For those demanding high-volume jobs on big objects LulzBot has released their MOARstruder extruder. It is priced at 395 USD.
From produce description:
Bigger. Faster. Stronger. MOAR: The LulzBot TAZ MOARstruder Tool Head is a high output tool head with an extra-long heater block, dual print cooling fans, and a 1.2 mm diameter nozzle. These features enable high-speed printing and tough 3D printed objects.
Here is a really big DIY 3d printer with two 3d printed hobby rockets. It looks like it is some 2 meters tall has some 1 square meter build surface. Supporting structures appear to be CNC routed from some type of wood.
Update:
This machine is the "Printzilla" made in fablab Moscow by Michail Michalin and Vladimir Kuznetsov. It has 0,8 x 0,8 x 2,0 meters printvolume. Here is the facebook video of it in action:
Source: unknown. Please let me know if you have any additional information about this project. Friend of mine sent me this picture without any context and google image search is also not helping.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory made the world's larges 3D print that was recognized by Guinness World Records.
From project description:
Researchers at the MDF have 3D-printed a large-scale trim tool for a Boeing 777X, the world’s largest twin-engine jet airliner. The additively manufactured tool was printed on the Big Area Additive Manufacturing, or BAAM machine over a 30-hour period. The team used a thermoplastic pellet comprised of 80% ABS plastic and 20% carbon fiber from local material supplier
The tool has proven to decrease time, labor, cost and errors associated with traditional manufacturing techniques and increased energy savings in preliminary testing and will undergo further, long term testing.
Here is the time-lapse video of the process and it looks impressive:
How big can you go with high-end industrial 3D printers? VERY big! Here is a wind blade mold for research in wind power.
The mold for making the blades is being printed using the Big Area Additive Manufacturing (BAAM) machine at the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. BAAM is 500 to 1,000 times faster and capable of printing polymer components 10 times larger than today’s industrial additive manufacturing machines. Since the molds will be used to create research blades measuring 13 meters (42 feet) in length, BAAM provides the necessary scale and foundation for this ground-breaking advancement in blade research and manufacturing.
I was searching for water hardened polymers and I accidentally found this: the HydroSpan 100 Enlarging Polymer. It is a polymer that grows in water by absorbing it. It grows BIG!
Here is the HydroSpan description:
HydroSpan 100 is a unique two component, Flexible, 100% solids (contains no V.O.C.), polyurethane elastomeric compound. HydroSpan 100, when fully cured provides a simple method for expanding three dimensionally molded parts. Expanding parts is done by simply molding the part with HydroSpan 100 to from a rubber master. After curing 24 hours at room temperature the molded HydroSpan 100 part is soaked in room temperature water and allowed to expand. Full expansion is 161% larger than the original part. Full expansion of parts can be achieved in 5 to 14 days depending on cross section thickness of the part. Thicker cross sections take longer while thinner cross sections require less time.
The video of polymer being used:
So how is this connected to 3d printing? Imagine if we had similar material for 3d printed objects? You print them out, leave them in water and they grow several times. Hopefully someone will develop this concept :-) You have seen it mentioned here first :-) !
Fouche 3D printing well known for their large functional parts like 3d printed car jack, just released the video of full sized fully functional 3d printed DIY acoustic guitar. We have seen 3d printed electric guitars before, but they are simple to make since there is no resonant body.
There have been acoustic guitars 3d printed earlier, but they were small, made from several parts or made on an industrial 3d printer.
Fouche 3D Printing team developed fully functional printable DIY car jack. They are well known for their large machines and big working 3d printed objects.
If you want to make it yourself, files can be found here:
Here are two projects that demonstrate how you can make very large models of cities or terrain by connecting smaller pieces in larger frame.
3D Printed Model of San Francisco
Video description:
Behind the scenes 3D printed model of San Francisco: Connex 500 printed 3d model of a portion of San Francisco. The model was created to aid real-estate developer Tishman Speyer in telling the story of urban development in the rapidly changing SOMA neighborhood. It can help with urban planning and building construction decisions that are better understood with the kind of physicality that only a real-world 3D replica offers compared to digital images or digital models.
3D Printed terrain map of Canton Bern in Switzerland
3drucken.ch printed this terrain map of Canton Bern in Switzerland, made in scale 1:25'000 out of 340 tiles. 4.9 x 4.5 x 0.17 m. ca. 75kg PLA used, 12'000h total print time on 7 Ultimaker printers during 7 months.
Hyperform is design technology concept where you can print big structures in small 3d printer print volumes by transforming them into shapes that can be made with folding and interlocking chains. You'll get it when you watch the video.
As far as I can see there is no software released, or any real-life application but the technology will probably find its way to the market and users in some form.
As 3D printers become affordable and ubiquitous, they are also becoming smaller, placing severe constraints on the scale of objects we can create. Hyperform is an investigation into folding as a computational design strategy for compressing large scale objects into the small volume of desktop 3D printers.
Hyperform was developed by: Marcelo Coelho (http://www.cmarcelo.com) Skylar Tibbits (http://sjet.us/) Formlabs, Inc (http://formlabs.com/) Support by: Ars Electronica and [The Next Idea] Voestalpine Art and Technology Grant
re:3D just started an KS campaign for new iteration of Open Gigabot open source 3d printer with very large volume:
Main features:
Open Hardware – Modular frame constructed out of aluminum, power and data ports exposed, and additional headers for other possible hacks.
Open Software – Writen in Python, fully documented, and most importantly, able to be ‘hacked’ to your own desire.
Gigantic Scale – Build envelope of 24 x 24 x 20 inches, while being able to fit through the standard door frame.
Touchscreen Graphical User Interface – Allows for easy control as well as remote printing from afar.
Optimized Design Footprint – extremely efficient design, to pack the greatest number of features into the smallest space possible. All features are accessible from the front of the machine.
Networked – Can effortlessly connect to the network in your home or office via a typical router using WiFi, USB or ethernet.
Watch-Dog – Sensors to reliably notify the user of filament feed errors, low filament, motor drive faults and temperature issues.
Independent movement dual extruders, large print area, unique high quality design and can be disassembled to carry as a case. Very very nice printer made byMichael Sullivan from http://www.hackmelbourne.org/.
Enclosed frame GolemD DIY 3d printer from Poland. Looks interesting and simple relying on aluminum sheet box for rigidity. It could be adapted to use it with heated chamber.
Technical specifications from project ReRap wiki:
Aluminum composite shell body - did you notice how a simple cardboard box is rigid while assembled - same principal
While looking at the post about Polish 3d printing event I found picture of larger version of GolemD with integrated filament boxes (GolemD sppf)
You should check the full gallery of the 3d printing event in Kielce with many printers and what looks like great atmosphere. Poland seems to have very vibrant, innovative and productive 3d printing community.
Sometimes you need to cut your model because of it's size is too big for your printer's print surface or to get a puzzle. Rich Olson made a OpenSCAD library named PuzzleCut for that exact purpose. It lets you easily divide objects into 2 or 4 interlocking pieces for 3d printing or laser cutting. This is extremely useful little too with only two small obstacles for end users: you need to know how to use OpenSCAD and number of pieces is limited to 2 or 4 (probably solvable with some digging in Google and upgrades in future versions). There are some other solutions for cutting models, but this one is able to position the puzzle cuts anywhere on the X and Y axes, adjusts the kerf for a tighter or looser fit, and exports one piece at a time for 3D printers with a smaller build area.