Available on Kickstarter: Split3r Lets You 3D Print Big Parts on Small 3D Printers

French 3D printing company Qualup has been in the industry since 2011. The company has a good reputation in making high-temperature Material Extrusion systems and volumetric sensors for more precise 3D printing. Now the company is having a Kickstarter to promote something very different, but nonetheless very relevant: Split3r. With about 20 days left in the campaign, the project has been fully funded, and so will come to fruition.

Split3r solves a problem of using many small 3D printers or one big printer to print really big things. Theoretically this has been possible for many years. But, only now with a new generation of reliable desktop systems has it become viable to print a lot of build-volume-filling parts for many of us. Some in cosplay and furniture design were already doing this on inexpensive i3 clones. But, they either had to be very skilled, very patient, or very determined, and were probably a rare combination of all three. Splitting files was more difficult than it seemed, and keeping track of them was hard also.

Split3r hopes to make it super simple for you to split your large parts. This means that the part can be distributed easily over a print farm, or be printed serially by one or a few printers much more simply. You don’t need to dive into CAD to do this, as the software automates it. It also automatically tracks parts, can add part numbers, and makes it so you can easily join the parts. You can also split files by build volume and automatically create joints. The software gives you a preview, gives you an exploded view, and lets you label parts. Then, you can save all information in the .s3r file format and export to PrusaSlicer, Bambu Studio, Cura, and others. Licenses are €30, and it’s a perpetual license without a subscription for two PCs. There’s a license manager for if you switch computers.

If you’re an architect, model maker, furniture maker, prop maker, outdoor advertising maker, cosplay enthusiast, or anyone with large part ambitions, this seems like a very attractively priced product that will save you tons of time. The company also thinks that tooling, enclosures, molds, and lost core casting are ideal for this software tool. Also, if you have larger systems, this could let you make even bigger parts. For companies and print farms, this product could open up new markets and make a lot more parts possible.

Desktop 3D printing has been limited by form factor. We don’t have desktop washing machines. By digitally making build volumes infinite, larger and larger objects can be made. Making true 3D printed furniture, molds and formwork for buildings, and large advertising components can now be easy to do.

The company will do a public beta in October and hopes to release the software in time for Christmas. I really love what Qualup is doing here. This is a product that can significantly advance the 3D printing market. We’ve struggled to produce things that are larger than human-sized. But with Split3r, anyone can make large-scale objects very easily. This is truly a development whose consequences I can not oversee. With reliable and fast desktop 3D printers, better and cheaper filament, and Split3r, we could make many more large-scale objects inexpensively and quickly, in print farms or at home. I really think that this could boost 3D printing as a whole, and urge you to sign up for the Kickstarter. For about $50, you can now print many things unthinkable only years ago.