You should definitely visit Australia - including Brisbane. When you do, the museum there has one unique exhibit that you may find interesting - the only surviving WWI German tank.
From the start of this piece I had only three questions - none of which were addressed:
1. What is build size of this printer ? Certainly looks big enough to be very useful, but that will be one of the critical questions.
2. What exactly, is the metal it prints - and how does it compare with, say, mild steel or the high-tensile steel typically used for making bolts ?
3. How quickly does it print ? This could possibly be expressed in kg/hour, but an example, such as a Bradley track-link, could also be informative.
Thanks James. My distaste for Brisbane is sort of a running joke on my YouTube channel. Of course I would love to visit Brisbane or any other city down under.
I have visited most of Australia's larger cities, and believe Melbourne to be the best of them. I lived there for a while, before moving to Auckland - I upgraded from the best city in Australia to the worst city in New Zealand. Will soon be upgrading again, leaving Auckland to move south.
It is shameful that we emptied the back closets to supply Ukrainians in this war starting w POTUS Obama. I wrote to him chidingly re, because it’s one thing to use or sell military equipment that you don’t know is less than adequate, but we knew from Afghanistan and Iraq‘s sad experiences that lightly armored personnel carriers were death traps, but we sold them to Ukraine anyway—and tires cost extra. WTF, really! Let us say the letter chewed him a new one, which he obviously did not appreciate very much judgment by the tone of the reply, but it put a bug in his ear that people were watching and taking note. 1.0 was just a subsequent disaster; some during the Biden administration; but now we’re back to this despicable individual‘s capricious and vicious rule. “Heaven help us all” song comes to mind: “ now I lay me down before I go to sleep, in this trouble world I pray the Lord to keep hatred from the mighty, and the mighty from the small! Heaven help us all!” (JoanBaez).
So, Australians put a 3D printer out of a box in a proposed build container on the back of a truck connected to a diesel generator and a laptop with computer aided design software on it. Not a quite an achievement.
Thank you for this. I wonder, is it correct that the rebels in Syria got Ukrainian drones 3D printed as part of their attack? Probably not the main reason they succeeded but if true it points towards new ways of maintenance. Send files, not parts!
That sounds like a potential radical improvement in military supply chains. Each division gets its own mobile 3D printer, so the supply chain can shift from delivering thousands of parts to a just few bulk metals (steel, aluminum, etc.).
No. The process will be far too slow, and must be reserved for the few most urgently required or otherwise unobtainable parts.
You'll find these can print a few parts in a 24 hour window - but would probably take a week or more to print new tracks for one vehicle.
Some parts will also simply not be printable - springs, for instance, are likely to be near impossible. It also won't do clutch plates, brake pads, filters, fuel lines or tyres or most electrical components.
Thanks Wes. Very interesting.
You should definitely visit Australia - including Brisbane. When you do, the museum there has one unique exhibit that you may find interesting - the only surviving WWI German tank.
From the start of this piece I had only three questions - none of which were addressed:
1. What is build size of this printer ? Certainly looks big enough to be very useful, but that will be one of the critical questions.
2. What exactly, is the metal it prints - and how does it compare with, say, mild steel or the high-tensile steel typically used for making bolts ?
3. How quickly does it print ? This could possibly be expressed in kg/hour, but an example, such as a Bradley track-link, could also be informative.
Thanks James. My distaste for Brisbane is sort of a running joke on my YouTube channel. Of course I would love to visit Brisbane or any other city down under.
Ah. Thanks. I generally don't do YouTube.
I have visited most of Australia's larger cities, and believe Melbourne to be the best of them. I lived there for a while, before moving to Auckland - I upgraded from the best city in Australia to the worst city in New Zealand. Will soon be upgrading again, leaving Auckland to move south.
Wow, Australian innovation ending the the problem of "loss of a nail"
Can't wait to see what this can do in non-military settings.
Really interesting! Good job Wes!
All the while the US was selling off its old arsenal to Ukraine
It is shameful that we emptied the back closets to supply Ukrainians in this war starting w POTUS Obama. I wrote to him chidingly re, because it’s one thing to use or sell military equipment that you don’t know is less than adequate, but we knew from Afghanistan and Iraq‘s sad experiences that lightly armored personnel carriers were death traps, but we sold them to Ukraine anyway—and tires cost extra. WTF, really! Let us say the letter chewed him a new one, which he obviously did not appreciate very much judgment by the tone of the reply, but it put a bug in his ear that people were watching and taking note. 1.0 was just a subsequent disaster; some during the Biden administration; but now we’re back to this despicable individual‘s capricious and vicious rule. “Heaven help us all” song comes to mind: “ now I lay me down before I go to sleep, in this trouble world I pray the Lord to keep hatred from the mighty, and the mighty from the small! Heaven help us all!” (JoanBaez).
Good to see Australia helping Ukraine stay free from tyranny.
So, Australians put a 3D printer out of a box in a proposed build container on the back of a truck connected to a diesel generator and a laptop with computer aided design software on it. Not a quite an achievement.
3D printing with metal is something else
😎😎😎
Aussies always punch well above their weight.
‘Lest We Remember’
25.4.2025
Anzac Day.
Omg Wes, were the sweater moment and accent really necessary? lol 🤦🏼♀️ 💙
Don't those track-links weigh about 18 kg each?!
Whatever it takes. I hope it helps Ukraine build whatever they need to, to send Putin and his collaborators back to Hell where they came from!
Thanks for this Wes, great video. If you’re ever in Western Australia, the beers are on me.
Thank you for this. I wonder, is it correct that the rebels in Syria got Ukrainian drones 3D printed as part of their attack? Probably not the main reason they succeeded but if true it points towards new ways of maintenance. Send files, not parts!
That sounds like a potential radical improvement in military supply chains. Each division gets its own mobile 3D printer, so the supply chain can shift from delivering thousands of parts to a just few bulk metals (steel, aluminum, etc.).
No. The process will be far too slow, and must be reserved for the few most urgently required or otherwise unobtainable parts.
You'll find these can print a few parts in a 24 hour window - but would probably take a week or more to print new tracks for one vehicle.
Some parts will also simply not be printable - springs, for instance, are likely to be near impossible. It also won't do clutch plates, brake pads, filters, fuel lines or tyres or most electrical components.
Great post Wes. I’m curious how they manage humidity which tends to gum up the works in lab conditions even if it’s only off by a few %.
Btw, my understanding is that drones are now used to deliver 3D printed parts to the front lines.
This was all future magic a couple years ago and now it’s just part of the deal. Really amazing how war pushes the innovation envelope.