Expanding the print envelope. What would be involved?

How difficult would it be to expand the print volume of a Taz 4? I saw examples online of one expanded to a 16x16 bed:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=267614323418609&set=pcb.267615473418494&type=1&theater

So If I wanted to expand like this, what all would need to be done? I’m not scared of the process. I’m a mechanical engineer and my job is designing automated equipment. I’m just new to 3D printing, other than time with a turn-key Stratasys, and I’d like to know what I’d be getting myself into.

Could someone give me a description of what would be involved?

  1. larger heated bed.
  2. power supply large enough to drive larger heated bed
  3. Longer belts and bearing rod
  4. Longer leadscrews (possibly heavier gauge ones as well)
  5. Longer extrusions, possibly 40mm x 40mm, and redesigned frame to match.

Once you get much wider than the current width of the TAZ you need to start worring about bearing rod tension and droop, or going with a supported rail, etc.

Agreed, the x axis already has significant droop in the center compared to the edges that will get worse with an increased length.

That’s my next area I am working on. 1 lightening the x cartage by moving the extruder and looking at trying makerslide with a skate and see if that sags less at the current width.

I’m looking for a flatter bed not wider but any improvement in flatness would increase the longer width w/o increasing the sage of the current 2 rod system.


As for the bed. I don’t see any sag from front to back, so maybe that axis can be increased by just making it longer.