The Best Large 3D Printers of 2023

If your regular run-of-the-mill printers are too small to contain your enormous 3D printing ambitions, this guide to the best large 3D printers is just for you.

Sometimes, splitting a large part into printable chunks on a small 3D printer just doesn’t cut it. Whether for part strength, geometric complexity, or, let’s be honest, laziness, sometimes an oversized, large-format desktop 3D printer is exactly the right tool for the job. We get that.

Picking a large 3D printer is simple – there’s only a small handful of them out there to begin with. But choosing one that’s going to make the printing easier? That’s a trickier task. We’re here and have gone hands-on with an assortment of 400 x 400 mm+ build area machines (what we deem large-format for desktop 3D printing) to find which ones are worth your time.

The Best Large 3D Printers

How to Pick a Large 3D Printer

It can be tricky to pick a large 3D printer, particularly on a budget. It should be reliable and easy to use. And, of course, the build volume is the defining feature that makes or breaks a particular machine.

There’s a diversity of print bed sizes, so we’ll begin with what we consider a “large” 3D printer. From our perspective testing all the interesting printers of the day, there are generally four printer size classifications that we observe: small, with 180 x 180 mm build areas; standard, offering approximately 250 x 250mm build areas; mid-size, which offers around 300 x 300 mm across the build platform; large-format, with 400 x 400 mm build area and larger.

Large-format 3D printers have to overcome challenges that are exacerbated by their size. The construction must be rock solid to withstand its weight and build, not to mention the stresses from heavy moving parts during the printing process. Depending on the printer’s design, the motion system must also be up to the task of managing the inertia of the large moving print bed. Or, if equipped with modern firmware, mitigate the vibrations from printing entirely for high-quality printing at speed.

Stability throughout the height of the print volume is a must, too, so a good sign to watch out for is bracing and brackets to eliminate play in the frame of the printer.

Leveling the bed manually on a large printer can be difficult, particularly if you’re new to 3D printing. Large-format 3D printers, particularly low-cost ones, are unlikely to have perfectly flat print beds. Sensors and probes to compensate for any unevenness in the print bed are a must-have feature to ensure a decent first layer, which is critical to the success of a print.

Printing with a large format 3D printer means long prints that use a large amount of filament. A filament runout sensor eliminates any doubt about whether the currently loaded spool has enough filament left to complete a job, pausing your print when the spool is empty. It’s another essential feature to look out for on a large 3D printer.

To speed up prints, you should investigate the nozzle options of your chosen 3D printer. Many machines come with 0.4mm nozzles out of the factory, which, while offering a decent balance of detail and speed for general printing, is utterly inadequate for rapid large-scale printing. Larger bore nozzles allow you to print thicker and wider layers, cutting print times dramatically and increasing print strength. No two nozzles are created equal, so check the shape and design to see what your options are.