When a model is too big for the bed

A model larger than your build plate does not have to be shrunk. It can be cut into pieces, laid out across as many plates as it needs, and printed in batches — and Handoff3D does that on an iPad, in Safari. You get one file containing every plate, in order.

Free, no account, nothing installed. Works in Safari on an iPad or an iPhone.

What "too big" means on each machine

Bed sizes vary more than people expect. An A1 mini gives you 180 × 180 × 180 mm. A P1S, an X1 Carbon or an A1 gives you roughly 256 mm in each direction. The H2D and H2S are larger again, around 350 × 320 × 325 mm. Pick your printer and the plate drawn under the model is the real one, so it is obvious at a glance whether you have a problem.

Three ways out, in the order worth trying

Print it smaller

Often the right answer, and always the least work. Type the size you want and look at it on the plate.

Stand it differently

A long, flat model that will not fit across the bed may fit diagonally, or standing on its end. The height of a Bambu bed is roughly the same as its width, so tipping something upright can buy a surprising amount of room.

Cut it up

For anything genuinely large this is the answer, and it is what people do for helmets, vases, statues and terrain. The pieces are laid out over several plates, and you print one plate at a time and glue the results.

Models that arrive already in pieces

Many large models are published as a set of parts inside one file. Those are recognised as separate pieces, each stood up the best way for itself, and then arranged across plates — so a file with fourteen parts in it does not become one impossible object.

Flattening a curved bottom

A related problem: a model that was sculpted rather than designed often has no flat face to sit on, and printing it as it comes means either a large support structure or a poor first layer. You can take a slice off the bottom to give it a flat face to stand on, choosing how deep to cut and watching the footprint appear as you do.

Common questions

How do I print something bigger than my Bambu printer bed?

Cut it into pieces, print them across several plates, and glue them together. Handoff3D does the cutting and the plate layout on an iPad, in Safari, and writes one file containing every plate.

How big is the Bambu P1S bed?

About 256 x 256 x 250 mm. The A1 mini is 180 mm in each direction, and the H2D is roughly 350 x 320 x 325 mm.

Can I split a model into parts on an iPad?

Yes. It runs in the browser, so nothing is installed and the model is not uploaded anywhere.