there is one, a photo of where it fits, and the model number of whatever it came off.
Nothing needs cleaning up or preparing. Bits in a sandwich bag are completely fine. If you are local, bringing it to the Mildenhall workshop means we can look at it together and you get an answer immediately.
What will you not take on?
Anything safety-critical, anything holding pressure, branded badges and logos, and parts the manufacturer still sells cheaply. We would rather point you at the real part than copy it.
And where the honest answer is a machined metal part, we say so. There is no version of a printed plastic part that belongs in a braking system, however carefully it is drawn.
Common questions
Do I need a CAD file to get a part made?
No. Most of our work starts from a broken piece of plastic and nothing else. We measure it, draw it properly and print a replacement from that.
Can you work from just a photo?
Often, if the part is simple and there is a ruler in the shot for scale. For anything with a curved or stepped profile, the physical part is far better.
Should I post or bring you the broken part?
If you can spare it, yes. Having the original in hand is the single biggest factor in a part that fits first time, and we return it with the new one.
What if the part is in pieces or a bit is missing?
Send everything you have. A clean break recovers the whole shape, and where a section is missing we work from symmetry and the fitting it mounts into.
How do you make sure it fits first time?
We identify which dimensions have to match, confirm them with you, and where the fit is critical we print a test piece of just that feature before the whole part.
How much does the drawing add to the price?
For a simple clip or bracket, usually a modest addition quoted upfront. Complex geometry costs more and we say so before any work starts, not after.
Published 5 October 2026.
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