3D printing has been the emerging trend in manufacturing for years and now it is much of a limelight for hobbyists and fanciers by the help of dropping prices.
The smaller the printer, the smaller the object
As the subject attracts more and more end consumers today, we have a diverse range of printers in terms of both printer and output sizes as well. First, it should be noted that generally the smaller the printer gets, the smaller objects it can print –although it is not the case with the prices. So, the output dimensions of the world’s smallest 3D printer –by Klaus Stadlmann- should not be surprising; the micro printer’s build envelope is only 20*30*50 mm whereas the printer itself is even smaller than a typical shoe box.
Printing a house
Enrico Dini lies on the other side of the scale, with the printer he built that is capable of printing houses (investigate a video and a post about the Man Who Prints Houses).
Putting the extremes aside, the home-type 3D printers have more or less the same print volumes. The Prusa Mendel of RepRap Project can build parts up to 200*200*140 mm with an external dimension of approximately 44*47*37 cm. Another famous printer, the Replicator 2 of MakerBot, has a printing envelope of 285*153*155 mm inside the total of 49*42*53.1 cm. 3Ders shares a general list including most of the printers available, together with the price and build envelope information.