Building a 3d printer for 2d prints

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

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.

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

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