3D printer motion systems: every type explained and every printer compared
3D printer motion systems explained: bedslinger, CoreXY, delta and gantry layouts, how to spot them on a spec sheet, and the motion system of every shipping printer.
Motion system
How a printer's kinematics move the nozzle and the bed: CoreXY, bed slinger and delta, and how each shows up on a spec sheet.
16 entriesUpdated
Topics
Guides
Cantilever 3D printers: how they work and their limits
What a cantilever 3D printer is, why its one-sided arm keeps it small, which printers use the design, and what to check on the spec sheet before you buy.
Cartesian vs CoreXY vs Delta Explained: 3D Printer Motion Systems
Cartesian vs CoreXY vs delta explained: how each motion system moves, what a bedslinger is, and the trade-offs in moving mass, footprint and build shape.
CoreXY vs H-bot, CrossXY and CoreXZ: How the Gantries Differ
CoreXY vs H-bot explained, plus CrossXY, CoreXZ and hybrid CoreXY: how each belt layout moves the toolhead and where you meet it on a spec sheet.
IDEX Dual-Extruder Printers Explained: Mirror and Duplicate Modes
What an IDEX dual-extruder 3D printer is, how its mirror and duplicate modes work and shrink the print width, and how IDEX differs from other dual-nozzle designs.
Linear Rails vs Rods vs Wheels on a 3D Printer, and Belt vs Leadscrew Z
Linear rails, smooth rods and V-wheels compared: how each guide works, what a published test found, which printers use rails, and belt vs leadscrew Z.
Which motion system suits tall and heavy prints?
Tall and heavy prints by motion system: why a bedslinger's moving bed shakes tall parts, what CoreXY, gantry and delta printers do instead, and the tallest of each.
What Is a Delta 3D Printer, and How Does It Work?
What a delta 3D printer is, how three towers and six arms move the nozzle over a round fixed bed, and which makers still sell delta printers.
What Is CoreXY? How the Two-Belt Motion System Works
What CoreXY means on a 3D printer: two fixed motors, two belts, the A/B motor math, how the belts are routed, whether it counts as Cartesian and who invented it.
Why CoreXY Printers Are Faster: Moving Mass and Acceleration
Why CoreXY 3D printers accelerate harder than bedslingers: moving mass, resonance and makers' acceleration claims, plus the bedslingers that match them.
Lists
Bambu Lab printers by motion system: CoreXY or bedslinger
Which Bambu Lab printers are bedslingers and which are CoreXY: the A1 mini, A1 and A2L move the bed; the P, X and H series do not. Every model in one table.
CoreXY 3D printers: every shipping model compared
Every shipping CoreXY 3D printer in the database, newest release first, with launch price, build volume, enclosure, and claimed speed and acceleration.
CoreXY 3D printers under $500 and under $300
Every shipping CoreXY 3D printer that launched at $500 or less, cheapest first, with build volume, enclosure, claimed speed and acceleration, and firmware.
Delta 3D printers compared: build size and claimed speed
Every delta 3D printer in the database compared: round build volume, liters, claimed speed and acceleration, enclosure, launch price and whether it still ships.
Bedslinger 3D printers by claimed speed and acceleration
Every shipping bedslinger 3D printer in the database by claimed acceleration and top speed, with flow, build volume and launch price. Five tie at the top.
Large CoreXY 3D printers compared by build volume
Large CoreXY 3D printers compared: every shipping CoreXY printer with a bed of 300 mm or more per side, by build volume, with enclosure, claimed speed and launch price.