Background on 3D Printing
In this article, we will learn more about large 3D printers and their advantages. 3D Printers have been around for quite some time now and have even entered consumer homes with many hobbyists printing parts just for fun. The primary technologies in 3D printing have been FDM, SLA, SLS & MultiJet Printing. Over the past few years, we have seen hundreds of 3D printer manufacturers trying to take a market share of this huge industry.
What you need to know about 3D Printing
- If you are a product manufacturer, engineer or an inventor, a 3D printer can be an extremely useful tool for you. This will help to test your concepts and also to print functional prototypes and final products.
- 3D Printing saves you from the headache of tooling or complex manufacturing processes if you are not producing in high volumes.
- It also allows you to experiment with your design thereby giving to be iterative in your design process
Limitations of current processes
However not all parts can be 3D printed because of the constraints that come with the size these printers come with. Usually most printers do not come with a size larger than a build volume of 400x400x400mm. Hence, the introduction of a large 3D printer becomes very important. A large 3D printer can print parts upto 1000x1000x1000mm or sometimes even larger?
What would be applications for such large 3D printers you would ask?
Well, maybe not a whole lot but there are several applications where large 3D printers can be very useful. Some of the applications include automotive design, aerospace prototyping, consumer goods prototyping like refrigerators. Also air-conditioners, furniture design, interior design, retail design applications etc. So large 3D printers can be very useful if someone wants to print a part more than 400x400x400mm. Especially if they want to do it without having to use some adhesion between 2 parts. Large 3D printers have been new to the market and they would have an important role to play in the near future. One such player is Modix 3D from Israel who have sizes from 600x600x660mm to 1800x600x660mm and even more. These large 3D printers are quite affordable and can produce good quality prototypes and final components as well.
Advantages of large 3D printers
Some advantages that are being offered by large 3D printers are
- Ability to print large size objects without adhesion
- Capability to print multiple parts in one print rather than loading it in multiple machines that may save time and labour
- Ability to print functional end products such as retail kiosks, furniture, packaging, custom designed car components etc