3D printing for Melbourne's west

One road from the workshop

The Princes Freeway runs from Corio, at the northern edge of Geelong, to the West Gate interchange at Laverton North: about forty-six kilometres of six- to ten-lane freeway that is the main commuter and freight route between the two cities. Werribee is roughly halfway along it, forty-five kilometres from Geelong and thirty-two from Melbourne's centre. That geography is why Melbourne's west is the closest of the city's industrial areas to this workshop, and why parts posted from Geelong arrive there the next day.

In practice a job runs the same way it does anywhere: a photograph and a rough size by email, a quote back the same day where possible, the original part sent down if it has to be measured, and a finished part back in a satchel. The freeway is the reason the satchel is quick.

What the west makes, and why that suits printed parts

The western suburbs are Melbourne's heavy end, and the shape of their industry is the shape that produces work for a workshop like this one.

Laverton North and Truganina: manufacturing and logistics. Laverton North is an industrial suburb almost end to end, bounded by the West Gate Freeway, and the largest industrial precinct in the City of Wyndham. Together with Truganina it is designated a state-significant industrial precinct, with manufacturing and logistics as its key industries. Logistics means conveyors, sorters, guides, chutes and sensor mounts: the plastic components that stop a line when they break and are rarely on a shelf. Manufacturing means jigs, fixtures and production aids, made for one operation on one machine.

Altona and Altona North: process industry in transition. Altona's industry is petrochemical storage, manufacturing and distribution, around a petrochemical complex that dates from the early 1960s. Two of the area's largest employers have changed shape recently: Toyota ended vehicle manufacturing at its Altona plant in 2017 and kept the site for design, engineering and testing, and Mobil stopped refining at Altona in 2021 and converted the site to a fuel import terminal. Plant that has changed hands or changed purpose is where obsolete parts come from: equipment that still runs, made by suppliers who no longer support it.

Werribee: water, food and a growing city. Melbourne Water's Western Treatment Plant at Werribee handles around half of Melbourne's sewage and supplies recycled water to the market gardens of Werribee South. Water and food handling mean pumps, guides, housings and fittings in wet and corrosive service, where a PETG part that can be reprinted from a kept model is often the practical answer to a part that has stopped being sold.

Partsmith has been supplying parts to businesses in Melbourne's west since before this site existed, and that is where the description above comes from: a workshop one freeway away that can measure a part, model it and have a replacement on its way the same week fits the work the west produces.

How a job from the west runs

Send a photo of the part, drawing or assembly with a rough size, and say what machine it belongs to. Quotes go back the same day where possible.

Post the original if it has to be measured. For anything that has to mate precisely with other hardware, having the part on the bench is the surest route. Overnight post from the west, measured the day it arrives.

Prototype, fit, then final. A test piece is printed and checked against the original or the mating hardware before the final part is made. Where the mating part cannot travel, the prototype goes to you for the fit check and the correction comes back by email.

Posted back overnight, or hand-delivered. A finished part leaves Geelong and is in Werribee, Laverton North or Altona the next business day. Where a machine is down and the post is a day too slow, hand delivery up the freeway is available and quoted with the job.

Areas served in Melbourne's west

Overnight post covers the whole corridor. Enquiries come from across the west, and these are the suburbs the work tends to involve:

• Wyndham — Werribee, Hoppers Crossing, Point Cook, Truganina, Tarneit, Laverton North, Laverton
• Hobsons Bay — Altona, Altona North, Williamstown, Newport, Brooklyn
• Brimbank and Maribyrnong — Derrimut, Sunshine West, Tottenham, Footscray, Yarraville

Further east or north the process is identical and the part still travels overnight. Geelong itself is the page before this one, and the only place where collection replaces the post.

Pricing for Melbourne's west

The minimum order is $75. Above that, a quote is built from the job rather than from a rate card, and it is a firm figure before any work starts. Postage is part of the quote, not a surprise after it.

What changes the price

• Modelling. A ready STL costs least; a worn original that has to be measured and modelled costs more, because that is where the hours go.
• Print time. Size, wall thickness and infill decide how long the machine runs. Fifty small parts can be quicker than three large ones.
• Material. PLA, PETG and flexible TPU are priced differently, and the duty the part has to take chooses between them.
• Quantity. A repeat part skips the design work, so a reorder costs less than the first.
• Urgency. Standard turnaround is the base; faster options exist for a machine that is down, and overnight post means a priority job is not slowed by the distance.

Send a photo and a rough size and you will have the number, usually the same day.

Who this suits

Businesses and workshops in the west with a part that has to function: a maintenance team at Laverton North with a line stopped by one broken guide, a manufacturer needing a fixture for one operation, a treatment or food-handling site with a housing nobody sells any more, a robotics cell needing jaws shaped to one product. Everyday and moderate loads are routine work; wear parts are welcome as consumables. Every quote includes an assessment of the duty, so where a part belongs in metal you hear that at the start.

Behind the page is over six years' experience and more than a thousand prints, and five jobs written up as they happened — the evidence for everything claimed above.

Frequently asked questions

How long does post take from Geelong to Werribee or Laverton North?

Overnight. A part posted from the workshop in the afternoon is in the west the next business day, and the return trip for an original that has to be measured is the same. For a machine that is down, hand delivery up the freeway can be quoted with the job.

Do I have to send the original part?

Only where fit against other hardware has to be exact. Otherwise clear photographs from several angles plus the dimensions that control fit are usually enough, and that is how most jobs start.

How fast can a job for a machine that is down turn around?

Quoting is usually same-day. Turnaround depends on the part, with modelling normally the longer half, and faster options exist where a machine is down. Say so at the enquiry and it gets scheduled accordingly.

Do you cover Sunshine, Footscray and the inner west?

Yes. Overnight post covers the whole of Melbourne, and the process is identical wherever in the west you are.

Who owns the files, and will you sign an NDA?

If you supply the file it stays yours and is used for your parts only. If we model the part for you, the model comes with you — STL with the job, STEP on request. An NDA before you send anything is fine; the file policy is set out in full on the About page.

Is there a minimum order?

The minimum order is $75. It is published so you can judge the fit before spending time on an enquiry.