My father has used for over 30 years now an electric lawnmower, until last month where a plastic part, located in the handle and meant to start the electric motor and modulate its power, suddenly broke.

He looked for a spare part to replace it, but the lawnmower is too old, he could not find it... Before replacing the entire lawnmower for a newer one, he asked me if I thought I could do something, as I work for CATIA. 

Of course!

It has been a fun project, working from the broken part (and in several pieces), CATIA part design and a vernier caliper!

Once a virtual repaired (or as new) part existed virtually, came the time to produce it. 

Many thanks to @SR and @CC for turning this virtual part into a new plastic spare part, at the 3DS Campus Fab Lab. 

It took a few adjustment to get a completely operational part, and a now-again operational lawnmower! Ready for the next 30 years! 

Clearly, for my family, this was a great and concrete testimony of the power of 3D modeling and additive manufacturing, for a project where this type of fix was making the most sense.