Want an Enormous 3D Printer? Aldric Negrier is There for You with the Mega Prusa i3

Aldric Negrier, a maker and builder in Portugal, has just built – and provided you the information you’ll need to build yourself – a Prusa-based 3D printer with a build volume of 15.7 x 15.7 x 15.7 inches.

You read that right. It’s not 15.7 centimeters, it’s 15.7 inches.

It all comes out of the RepRap movement, which was founded in 2005 by Dr. Adrian Bowyer, a senior lecturer in mechanical engineering at the University of Bath in the UK. The RepRap-derived family of 3D printers has grown to include the “Prusa Mendel,” and at this point, hundreds of variations exist. Core developers have tended to name each iteration after famous evolutionary biologists, but some variants are named after individual designers.

Based on yet another version of the venerable Prusa i3, the Prusa Titan, Negrier says the Titan concept was first introduced by Blueprinted during October of 2014, but the company ultimately chose not to provide blueprints or files to build that large Prusa i3 3D printer.

“Because I found the concept very interesting, I took the liberty of sharing my version called Mega Prusa i3 Rework,” Negrier says. “The Mega Prusa i3 Rework is basically an enlarged version of the Prusa i3 Rework. It’s scaled up from the original design, and to be more precise, the Mega Prusa i3 Rework is scaled up in order to allow 8 times the build volume of the Prusa i3 Rework.”

Negrier says the Mega Prusa i3 Rework includes 3D printed parts which were redesigned in order to house the necessary LM12UU bearings and the 12mm smooth rods which would make it effective for proper operation. He says that as Mega Prusa i3 has a much larger and heavier structure overall, the 8mm rods used in the Titan don’t work, and for that reason, he designed the Mega Prusa i3 Rework to use beefier 12mm rods.

The project and all the necessary files for laser-cutting and 3D printing the parts will result in one enormous version of the i3, and the finished product looks very professional indeed.

And to top it off, Negrier says the total cost for materials was around €300, or about $320 USD.

The Instructables post Negrier wrote for the project includes all the necessary design files, a complete bill of materials, and some very helpful tips on building and finishing the enormous Mega Prusa i3 Rework.

Negrier, as it happens, is also the inventor of the BuildersBot, and he’s provided the instructions to build one here with all the necessary mechanics, electronics, and software referenced as well.

Do you think you’ll take on the job of building this enormous version of the Prusa i3 3D Printer? Let us know in the Mega Prusa 3D Printer forum thread on 3DPB.com.