Winbo Uses 3D Printing to Prototype House Plans and Even Print Life-Sized Furniture Pieces

When it comes to 3D printing, there is big, and then there is BIG. Typically when we are talking about FFF-based 3D printers, a machine that is able to 3D print something the size of basketball is considered to be relatively large. However, over the course of the past year, we have seen more and more new 3D printers emerge on the scene with the ability to print really large objects. These objects can then be assembled to create things such as motor vehicles, and buildings, as well as mammoth works of art.

One Chinese company, Winbo, pride themselves on creating 3D printers that are capable of printing objects of all shapes and sizes. They offer a large variety of FFF-based 3D printers ranging in size and coming in at different price points. Recently the company has come to the realization that 3D printing can provide a tremendous benefit to home builders and interior designers, as well as those individuals who are looking to build a home, and/or furnish an already built home.

In coming to this realization, Winbo decided to show off some of the detail that their 3D printers are capable of, when printing both small-sized home models and life-sized, completely usable furniture pieces.

“Nowadays, more and more people tend to customize and personalize their home, rather than choosing from a set of cookie cutter plans,” explained a representative from Winbo. “We have to make an extraordinary number of decisions during [the] design process. Over the last few months we have come to realize that if our builder (3D printer) is capable of 3D printing a model of each room, prior to construction, we probably would have paid extra money for this service.”

So, that is exactly what the company decided to do. They decided to 3D print several home models in order to prove how useful this technique could be. However, they didn’t stop there.

Sure, visualization of a home plan is very useful, but how about taking it a step further and creating actual useful furniture pieces? We’ve seen this done before by other designers using large scale 3D printers. However, I don’t think we have seen usable furniture pieces quite as intricately detailed as the ones which Winbo went ahead and printed.

To get started, designers created a 3D model of a very detailed chair design. Then, using a Winbo 3D printer which features a 61 x 46 x 61 cm build volume, and a 3kg roll of PLA filament, they proceeded to print pieces of a life-sized chair, one at a time. The results were quite astounding, as the company presented the Winbo 3D Printed Chair, and was kind enough to send us some photos. It wasn’t just chairs that Winbo is 3D printing though. They also 3D printed several tables that match the chairs, and they are currently working on 3D printing a large desk.

While most people probably wouldn’t be so keen on putting a plastic chair and table set in their living room, that’s not what this is all about. It is about Winbo showing that their 3D printers are capable of printing objects that range from the small doo-dads we are all used to seeing come off of 3D printers, to large furniture pieces capable of supporting a human’s weight.

It should be interesting to see what Winbo comes up with next. I know I certainly wouldn’t mind having a set of these chairs for my back porch. What do you think about these large 3D printed chairs? Discuss in the Winbo 3D printed furniture forum thread on 3DPB.com. Check out the video of one of the chairs being 3D printed below.