I just can’t imagine printing anything that needs a giant print volume. At least as a hobbyist.
I could see how a business would want a large print volume.
If you are a hobbyist and you are printing large things, what are you printing. I’m curious.
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For me, space taken up by the printer is a strong reason not to have a bigger volume.
For the maybe two prints that would have benefitted from a bigger volume, I was happy to split into smaller parts with assembly. It helped to avoid overhangs because I could orientate the individual parts better. Also one of the parts needed 3 iterations and I was happy that I didn’t have to print everything again.
And for 90% of my prints, a smaller volume than the X1C would be just fine.
BambuLab has to decide on a tradeoff between cost and size of target group. apparently there are people that can use a bigger volume, but they aren’t that many that it would be economical.
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As a designer I try to make my models as available as possible. 200x200 was a long standing standard so I try to create all my models within that size limit and if possible even 180x180. So only if you design your own models for personal use and most of them are big then bigger does equal better.
I have a 500mm Delta that I still need to finish but I just don’t have enough need for such a big volume. Most printers also get slower when they get bigger and at least they take up more real estate while not being able to print more.
Personally I like build size standardization, and not just 5mm bigger then the competition for the sake of it
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For stuff that isnt colored lizards. Or for you guys…50 of whatever youre printing, at the same time.
You may find that you are the red line in this chart.
Side note, random build plate sizes sells build plates. I use prusa xl plates on my k2 plus. wouldnt be possible if they were 333x222x218 lol
85% of the things I print could be printed on the A1 mini with a bit of finesse. But in the times I’ve needed something larger than it could provide, I would have been very frustrated. It isn’t about the majority of your prints, it’s about having the area for when you need it imo
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Removing limitations was the reason I got the ratrig, so i agree
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I present to you our CNC router table:
The largest thing it has made to date is about 20x30cm. But if we ever need 2x3m we have the machine 
It’s quite slow though. And not that stiff or accurate. And it isn’t a very manageable size.
I get that 260 is better than 250, but there is a trade-off and for me the line is between 200 and maybe up to 300. For bigger projects I’d rather have multiple machines producing parts simultaneously in less time than having one machine that can print all the parts or the complete model at once. So for that 15% (in my case maybe 1.5%) I just split it up.
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Love the setup!
And when you do you’re going to feel so validated lol.
I know it’s necessary at times, but I really don’t like cutting parts up if I can help it. For example, I made a gate to prevent my pup from going behind the couch and used the entire build plate, it’s mostly hollow so cutting it up into quarters or whatever would have required a redesign or to shrink it and lessen it’s usefulness
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I print a lot of items for board games. Most items are fine on the 256mm. I make drawers for cards and would love to be able to make the drawers longer than 250mm without printing in multiple parts. I also sell my designs. I currently use 2 P1Ps I might sell one and buy an H2D if the price is right or just buy and H2D.
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When it comes to multiple parts on multiple printers, theres space loss for every printer you add. By the printer frames themselves and the space you have to leave between them. I currently have 9 printers in my man cave lol. 1550mm cubed, comes from four of them. Thats 6 x1c wide(256mm) by 6 x1c deep by 6 x1c tall. I think it would take 1000 a1 minis(10x10x10) to replace the volume of these 4 printers(3 of them are 350mm)
The ultimate setup would be the ratrig production machines. 500x500 but shallow. like 150mm tall. on a rack or a Prusa Pro AFS
Haha, I know, and we of course purchased the machine to ultimately process full sheets.
That’s a lot! I have a Dutchy and an A1 and I though I was pretty deep into 3D printing. But my use case might be completely different, I only print small bits and bobs for personal projects and of course my MakerWorld/Printables 3D model portfolio.
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Or better yet, print a mannequin of yourself, and then you don’t need to try cloths on anymore. Send the manequin to your personal shopper and you’ve just eliminated a chore. 
Perfect for getting a custom tailored suit without having to go for the fitting.
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I find myself oddly printing bigger and bigger the smaller I go 
I have the mini printing cut up model heads that the CR10 just won’t do in detail.
It’s one of those love hate things I guess between model versions and brands.
If we are dreaming I’ll take a Ivan or that 2x3ft cnc table style printer above that acts like the a1 mini? if that makes sense?
THAT would be perfect. Doesn’t need to be fast either. old day 30mm/sec is fine - just make it auto level, make it dynamic flow, make it heat properly, make it act properly you know?
Ahh, I’ll take some of those 80 virgins in heaven too while we are dreaming. 
@Unique_Letterhead Sounds reasonable to me. For the cost of a 2-head Prusa XL, or maybe a little more, you can buy yourself a pretty nice and large CNC, like a OneFinity.
I’m sure it’s much easier to get a good CNC to print plastic slowly than it is to get a 3D printer to be a good CNC machine.
I would still just go the “Ivan” route and DIY one like he made in his YT videos.
Legit for us, you and me and most in this thread - we totally could in our spare time and have it working at a level much like his if not better (now that we have bambu’s to ahem…borrow…code from…cough cough) 
Bear in mind that Ivan sells his build plans, so there may be some bias in how he presents the outcome of his efforts.
True but he isn’t special - I was just using as a ref as his works etc…
All he did was take the MK parts and go + 900% 
I mean… give me 4 other minis and some superglue you know? hehe
The idea is sound however to make a diy large format without spending what? the oriz above was 135K ouch… I’ll take the DIY for 2.2k please
If it’s in your bones, then go for it. Probably have a look at PrintNC as well. What I like about PrintNC is that there are 3D printed jigs, to make precision drilling more foolproof. Alignment is everything. Also, it’s a parametric design, and so fully scalable to any size you want. It’s open source and has a sizable community. Good luck!
If we are talking large format however…how difficult would it be to convert one of these to pellets?
Pellet tech would be the only thing capable of keeping up with the volume, we could just shred old print waste to create the recycled pellets as well. It has a base 400m square build volume - the fixed floor warehouse ones I think are a whopping 100x100ft print space phew…
If I was to go all out on large I would probably convert one of these. It would pay for itself in 3 prints as well. Hi museum’s? you know that dinosaur skeleton you wanted that the archeology mafia wants to charge you 100k for when they have 400 sitting around in warehouses unprocessed just to create fake demand?
cough.
you know?
That is a very realistic AI generated image, almost got me!