Creative Director
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I think the problem is that in earlier editions of the game mending and make whole specifically did NOT allow you to fix much. They were pretty useless spells. With Pathfinder, we changed things around so that they work a lot better. Especially when it comes to fixing magic items—a broken magic item being harder and more debilitating to a high-level character than being killed is silly. Allowing make whole to fix things is good for the game.
I would ask your GM to re-look at both of these spells. They're pretty cut and dry about how they can fix things; there's actual rules in there.
On the other hand, if your GM prefers to run a game where it's a lot tougher to fix things, he should probably consider just taking the mending and make whole spells out of the game entirely for his game. Because it's worse to have useless and misleading spells than none at all.
The "Broken" condition is summarized pretty well on page 565–566 of the rulebook. A broken object still functions, just not as well. A destroyed object is something that's been utterly ruined; being destroyed is worse than being broken. They're not synonyms when it comes to the rules.
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Mending can fix broken objects, even magical, and Make Whole can fix destroyed objects. As far as I can tell it doesn't really matter what source caused the damage, Make Whole can fix it. In one of my 3.5 campaigns, we successfully stopped a very powerful demon from freeing itself from it's bindings, and the party's lawful good monks destroyed the book that contained the information of how to release/summon said demon. So, me and the one of the other party members took the shreds of the book and had someone cast Make Whole on it, and then we took out one of the pages with vital information to complete the ritual, thereby causing a huge backlash should anyone try. Then we sold it to a cult and made a fortune.
Make Whole is a hugely unappreciated spell, IMHO
Having reviewed Mending and Make Whole, my attention is drawn to two key sentences in Mending's description (which is largely shared with Make Whole). 1) "All of the pieces of an object must be present for this spell to function." 2) "This spell has no effect on objects that have been warped or otherwise transmuted, but it can still repair damage done to such items."
Think of Mending as the Cure spell of the construct world; it can put things back together still-functioning pieces of an item, much like a cure spell helps piece together the fighter after he survives a fight. If the fighter's dead (just as an item goes from Broken to scrap metal), a cure spell can't help him. Make Whole is a bit more like raise dead, allowing a completely destroyed item to return to the world of the magically "living." Just like Raise Dead, I see Make Whole requiring viable "body" - the vast majority of the remains of the item in as close to the same condition as it was upon being destroyed. Since the Destroyed is not defined too clearly, I gather any form of destruction can be repaired so long as it holds to the above guidelines.
These guidelines, I feel, help to avoid abuse in the same way Resurrection was stereotypically used:
Fighter: Oh no! A dragon! This could be tough...
Cleric: Cut off one of your fingers, then, so I can resurrect you after the fight.
I would rather avoid generations of adventurers with Doomblades of Omni-Slaying +5 all sawing off a small piece of the hilt so as to Make [it] Whole again in case of a sundering disintegration spell cast upon it during a windstorm.
All of this said, I would say that Mending only rebinds magic and items that are in whole pieces that are easily visible to the naked eye or have a largely undamaged core (Broken). There's already the limitation in the spell description for magical items, and for non-magical items it should be limited to mundane wear and breaks that somebody could put together with a few rounds and an ounce of sovereign glue. For the most part, Mending undoes physical changes to an item, with recent rust damage and incomplete burning of organic items being exceptions.
Make Whole can affect items that have undergone intense chemical changes, meaning that fully rusted and disintegrated items can be repaired. Based on my understanding as above, the repairs need to be performed with almost all of the former item present, even if that involves a pile of dust - it had better be the entire pile.
Can either spell repair decay/rust/erosion etc.: Mending may be able to clean up some of the rust and decay in a prestidigitation-like way, but it won't replace lost parts. Unless the decayed material and rust have all collected next to the former item in sealed environment, Make Whole is unlikely to fare too much better. In many dungeons, there's a decent chance that wind has blown away the rusted/decayed/eroded portions, an ooze has rolled over them, or some dweller has swept within the past century. On the other hand, a suit of full plate rusting from the waist down can still be salvaged and sold piecemeal for a small profit.
Can either spell repair burns [chemical or fire]?: Because Mending can undo most reasonable damage that would only result in the Broken condition, limited amounts of rust or fire damage can be repaired to a metal or wooden item. Even though I state above that all pieces should be present, for a PC casting Mending on a magical club that got singed a few hit points shy of charcoal, I think that a DM should overlook material considerations (like ash) for timely use of Mending. With putting together ancient items that burned, again be sure that you have all of the parts before casting Make Whole.
Can either spell fix shattered/crushed objects?: Mending won't help here, but Make Whole can piece things together so long as you're sure you have almost all of the pieces/powder.
Can either spell fix disintegrated objects?: As the previous point.
Can either spell restore something turned to rust by the spell rusting grasp or by a rust monster [before the rust monster has eaten the rust]?: Because destroyed is so vague, it looks like items can be revived despite total annihilation by rust monster. As you point out, make sure it doesn't sneak a quick snack before combat is over.
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Creative Director
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So in your opinion, all the damage types described could be fixed through Make Whole? Even Rust/Disintegration?
I agree with the referee that there is a point when the object is too far gone for either of those spells, for instance a wand is thrown on a fire, or a metal sword is consumed by a rust monster and so on. We are disagreeing about where that point comes.
At what point should neither spell be able to help?
Thanks for your extremely prompt response.
Disintegrate is probably a point-of-no-return for an item IF it took enough damage to be destroyed.
But I'd say that rust is something that make whole can fix if the caster's high enough level.
In the end, destroying a PC's gear is kinda a jerk move. If the problem is that the GM has realized he's given out too much treasure, then that's one thing. But if the problem is that the GM is just breaking the player's toys because he's using monsters like rust monsters or bebiliths or things that break stuff, then make whole should do it's thing.
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See, all of the functions you list aren't transmutations (barring Disintegration)... they're damage, which the spell fully covers. What it is saying is that if the form has been changed without inflicting harm on the object in question, Make Whole does nothing (ie. does not dispel Warp Wood, Stone Shape, Transmute Rock to Mud, ect).
Bottom Line- If the object has been destroyed/broken by damage, Make Whole and Mending can fix it.
The referee isn't breaking the players toys, but the players myself in particular are intersted in restoring and mending artifacts found regardless of their age and condition.
while I can see that working with artifacts in the archaeological sense... I would not allow make whole or mending to restore a destroyed artifact in the mega-powerful magic item sense (or if I did it would simply be a non-magical shell, although for most artifacts it is moot point in most campaigns as you would need a caster level in the mid thirties or higher to restore the magic of most artifact in the core rulebook).
LOL, don't worry about it... in my day to day life artifacts are "any object created or modified by humans" but I rarely see it used thus when people are talking on RPG message boards, which is the only reason I brought it up.
Mend and Make Whole can get fuzzy.
In my own games, no object can benefit from a Mend spell more than once per day (for the same reason they got rid of the 0 level cure spells).
I allow Mend to work on anything that is just damaged, but has at least 1 hit point remaining. When it comes to larger objects (say, a wall), you can cast mend one time per square foot. So, you basically can spend all day doing minor repairs on a broken down wall.
If the object in question has broken down from time (such as rust, erosion, etc) then Mend doesn't work. The item isn't damaged so much as just old and run down. So that ancient wall or portcullis or etc that was abandoned 300 years ago can't be fixed with mend (although if you hit it with a hammer and knock a chunk out, you can mend that).
Make Whole on the other hand, will work on anything that is still there. I require at least 50% of the original item for it to work though (avoids that whole cut off the tip of the magic sword so you can clone it issue).
For large objects, such as walls, portcullis's etc, I let Make Whole work on a 5 foot cube. So, for example, if you are wanting to partially rebuild an old wall (to make a defensible position), you can cast it on a 5x5x5 cube and if the section of wall that was there is at least 50% present it is repaired to good as new (even if it was mostly pebbles at the moment).
I think this is a good compromise, and hits the spirit of the spells without breaking the game.
I had a character use a simple mend for great effect.
"The crushed crown is worth 329gp."
"I cast mending..."
(Carp) "The fixed crown is now worth 3,290gp."
Even mending can be useful.
It always depends on the DM, but if it is a static environment, you should be able to fix things with mending and make whole.
Imagine going to an ancient castle - could everything be restored?
A deteriorated silk dress in a drawer is worth zero, but would a mend make it worth 800gp again since it is almost a work of art? It wouldn't have many hps. As a DM, I would allow anything my players were able to utilize and be creative about. If they stop having fun, it's time for 1st levels in a world where nothing is damaged/broken.
Mend and Make Whole can get fuzzy.
In my own games, no object can benefit from a Mend spell more than once per day (for the same reason they got rid of the 0 level cure spells).
This is SO RIGHT, and should be in an errata to become official. One of the benefits of Construction feats is the ability to repair magic armor or weapons or items (depending on the feat). But if your +1 sword was damaged to broken or down to 1 or 2 HPs, the 5th level magic user, cleric or bard could take a mending and fix it in less than a minute. I'm not against the spell working to repair magic items that you are high enough level to create, but 1d4 a DAY seems right, not 10d4 a minute.