Discontinued Appliance Part? How to Get It 3D Printed in Italy (Costs and How It Works)

The washing machine knob snapped. You look up the original spare part and discover one of three things: it costs 45 euros (for two grams of plastic), it ships from a warehouse in Germany with a three-week wait, or — the worst one — it no longer exists, because the model went out of production eight years ago.

I've been on both sides of this: as the person whose things break, and as a maker who reprints those parts for other people. In this article I'll explain how getting a spare part 3D printed actually works here in Italy, what it realistically costs, which materials matter, and — honestly — when it's not the right move.

The parts that always break (and reprint beautifully)

The list is surprisingly short, because appliances almost always fail in the same places — the moving plastic bits:

• the knob on the washing machine, oven or hob
• the hinge on the dishwasher door or basket
• the hook or drawer rail inside the fridge
• the gear in the food processor or meat grinder
• the clip holding the filter, the detergent tray, the vent grille

They're all small, geometrically simple objects with no electronics. Exactly the kind of part that 3D printing — the technology that builds an object layer by layer from a digital model — reproduces well, often in materials tougher than the original.

How it works in practice (you don't need to design anything)

The process is simpler than it sounds, and the technical part isn't yours to worry about:

1. Photograph the broken part from several angles, ideally next to a ruler. If you still have all the fragments, even better: they can be pieced together for measuring.
2. Take the key measurements with a tape measure or — better — a €10 caliper: diameter, length, distance between holes. If that's not your thing, many makers will measure the part in person or from a posted sample.
3. A maker models it on the computer (rebuilding the 3D design by tracing the broken part) and prints it in the right material.
4. You test it. If something is off by a tenth of a millimetre, a second iteration is normal, not a failure — and it's why working with a maker in your area beats an anonymous online service.

The chapter that actually matters: the material

This is where a spare part that lasts years differs from one that cracks in its second week. You don't need to become an expert; four rules cover it:

• PLA: not for spare parts. It's the cheapest, most common printing material, great for decorative objects, but it softens at 55-60 °C and cracks under sustained load. An oven knob in PLA is a knob that goes soft.
• PETG: the right call in most cases. A technical plastic (a cousin of the PET in water bottles) that shrugs off impacts, water and detergents, and holds up to 70-75 °C. Washing machine knobs, hinges, fridge hooks, clips: PETG.
• ASA or ABS: when there's real heat. They handle 90-100 °C and belong near the oven, next to the dishwasher motor, or outdoors in the sun.
• Nylon: for gears. If the broken part is a loaded gear (food processor), nylon is what industry itself uses for those components.

What it costs (real numbers, explicitly indicative)

Prices vary with the complexity of the part and, above all, with the modelling work. As an order of magnitude, in Italy:

• a simple part, already modelled or easy to trace (knob, hook, clip) in PETG: €8-25 from a local maker
• a part needing careful modelling (a gear, a hinge with multiple interlocks): €25-60, where the design work costs more than the print itself
• an industrial online service: often starts at €50-80 even for trivial parts, because of minimum order values — and they won't model from your photos

Timing: between request, modelling, printing and delivery, the typical window is 2-7 days. The print itself takes a few hours; it's the modelling (and the maker's calendar) that sets the pace.

When NOT to do it: honesty first

Some parts a serious maker will refuse to print — and rightly so:

• Pressurised parts: plumbing fittings, boiler components, valves. Layer-by-layer printing has intrinsic weak points along the seams.
• Safety parts: the washing machine door lock, anything in the gas circuit, anything whose failure could hurt someone.
• Heavily loaded structural parts: the motor bracket vibrating at 1,200 rpm is not a job for plastic printed on a hobby machine.

If the quote you receive asks no questions about how the part will be used, that's a warning sign, not efficiency.

On the legal side, in two lines and with no claim to be advice: reprinting a part to repair something you own, for personal use, is generally fine. Mass-reproducing and selling parts covered by a registered design or patent is not. For your washing machine knob, you can sleep soundly.

Finding someone to print it (near you)

Here comes the easy part. At Stimalo we built Trova un Maker ("Find a Maker"): a free directory of makers across Italy, filterable by area. You post your request — photos of the part, a couple of measurements, which appliance it belongs to — and receive quotes from makers in your province. Asking costs nothing and commits you to nothing: compare the replies and pick. Talking to someone twenty minutes from home, who can see the part in person, beats emailing photos to an anonymous service every time.

And if you already own a printer and landed here wondering what to charge for jobs like these: the Stimalo calculator itemises everything — material, machine hours, energy, margin — and it's free.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to 3D print an appliance spare part in Italy? Indicatively €8-25 for a simple PETG part from a local maker, €25-60 when careful modelling is needed (gears, complex hinges). An original spare, when it still exists, typically runs €40-80.

Which material should a 3D printed spare part use? PETG in most cases: it resists impacts, water and up to 70-75 °C. Use ASA or ABS near heat, nylon for gears. Avoid PLA for anything under load or exposed to warmth.

Is it legal to have a spare part reprinted? To repair something you own, for personal use, generally yes. Reproducing and selling parts covered by a registered design or patent is not allowed. If a specific part raises doubts, ask the maker or a professional.