01
Automotive and motorsport
Bumper and body-panel sections, splitters, diffusers, wings, ducting, dash and console mock-ups and interior trim, printed full size for fit checks or track use.
- Body panels
- Aero
- Interior trim
3D Printing · Large format
Large 3D printed parts, up to a meter in every direction. One piece. No seams.
Body panels, molds, fixtures, enclosures and full-size prototypes printed whole, up to 1,050 × 1,050 × 1,050 mm (41 inches each way). Engineering plastics and carbon-fiber composites, printed in a heated chamber so big parts stay flat and true. No tooling, no gluing sections together, no minimum order.
Price and schedule within one business day · NDA signed before you send files · 3D printed in the USA
- 1,050 mm
- Each direction, in one piece
- Over 1 m³
- Build volume
- 80 °C
- Heated build chamber
- 420 °C
- Nozzle temperature
What it is
Large-format 3D printing, in one paragraph
Large-format 3D printing builds a big part in one piece, directly from your file, instead of printing it in sections and bonding them together. Pluribus Manufacturing prints parts up to 1,050 × 1,050 × 1,050 mm, more than a cubic meter, in ASA, ABS, PETG, polycarbonate, nylon, polypropylene and carbon-fiber and glass-fiber composites. The part is built inside a heated chamber, so it cools evenly and holds its shape.
It is the fast way to get a full-size part without a mold, a pattern or a week of hand lay-up: a prototype you can bolt onto the vehicle, a mold you can lay composites into, a fixture that holds the whole assembly, or a short run of large end-use parts.
Why one piece
Eight reasons to print it whole
Most printers top out around 300 mm, so large parts get cut into pieces and glued. Printing in one piece changes the part and the schedule.
01
No seams to fail
A bonded joint is the weak point of a sectioned part. A part printed whole has continuous walls from end to end.
02
No seams to hide
No glue lines to fill, sand and paint over. Surfaces run unbroken across the whole part.
03
It fits the first time
Sections that are glued by hand never line up perfectly. A one-piece part keeps its mounting points where the file put them.
04
No mold, pattern or plug
Fiberglass, thermoforming and rotomolding all need tooling before the first part. Printing starts from the file, so one large part is a normal order.
05
Days instead of weeks
A large part prints in days. A tool for the same part is typically quoted in weeks before any part exists.
06
Flat and true
Large ABS, ASA and nylon parts warp when they cool unevenly. An 80 °C chamber keeps the whole part warm until it is finished.
07
Strong where it matters
Thick walls and dense infill where the load is, lighter structure elsewhere. A meter-long part can still be carried by one person.
08
Change it and print again
A revised file is the next print. Test fit, change the design and print the improved part without scrapping a tool.
How big
What fits in the build volume
The build volume is a cube a little over a meter on each side. For scale, it is about the size of a standard pallet footprint, stacked a meter high.
| Measure | Metric | Inches | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-piece part | 1,050 × 1,050 × 1,050 mm | 41.3 × 41.3 × 41.3 in | The largest part printed in one material |
| With a second material | 995 × 1,050 × 1,050 mm | 39.2 × 41.3 × 41.3 in | When a separate support material or a second color is used |
| Flat diagonal | About 1,480 mm | About 58 in | A slim part can lie corner to corner on the plate |
| Build volume | About 1.16 m³ | About 41 cu ft | Room for one very large part or a full plate of medium parts |
| Layer height | From 0.05 mm | From 0.002 in | Fine layers for detail, thick layers for speed on big parts |
| Nozzles | 0.4 to 1.0 mm | Wide nozzles lay down strong, thick walls quickly |
Longer than the build volume? Parts are designed in the fewest possible sections with keyed, bolted joints, so a two-meter part is two pieces instead of twenty.
Materials
Materials for large parts
Big parts are chosen by where they live: outdoors, under load, near heat or in a mold shop.
| Material | Best for | Why |
|---|---|---|
| ASA | Outdoor panels, signs, vehicle exterior parts | Stands up to sun and weather without yellowing or going brittle |
| ABS | Prototypes, housings, interior trim, patterns | Tough, heat tolerant, easy to sand, fill and paint |
| PETG | Large covers, guards, displays, indoor parts | Strong, economical, low warp, good chemical resistance |
| Polycarbonate and PC-ABS | Machine guards, structural housings, hot areas | High impact strength and heat resistance to about 115 °C |
| Carbon-fiber nylon (PA-CF) | Fixtures, structural parts, tooling, end-use machine parts | Very stiff and strong for its weight, stable under load and heat |
| Glass-fiber nylon (PA-GF) | Structural covers, brackets, tooling | Stiff and impact tough at a lower cost than carbon fiber |
| Carbon-fiber PET (PET-CF) | Large stiff parts that must hold dimension | Low moisture uptake, so size stays stable in humid conditions |
| Carbon-fiber ABS and PC | Molds, patterns and large tools | Stiffer and lower warp than the unfilled plastic, machines and sands well |
| PPS-CF | Hot, chemical-exposed parts and tooling | Heat resistance to about 200 °C with chemical resistance close to PEEK |
| Polypropylene (PP, PP-GF, PP-CF) | Tanks, ducts, chemical-contact parts | Lightweight, fatigue resistant and resists most chemicals |
| TPU | Large bumpers, seals, pads, protective covers | Flexible and abrasion resistant |
Not sure which one? Tell us where the part goes and what it carries, and we will recommend the material.
What we make
Large parts we print
The kinds of parts large-format printing is used for. Send a file, a drawing or a sketch with dimensions.
02
Molds, patterns and plugs
Lay-up molds for fiberglass and carbon fiber, vacuum-forming tools, foundry patterns and concrete forms, printed in days and finished to the surface you need.
- Composite lay-up
- Thermoforming
- Casting patterns
03
Large jigs and fixtures
Check fixtures, assembly nests, drill and weld jigs and robot end-of-arm tooling big enough to hold the whole assembly, and light enough to lift.
- Check fixtures
- Assembly nests
- Carbon-fiber nylon
04
Aerospace and UAV
Fuselage and wing sections, fairings, cabin mock-ups, wind-tunnel models and ground-support tooling in light, stiff composites.
- Fuselage sections
- Fairings
- Wind-tunnel models
05
Enclosures and machine covers
Equipment housings, machine guards, shrouds, kiosk bodies and control enclosures made to fit your machine, with mounting points built in.
- Housings
- Guards
- Kiosks
06
Signs, displays and props
Dimensional letters and logos, trade-show and retail displays, full-size props, sculptures and scenic pieces that sand and paint to a finished surface.
- Trade show
- Retail
- Film and events
07
Architecture and product design
Site and building models, full-size appearance prototypes, furniture, lighting and fixtures printed at the real size for review.
- Scale models
- Full-size prototypes
- Furniture
08
Marine, RV and off-road
Consoles, dash panels, vents, hatches, storage bins and trim in weather-resistant ASA for boats, RVs, trucks and side-by-sides.
- ASA
- Consoles
- Vents and hatches
09
Large end-use parts in low volume
Short runs of large parts that would otherwise need fiberglass, thermoforming or rotomolding tooling: covers, ducts, tanks, bins and housings.
- No tooling
- 1 to hundreds
- Replace fiberglass
Is it right for you?
Large-format printing is the right call when
It is built for big parts in small numbers, and for anything needed sooner than a tool can be made.
- ✓The part is too big for a standard 3D printer
- ✓You need one, ten or a few hundred, not thousands
- ✓A mold, pattern or plug would cost more than the parts
- ✓You need the full-size part this month
- ✓The design is still changing
- ✓Glue seams are a strength or a finish problem
- ✓The part is a tool: a mold, a fixture, a pattern
- ✓You are replacing a large part that is no longer made
Compared
Other ways to make a large part
- Printed in sections and glued
- Many small prints, hand alignment, bonded joints, filling and sanding every seam. One-piece printing removes all of it.
- Fiberglass or carbon lay-up
- Needs a plug and a mold first, then skilled hand work per part. Printing makes the first part directly, or prints the mold itself.
- Thermoforming and rotomolding
- Low part cost in volume, but tooling comes first and the shapes are limited. Printing wins on small quantities and complex shapes.
- CNC machining from foam or board
- Good for patterns, but cuts away most of the block and cannot make hollow or internal features. Printing builds only the part.
Design guide
How to design a large part for printing
Send what you have. These are the points we will go over with you before quoting.
01
Give it a flat base
A large flat face on the build plate makes the most stable print. We choose the orientation with you.
02
Walls of 3 mm and up
Big parts are printed with wide nozzles and thick layers. Walls of 3 to 6 mm print fast and come out stiff.
03
Self-supporting shapes
Overhangs steeper than 45 degrees need support. Chamfers instead of flat overhangs save material and time on a big part.
04
Fine detail
Small text and sharp detail need a finer nozzle, which adds print time. Tell us which faces matter.
05
Mounting points
Model bolt holes and bosses in the part. Threaded metal inserts go in after printing for joints that are opened repeatedly.
06
Finish
Layer lines are visible on a large print. ABS, ASA and carbon-fiber grades sand, fill and paint well. Tell us the finish you need.
Expanding · Yuma, Arizona
Meter-scale printing at our new Yuma facility.
Due to demand, we have started setting up a new 5,000 square foot facility in Yuma, Arizona. Large-format printing is part of that build-out, and we are quoting large parts now.
A cubic-meter heated chamber runs for days on a single part, so power is a real share of the cost. Energy costs less in Arizona than in California, and that saving goes into your price.
Large parts will ship from Yuma, in the middle of the Southwest, boxed or crated to all 50 states, with faster shipping options on every order.
- Floor space
- 5,000 sq ft
- Location
- Yuma, Arizona
- Large-format work
- Quoting now
- What it means for you
- Lower prices on long, large prints
- Ships
- Boxed or crated, all 50 states
- Status
- Setup under way
From drawing to delivered part
Step 01
Send the part and the size
A 3D file, a drawing or a sketch with dimensions, plus the quantity and where the part is used. An NDA can be signed first.
Step 02
Get a price and a plan
Within one business day you get a price, a schedule, the recommended material and how the part will be oriented or sectioned.
Step 03
Printed in the heated chamber
Material is dried and the part is printed in one piece, kept warm from the first layer to the last.
Step 04
Checked, packed and shipped
The part is checked against your key dimensions, then boxed or crated for its size and shipped with the carrier and speed you choose.
Large-format spec sheet
- Process
- FFF / FDM, heated chamber
- Build volume
- 1,050 × 1,050 × 1,050 mm
- With a second material
- 995 × 1,050 × 1,050 mm
- Nozzle temperature
- Up to 420 °C
- Chamber temperature
- Up to 80 °C
- Build plate
- Up to 120 °C
- Nozzles
- 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0 mm
- Layer height
- From 0.05 mm
- Materials
- ASA, ABS, PETG, PC, nylon, PP, TPU, carbon- and glass-fiber composites, PPS-CF
- Material handling
- Dried and fed from a heated dry chamber
- Quantity
- 1 part to production runs
- Tolerance
- Stated on your quote for your part
- Files
- STEP, STL, 3MF, OBJ, or a drawing
- Pricing
- Custom quote within one business day
- Shipping
- Boxed or crated to all 50 states
Confidentiality
Your design stays yours
New products and customer parts are confidential by default. Your files are used only to quote and make your order.
- NDA first
- Send your NDA or ask for ours. We sign and return it within one business day, before you send a single file.
- No cloud printing services
- Our printers are run by our own internal system for control, file transfer and storage, not by a printer maker's cloud.
- Segmented network
- Printers sit on their own network segment, separate from office and guest traffic.
- Offline pricing
- Your file is priced on our own server, which has no internet connection.
Get a quote
Tell us the part and how big it is.
Send the file or the dimensions. You get a price, a schedule and a material recommendation within one business day.
- ✓Up to 1,050 mm in every direction, in one piece
- ✓Engineering plastics and carbon-fiber composites
- ✓One part or a production run, no minimum
- ✓No mold, pattern or tooling
- ✓NDA signed within one business day
- ✓3D printed in the USA, files kept private
Prefer to talk? Call (928) 955-8251 or email [email protected].
Large-format 3D printing FAQ
What is the largest part you can 3D print?
1,050 × 1,050 × 1,050 mm in one piece, which is 41.3 inches in every direction and more than one cubic meter. With a second material for support or color the width is 995 mm. Longer parts are designed in the fewest possible sections with keyed, bolted joints.
Can you print a part a meter long in one piece?
Yes. Parts up to 1,050 mm long print whole, and a slim part can lie corner to corner on the plate at up to about 1,480 mm.
What materials can large parts be printed in?
ASA, ABS, PETG, polycarbonate, PC-ABS, nylon, polypropylene and TPU, plus carbon-fiber and glass-fiber grades of nylon, PET, ABS, PC and polypropylene, and PPS-CF for heat and chemicals. ASA is the usual choice outdoors and carbon-fiber nylon for stiff structural parts and tooling.
How much does large-format 3D printing cost?
Each large part is custom quoted, because the price depends on the size, the material, how solid the part is and the finish. You get the quote within one business day. Wall thickness and infill make a big difference on a large part, so we will show you where weight and cost can come out without losing strength.
How long does a large 3D print take?
Print time runs from several hours to several days depending on size, wall thickness and layer height. Wide nozzles and thick layers keep big parts moving. The schedule is written on your quote.
Do large 3D prints warp?
They can when they cool unevenly. We print large parts inside an 80 °C heated chamber on a heated plate, so the whole part stays warm until it is finished, and we use carbon-fiber and glass-fiber grades where a part must stay especially flat.
Are large 3D printed parts strong enough to use?
Yes. With thick walls and the right material they are used as working fixtures, molds, housings and vehicle parts. Carbon-fiber nylon and carbon-fiber PET are stiff enough for structural tooling. Tell us the load and we will set wall thickness and infill to suit.
Can you 3D print molds and patterns?
Yes. Printed molds, plugs and patterns are used for fiberglass and carbon-fiber lay-up, vacuum forming, foundry patterns and concrete casting. Tell us the process, the cure or forming temperature and the surface you need, and we will recommend the material.
Can large prints be sanded and painted?
Yes. ABS, ASA and carbon-fiber grades sand, fill and paint well, which is how printed parts are taken to a finished show surface. Tell us the finish you need when you request the quote.
Is it better to print in one piece or in sections?
One piece, whenever the part fits. There are no bonded joints to fail, no seams to fill and no alignment error between sections. Sections are used only when the part is larger than the build volume.
How are large parts shipped?
Boxed or crated for their size and shipped by parcel or freight carrier to all 50 states. Shipping is the actual carrier cost for your address, and faster options are offered on every order.
Can you print just one large part?
Yes. There is no minimum order and no tooling. One prototype and a production run are set up the same way.
Where are the parts made?
In the USA. We print in San Diego, California, and due to demand we have started setting up a new 5,000 sq ft facility in Yuma, Arizona, where lower energy costs let us offer lower prices on long, large prints. We are quoting large-format projects now.
Do you print high-temperature materials like PEEK?
Yes, on our high-temperature service: PEEK, carbon-fiber PEEK, PEKK, ULTEM, PPSU and PPS in parts up to 300 × 300 × 400 mm.
How do I get a quote?
Use the form on this page or email [email protected] with the file or the overall dimensions, the quantity and where the part is used. You get a price and schedule within one business day.
Related: PEEK and high-temperature 3D printing · jigs and fixtures · automotive parts · aerospace and defense · production runs without a mold · rapid prototyping · Southwest shipping · NDAs and confidentiality