Consumers and small businesses certainly have a handle on using 3D printers to create small mockups of bigger products, but there’s few options for creating true-to-size models or even finished products without having access to an industrial printer. German company BigRep aims to break that boundary with its RepRap-based BigRep ONE 3D printer, which offers over a cubic meter of print space.
The BigRep ONE prints in a volume of 1.3 cubic meters (46 cubic feet), with each side at or exceeding a meter in length, but really, at that point who’s counting? This large size allows for creating 1:1 prototypes, larger mechanical parts and prototypes, or even designer home furnishings.
It has the basic printing features like a heated bed, along with the not-so-basic such as optional CNC milling and double print heads.
The BigRep ONE's name alludes to, it's based off a RepRap printer design. RepRap is a family of open-source designs to create 3D printers, where a hallmark is the ability of one printer to create the parts for further printers.
The company's website will currently allow you contact someone to order a machine, with shipping estimated for March or April at a price of US$39,000.
More interestingly, the company indicates that it will be creating a network of service providers that will accept and print 3D commissions, perhaps in a manner similar to MakeXYZ, thus giving BigRep customers an outlet for recouping some of their purchase price.
In the video below you can see the time-lapsed process of printing a full-sized table with a BigRep ONE.
