14 DAY TRIAL // Most 3D printers that use fused deposition modeling (FDM), otherwise known as fused filament fabrication (FFF), aren't all that large, though some do better when placed next to a desk instead of on it. The New BigRep ONE is bound to leave a few jaws dropping though.
It's not all that advanced, resolution-wise, compared to other FFF 3D printers, but it is definitely gigantic compared to them.
Nearly as tall as an adult man, it has a build volume of 1.3 cubic meters, which means that it can create chairs, tablets and other pieces of furniture in a single session.
Sure, the price of $39,000 / €28,700 is out of everyone’s reach save wealthy professionals and 3D printing service companies, but that's to be expected.
The price is actually a lot lower than what industrial 3D printers come for, usually. And this without sacrificing quality (the resolution is of 100 microns).
Academic institutions from the US, the UK, Germany (BigRep's home market), Singapore, Korea and Brazil have all expressed interest in the printer.
The automotive sector seems particularly enamored with the contraption, even though the demo product was a coffee table.
Speaking of which, it took five days to print the coffee table (from a suspiciously orange plastic filament). Considering that models of that size usually take 4-6 weeks to make, that's a really short time.
In case you're not sure how FFF 3D printing works, it uses an extruder to heat up a plastic filament fed to the printer from a spool.
The heated plastic is “printed” drop by drop. Essentially, you're putting something together, only instead of building blocks, you're using superheated drops of liquid plastic. Very small drops, which harden when exposed to the normal room temperature.
The print bed is where the “sculpture” takes form, and sometimes needs to be layered with a special adhesive tape or coating, to keep the model firmly glued, immobile. The smallest sway or slide could ruin everything after all.
The BigRep One was originally a concept by Lucas and Marcel, two artists, but their work (which spanned two years) sparked a lot of outside interest, and now their dream has come true.
There is no way that this 3D printer will end up in anyone's home, unless some celebrity or other suddenly decides they want a 3D printing tech collection that cannot fail to include it, but 3D printing stores and maybe art designers will find it quite useful, if not all that affordable.
