3D Printers

Large-Format 3D Printers for Industrial Applications

BigRep's large 3D printers are your partner for industrial additive manufacturing, whether for functional rapid prototyping, tooling, or end products.

The industrial 3D printers offer a number of state-of-the-art features that enable a wide range of professional applications. Benefit from expert advice on your 3D printer purchase and the wide selection of 3D printing filaments.

INDUSTRIAL QUALITY MEETS  COST EFFICIENCY.
COMPLEX PARTS IN LARGE SCALE.

The BigRep PRO is a 1 m³ powerhouse 3D printer, built to take you from prototyping to production. It provides a highly scalable solution to manufacture end-use parts, factory tooling or more with high-performance, engineering-grade materials. Compared with other manufacturing and FFF printing solutions, the PRO can produce full-scale, accurate parts faster and at lower production costs.

Explore the PRO

INDUSTRIAL QUALITY MEETS COST EFFICIENCY.
COMPLEX PARTS IN LARGE SCALE.

The BigRep PRO is a 1 m³ powerhouse 3D printer, built to take you from prototyping to production. It provides a highly scalable solution to manufacture end-use parts, factory tooling or more with high-performance, engineering-grade materials. Compared with other manufacturing and FFF printing solutions, the PRO can produce full-scale, accurate parts faster and at lower production costs.

Explore the PRO

GRADUATE FROM DESKTOP. GET INDUSTRIAL.

The BigRep STUDIO G2 gets 3D printing off your desk and takes it to the next level. Operating with the same ease as a desktop 3D printer and with 10 times the build volume, the STUDIO G2 provides large-scale industrial manufacturing capabilities in a compact “fits everywhere” build.

Explore the STUDIO

GRADUATE FROM DESKTOP. GET INDUSTRIAL.

The BigRep STUDIO G2 gets 3D printing off your desk and takes it to the next level. Operating with the same ease as a desktop 3D printer and with 10 times the build volume, the STUDIO G2 provides large-scale industrial manufacturing capabilities in a compact “fits everywhere” build.

Explore the STUDIO

LARGE-SCALE INNOVATION. LIMITLESS CREATIVITY.

The BigRep ONE is an award-winning, large-format 3D printer at an accessible price point. With over 500 systems installed worldwide, it's a trusted tool of designers, innovators, and manufacturers alike. With a massive one-cubic-meter build volume, the fast and reliable ONE brings your designs to life in full scale.

Explore the ONE

LARGE-SCALE INNOVATION. LIMITLESS CREATIVITY.

The BigRep ONE is an award-winning, large-format 3D printer at an accessible price point. With over 500 systems installed worldwide, it's a trusted tool of designers, innovators, and manufacturers alike. With a massive one-cubic-meter build volume, the fast and reliable ONE brings your designs to life in full scale.

Explore the ONE

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What is 3D Printing?

3D printing, also called additive manufacturing (AM), is a technology used to manufacture three-dimensional objects. 3D printers usually use plastic polymer materials (but also occasionally metal) and form objects by adhering layers to each other in succession.

Like many other manufacturing technologies, a 3D printer’s production is mapped with computer-aided designs, or CAD models. Digital models are “sliced” by specialized 3D printing software (called slicers) into individual layers and accompanying support structures, then printed.

What is 3D Printing

How does a 3D Printer work?

How a 3D printer works depends on the specific technology it employs, the most common being FFF (FDM), SLA, and SLS in that order.

1 FFF - Fused Filament Fabrication

Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF), also commonly known by its trademarked name; Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), works by depositing molten filament on top of itself in individual layers until the desired object’s final geometry is formed. FFF is the most common – and usually most affordable – form of additive manufacturing technology available today.

In FFF 3D printing, polymer filament is pushed through an extruder that melts the material at a hot-end – similar to a hot-glue gun pushing solid glue sticks through its hot nozzle. The polymer material is then “printed” in layers as it is pushed through its nozzle, the diameter of which determines the layer size, and deposited onto a build platform (or “print bed”) or preceding layers.

There is usually minimal post-processing required for parts printed with FFF technology beyond support structure removal – if they were necessary at all.

What are some features of an FFF 3D printer?

  • Usually fastest of common 3D printing technologies
  • Lowest cost in both purchase price and consumables
  • Extremely easy post-processing and minimal cleanup

2 SLA - Stereolithography

Stereolithography (SLA), the second most common additive manufacturing technology, works by curing liquid resin to itself in successive layers to form the desired object.

In SLA 3D printing, a build platform is lowered into a tray of liquid resin where it compresses the material against the bottom of a transparent tray before being cured by a mirrored UV laser. The process repeats, pushing each previous layer against the bottom of the tray until complete.

SLA is capable of incredibly detailed parts but is a material-intensive process. Significantly more of the resin material is normally required than the final object demands for the process to be effective. With excess material usually left in the tray, failed prints risk contamination. Dedicated trays are usually required for each liquid resin – which are themselves consumable as they are worn by light exposure from the UV laser.

What are some features of an SLA 3D printer?

  • Capable of very small layer sizes for intricate model details
  • Time-consuming process, increased exponentially with smaller layers
  • Requires heavy clean up and post-processing with additional curing

3 SLS - Selective Laser Sintering

Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) works by curing powdered material in successive layers as it is repeatedly spread throughout a build volume until the final object is formed. It is significantly less common than the other plastic technologies listed here, but is commonly used in metal additive manufacturing.

Similarly to SLA technology, the SLS process requires an abundance more material than is used to form the final object. However, there is little chance of material contamination and the required excess material serves a secondary purpose as a natural support structure.

Because SLS uses its powder material as a support for printed objects, it requires virtually no post-processing after the print has completed. It is capable of intricate detail but is a relatively slow and expensive process.

What are some features of an SLS 3D printer?

  • No post-processing required since excess material serves as supports
  • Typically the most expensive of the common 3D printing technologies
  • Time-consuming process, increased exponentially with smaller layers

3 steps in creating a 3D printed object

 DESIGN

3D printed objects are designed with computer-aided design software (CAD). Knowledgeable designers and engineers use CAD software to form entirely new designs, or use 3D scanners to capture real-world objects digitally. Increasingly, artificial intelligence and parametric design software is used to automate design processes.

 3D PRINT

To be 3D printed CAD models must be broken down into individual layers and the printing process mapped with slicing software (or “slicers”).  Slicers generate G-code, a computer-aided manufacturing control language, from CAD models that directs a 3D printer’s movements as it recreates the digital model as a physical object.

 POST PROCESS

Depending on your design and 3D printing technology, you’ll likely want to improve your print with some post-processing. Post-processing is anything that is done to an object after the 3D printer has finished producing it. Additional curing, support removal, sanding, painting and other coatings are all examples of common post-processing used to achieve a perfect, final 3D printed object.

Advantages of 3D Printing

3D printing offers many advantages over traditional manufacturing technologies. As a uniquely disruptive technology, businesses who invest in additive manufacturing are rewarded with exceptional efficiencies in their production. As 3D printing methods improve and new polymer materials with increased capabilities are introduced to the ever-growing additive manufacturing market, the technology’s possible applications continue to increase exponentially.

SPEED

3D printers work exceptionally fast to produce impressive, geometrically complex objects – often in a matter of hours, depending on the size.

Traditional manufacturing methods are notorious for long lead times that hold up dependent workflows, often for weeks at a time. As a highly reliable unattended process, 3D printing can produce even full scale objects overnight to be ready for use the next day.

FLEXIBILITY

Because 3D printing uses digital files (CAD models) instead of physical tooling like patterns and molds, it’s a highly flexible technology.

Small series or 100% personalized manufacturing and design processes with many iterations benefit greatly in both speed and cost when compared to traditional manufacturing processes that require manually machined tooling to operate.

COST

Manufacturing costs can be determined by three metrics - material, operating and labor expenses. Unlike wasteful reductive manufacturing techniques, 3D printing is an “additive” process that uses just enough material to produce an object.

As a single unattended process, operating and labor expenses are eliminated by a consolidated process that frees staff for other tasks. Since 3D printers don’t require object-specific tooling, manufacturers also save whenever implementing product changes.

ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY

Though some forms of 3D printing are more ecological than others, the nature of additive manufacturing technologies – which use just enough material to produce an object – make them all significantly more environmentally friendly than reductive techniques.

In FFF 3D printing “closed-loop” material processes are becoming increasingly common, where polymer shredders are used to recycle filament in-house to be reused in the 3D printing process.

Advantages of Industrial 3D Printers

With industrial 3D printers you can create functional, full-scale objects or industrial parts beyond the limitations of more standard build volumes.

In smaller build sizes large-format parts must be divided before slicing, printed separately and adhered together in an imperfect manual process. By manufacturing in full scale, you save time by not only avoiding multiple print jobs and post-processing, but also make parts exceptionally stronger. Objects printed with industrial 3D printers are often highly functional parts ranging from end-use products like furniture and recreational vehicles to high-strength industrial tooling.

3D Printed E-Motorcycle
3D Printer Filament

Materials for 3D Printing

Each 3D printing technology offers a wide variety of materials that produce an array of different mechanical properties in final products. The form your raw materials take will depend on the specific additive manufacturing technology you’re using. For polymer (plastic) 3D printing FFF technology uses spools of filament, SLA uses liquid resin, and SLS a fine powder.

For FFF 3D printing you can find affordable PLA filaments for general use, high-strength materials designed for demanding industrial processes, engineering-grade polymers for highly complex applications, and even materials suitable for the manufacturing of end-use products.

What is a large-format 3D Printer used for?

3D printers are used for a wide variety of applications, with more becoming a reality every day. The three most common additive manufacturing applications are…

3D Printing Rapid Manufacturing

End-use Parts

Increasingly, 3D printers are being used to create end-use parts and even consumer products. Because of the flexibility inherent in additive manufacturing, businesses offering highly personalized products have been using additive manufacturing to create small series or completely unique products for a long time. Today, even industrial manufacturers use 3D printing for serial production and to create affordable, industrial parts.

3D Printing Tools & Fixtures

Tooling / Fixtures

Though 3D printers don’t require any tooling themselves, they’re fantastic at producing it. Manufacturers can use 3D printing technology to create molds, patterns, or even jigs and fixtures to aid other manufacturing processes.

Unlike traditional tooling production, which usually requires excessive lead times, creating tooling with 3D printing is a fast and simple process. Even larger tooling can be additively manufacturing in an unattended process and be quickly in use on the factory floor.

3D Printing Rapid Prototyping

Rapid Prototyping

Because 3D printers can manufacture objects so quickly without specially designed tooling, it’s widely recognized as an ideal technology for product development. Products can be manufactured and redesigned at incredible speed allowing designers to create more iterations and perfect their product.

Later in the design process, the same technology and design files can be used to create functional prototypes, allowing a team to experience their product in the real world.

3D-Printer FAQ

What could an industrial 3D printer do for you?

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