3d scan + 3d print for broken plastic part camera lens

[meltingspoons]

Hi,
I am totally new to this world. I am wondering if it is possible to send a broken part (basically a cracked spacer - part #3 here https://www.flickr.com/photos/death7...n/photostream/ - the part of the photo is not cracked, but mine is) to a 3d print shop so that they can send me a non cracked one.

Any help would be appreciated.

The part is slightly more than a spacer, there is a small track for a rotating part and 7 holes for screws (3 on top, 4 on the back with threads in the plastic to grab the screw). The part is in hard plastic.

Best regards,

[awerby]

3D print shops generally expect you to do the modeling; all they do is the printing. Perhaps there are some now that will try to duplicate a broken part, but unless it's a part of a very expensive machine I doubt it will be economically feasible to pay someone to reverse-engineer it for you.

On the other hand, this might be a good project for you to wet your feet on. Download a free 3D modeling application like Tinkercad or Sketchup and see if you can make a model from measurements taken from your broken part. It will be a learning experience, if nothing else, and once it comes back from the print shop, you can see if it works.

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com