“Bigger is better,” as the old adage goes. When it comes to a juicy steak, or a diamond ring, these words always hold true. When it comes to 3D printing, however, there still remains some debate.
The 2nd World 3D Printing Technology Expo was held in Qingdao, Shandong, China this past week (June 19-22). It featured thousands of individuals from China, United States, Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom, and almost a dozen other countries. They were there to discuss the latest breakthroughs in 3D Printing, including possible applications, material use, business models and more.
Qingdao Unique Products Develop Co., Ltd, a company known for their high quality Desktop 2D and 3D Printers, apparently believes that the old catch phrase doesn’t only apply to gemstones and beef. They apparently believe it to hold true for 3D printers as well. The company was on hand at the 3D printing conference this past week to show off something quite amazing. They introduced what they refer to as the ‘World’s Largest’ 3D printer, which has an incredible X and Y axis of 12 meters (almost 40 feet) each.
This new gigantic 3D printer will set out on its first official task, of printing out a replica of the world famous “Temple of Heaven”, a religious building located in central Beijing. The replica will be 7 meters in diameter and 8 meters high, and is expected to take around 6 months to complete. Representatives from Qingdao were on hand to show off a mini-replica of the Temple of Heaven, in which they will be printing on their large 3D printer.
In the future, this incredible printer may be used to construct homes and other buildings, as they have come up with a specially formulated printing material which uses a combination of graphene and fiberglass, to creating an extraordinarily strong printing material. The company plans to challenge the 3D printed canal house project currently on-going in the Netherlands.
