Many repairs of the sort mentioned are probably better made with a mold-able epoxy putty such as Sugru (http://sugru.com http://sugru.com) A 3d printer is kill

Many repairs of the sort mentioned are probably better made with a mold-able epoxy putty such as Sugru (http://sugru.com http://sugru.com) A 3d printer is killer for things like: a small, intricate, complicated prototype that is easier to model with software than to sit down and carve, make out of clay or paper. In fact I don't know why I didn't think of this when my daughter proposed to me a complicated jewelry piece that clearly would need a lot of moving pieces and would be difficult to prototype in metal. 3d printing services FTW!