3D printing farms are large collections of 3D printers set to mass produce printed designs for a variety of purposes.
With virtual warehouses full of 3D printers, these farms eliminate the need to keep physical inventory on site. Businesses can print any part whenever it’s needed! No more backup parts stocked in a closet or depending on external manufacturers to produce essential pieces.
3D printing is often criticized for being a slow and small batch manufacturing process, but that’s not the case when collections of hundreds are printing simultaneously 24/7. The manufacturing capacity of a 3D printing farm bridges the gap between prototyping and production. With no tooling or molding costs involved, products are brought to market faster and cheaper in some cases.
Improvements in software for managing a large number of printers have made 3D printing farms increasingly practical for many, from small businesses to large-scale custom manufacturing.
We’ve rounded up five of the coolest 3D printing farms from around the world so you can get a glimpse into these exciting businesses.
Prusa Research
Prusa is undeniably one of the biggest names in 3D printing. What is now called Prusa Research, founded in 2009, produces one of the best FDM 3D printers for consumers, the Prusa i3.
As most of you probably know, all of Prusa’s FDM 3D printers are built with 3D printed parts. For example, the casing for the LCD display is 3D printed. As Josef Průša likes to say, “Our 3D printers produce our 3D printers.”
Within the company’s Czech headquarters, there’s a giant 3D printer farm with over 600 3D printers used for the production of the machines they sell. Most of the printers in the farm are the Prusa i3 MK3S 3D printers, but with the introduction of bigger machines like the Prusa XL, the print farm could transform in the coming years.
A 3D print farm this big is bound to run into issues, so Prusa’s developed a custom software to manage the farm and monitor maintenance needs. The software notifies the workers if a problem occurs on a certain printer, when the filament runs out, or when it’s harvest time! This software’s been so successful for Prusa’s printer management that they’re now offering it to other aspiring print farmers.
Everyone who has had a chance to visit Prusa’s HQ always highlights the 3D printing farm; it truly is something special. In case you’d like to see how it all began, check out a video tour of Prusa’s 3D printing farm.
Slant 3D
Slant 3D was founded by Gabriel Bentz when he was working at a robotics design company. His creation of a small robotic arm using 3D printed parts started him down a path of collecting 3D printers to expand production volume, until Bentz decided to make the 3D printing farm its own company.
Now, Slant 3D operates the biggest 3D printing farm in the US with over 800 3D printers running 24/7. They print more than 10,000 parts per week as a production center for everyone who needs it: startups, large corporations, and even individuals.
And they’re only getting started! Slant 3D began building their 3rd generation 3D print factory in 2022 with the goal of housing more than 3,000 3D printers. Their mission is full-scale, production-run manufacturing by high-volume 3D printing – no molds or tooling needed.
Slant 3D doesn’t offer a full listing of the machines that make up their extensive 3D printer collection, but they are exclusively FDM style machines and their own Mason Workhorse 3D printer is sure to be a large portion of the population.
Lostboyslab
Lostboyslab in Sweden is a design studio and 3D printing farm that launched in 2020 with a heavy focus on the environment, sustainability, and circular design. They work with and sell recycled filaments of PLA and PETG made from regionally sourced food packaging waste.
With over 220 3D printers, their second location operates as the largest 3D printing farm in Northern Europe (it’s hard to compete with Prusa to the south!). It was developed in partnership with Industry Sweden. Their 3D printer collection is made up of a variety of MarkForged, Formlabs, and Anycubic machines.
Lostboyslab offers design, 3D scanning, development, prototyping, and manufacturing services out of their two workshops (The Factory and Alpha Zero Lab) in an effort to be your all-in-one production hub. In addition to their recycled materials, they offer a virtual warehouse of commonly ordered parts to encourage digital supply chains and circular economy adoption.
Their stated mission is “to build up lostboyslab all over the world from the beaches of Bali to Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu” under a franchise business model.
Caracol-AM
Caracol-AM brings a whole new meaning to large-scale 3D print farms. This Italian startup specializes in large 3D prints using an extruder attached to a robotic arm.
They launched in 2017 to solve one of the most demanding manufacturing needs: large, complex parts. By using robotic arms instead of a traditional 3D printer, the factory floor becomes the print bed, though there are interchangeable panels to help adhesion.
The 6-axis robotic arms, supplied by Germany’s Kuka Robotics and primarily selected from their Quantec Line, can even be put on sliding boards or wheels to provide a 7th axis and create 3D printed parts up to 15 meters long!
Caracol-AM developed its own extruder that can process a wide range of polymers and composite materials in pellet form. The materials are fed through a dehumidifying unit to the extruder. Their standard machine holds 80 kg of material ready to print.
Recent projects include the lateral air grids for superstructure yachts, wind turbines, spoilers for race cars (like the next-generation vehicles in Formula One), a gas tank for a satellite, and even an entire sailboat!
Out Of Darts
Up to this point, we’ve only showcased 3D printing farms run by big companies. Well, now we’ll take a look at a smaller 3D printing farm that is no less impressive.
Out of Darts, run by Luke Goodman, specializes in upgrades for Nerf blasters. Along with motors, springs, and similar upgrades for Nerf guns, they’re also selling 3D printed parts like triggers for the blasters.
Out of Darts runs 27 Prusa i3 MK3 3D printers to manufacture the custom Nerf upgrades in their Vancouver, Washington facility. Luke talks about the 3D printing farm on their blog and it often pops up in their YouTube videos. He says they chose to work with Prusa’s 3D printers because they’re reliable and work in one ecosystem that includes Prusament filament and their slicer software.
Despite running less than 100 3D printers, it’s proof of the great potential of 3D printing farms. Luke and Out of Darts have the ability to quickly prototype and produce the end products at the same time!
License: The text of "3D Printing Farm: 5 Great Showcases" by All3DP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.