Ill. Manufacturer Builds World's Largest 3D Printer

The MasterPrint was sold to the University of Maine, which used it to build the world's largest 3D-printed boat.

Ingersoll Machine Tools' printer dubbed MasterPrint at the University of Maine.
Ingersoll Machine Tools' printer dubbed MasterPrint at the University of Maine.
University of Maine

ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) — A Rockford, Illinois manufacturer's polymer 3D printer has been declared the globe's largest by the Guinness Book of World Records.

The Rockford Register-Star reports Ingersoll Machine Tools' printer dubbed MasterPrint was sold to the University of Maine.

The school produced a boat measuring 25 feet long (eight meters) and weighing 5,000 pounds (2,300 kilograms) in less than 72 hours. That earned two more Guinness records: largest 3D-printed boat and largest 3D-printed object.

Ingersoll engineer Nate Hang says the university intends to make molds for the boat-building industry. It will work with the federally sponsored Oak Ridge National Laboratory to create a plastic containing wood fibers. That's safer for the environment than other materials.

Ingersoll CEO Chip Storie says the primary reason for MasterPrint's development was to create large aerospace tools.

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