Building a 3d printer for 2d prints

[Douwedaki]

Dear forum,


I like making drawings with my Ultimaker printer. Basically prints only one layer thick. The drawback is that my Ultimaker has a small build platform and I would like to make bigger (x,y) drawings. Say bigger then x50 x y50 cm, ideally say 100 x 100 cm or the like.


What would be the best way to go about this? Is it possible to turn a cutting plotter (those big ones that for example architecture firms use) into a 3d printer (without z-axis)? If yes could someone maybe point me in the right direction? So, basically a plotter with the possibility to deposit material.


Why can I find so few big DIY 3d printers online (say about x100 x y100)? Does it get exponentially more costly and difficult to built bigger printers? And what if one would keep the z-axis really small, say max 0.5 cm? Would that change matters? Any tips as to where to start would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.


Kind regards,


Douwe

[noiseboy72]

Most printers are designed to be desktop, so 1000mm x 1000mm is much bigger than most hobbyists are prepared to accept. As height is equally important, a commercially viable printer would also need a 1000mm build height as well. That's positively huge for a home printer! Couple this with the time to do a print of this size and you have a very limited market machine.

I have a small cutter - up to A4 size that I use for card and plastic cutting. This only has X & Y coordinates, plus a lifting cutting head that could easily be replaced with an extruder and hot end. This would allow you to print about double the size of a typical 3D printer. It is a flat plane cutter, so the substrate is held on a flat plate the same as a 3D printer. Most plotters use paper rolls, so are unsuitable for your appilcation.

To go larger, I guess you could build a larger X-Y plotter. It's just a case of longer bars, frame and belts, plus changes to the printing setup to allow the larger area.

[Douwedaki]

Dear noiseboy72, thanks a lot for your reply. It gave some valuable information to start with. I will look further into turning a xy plotter into a 3d printer. If you by any chance know of somebody who did that already I would love to hear about it. Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

Merry christmas, Douwe

[noiseboy72]

I would imagine that some food printers would be simple X-Y plotter types, as there seems to be a market for printed sugar work, which is generally just 1 layer thick.

This is the same type as my cutter: http://img30.olx.ua/images_slandocom...fotografii.jpg