3D printer motion systems: every type explained and every printer compared

A 3D printer’s motion system (its kinematics) is the layout of motors, belts and guides that moves the nozzle relative to the bed. Desktop printers use four main layouts: the bedslinger, CoreXY, delta and the fixed-bed gantry. Of the 56 shipping printers in the database, 31 are CoreXY, 20 are bedslingers, 4 are deltas and 1 is a gantry Cartesian.

What are the types of 3D printer motion systems?

Desktop filament (FDM) printers use four motion systems. A bedslinger moves the bed front to back under a toolhead on a gantry. CoreXY moves only the toolhead in X and Y, and lowers the bed for each layer. A delta hangs the nozzle from three arms over a round bed. A gantry Cartesian keeps the bed fixed.

• Bedslinger (i3-style Cartesian). The bed carries the part along Y; the toolhead travels along X; the gantry climbs in Z. Shipping examples include the Bambu Lab A1, the Creality Ender-3 V3 family and the Elegoo Neptune 4. See the bedslingers by claimed speed.
• CoreXY. Two belts, driven by motors on the frame, position the toolhead; the bed only moves down. What CoreXY is covers the belt layout, and CoreXY vs H-bot covers its relatives, CrossXY and CoreXZ. The CoreXY list has every model.
• Delta. Three arms on vertical towers move the nozzle over a fixed round bed. All 4 shipping deltas in the database are FLSUN models; see what a delta printer is and the delta list.
• Gantry Cartesian. The bed stays still and the print head makes every move in X, Y and Z. The Elegoo OrangeStorm Giga works this way over an 800 × 800 × 1000 mm build volume.

Two variants build on these layouts. IDEX (independent dual extruder) printers carry two print heads on separate carriages. The database holds two, the discontinued Snapmaker J1s and the announced Sovol M1D, and no shipping one (IDEX explained).

Cantilever printers hold the X arm from one side only. 3DPros describes the Bambu Lab A1 mini as “a cantilever-gantry XZ head printer” with “only one vertical gantry support” (cantilever printers explained).

How do 3D printers move?

Stepper motors move the nozzle and the bed, usually through toothed belts for X and Y and leadscrews for Z. The printer draws one layer in the horizontal plane, then steps up a layer height in Z. Firmware turns each X, Y, Z move into motor steps according to the printer’s kinematics.

That last step is why the motion system is a firmware setting as well as a mechanical one. Klipper, an open-source printer firmware, asks for it in a single kinematics line, with values that include cartesian, corexy, corexz, hybrid_corexy and delta. A straight move along X turns one motor on a Cartesian printer, both belt motors on a CoreXY and all three tower motors on a delta. For which layout keeps a tall part steadiest, see motion systems for tall prints.

Which motion system does each 3D printer use?

The table below lists the motion system of every shipping printer in the database, grouped by layout. CoreXY leads with 31 of 56, followed by 20 bedslingers, 4 deltas (all FLSUN) and 1 gantry Cartesian. Several makers sell both main layouts, so a brand name alone does not tell you the motion system.

• Bambu Lab sells the A1, A1 mini and A2L as bedslingers and the P1S, P2S, X2D and H2 series as CoreXY. Bambu Lab printers by motion system lists all of them.
• Prusa Research sells the Original Prusa MK4S as a bedslinger and the CORE One line and XL+ as CoreXY.
• Creality sells the Ender-3 V3 and V4 models, the Hi and the SPARKX i7 as bedslingers, and the K1 Max, K2 series and Ender-5 Max as CoreXY.
• Tool changers count by their base layout. The four-toolhead Snapmaker U1 and Flashforge Creator 5 are filed as CoreXY, as are the two-nozzle Bambu Lab H2D and X2D.

Prices overlap. The cheapest shipping bedslinger, the Creality Ender-3 V3 SE, launched at $199. The cheapest CoreXY models launched at $299 or $299.99: the Creality K2 SE, the Elegoo Centauri 2 and the Elegoo Centauri Carbon. The CoreXY printers under $500 list has the rest.

How does the motion system show up on a spec sheet?

Look for a line named kinematics, structure or motion system. Sovol lists “CoreXY Kinematics” for the SV08, and Elegoo names CoreXY on the Centauri Carbon page. Many makers leave the line out. A round build volume, written Φ or Ø diameter × height, means a delta; a bed riding on Y-axis rails means a bedslinger.

FLSUN, for example, gives the S1 Pro’s build volume as Φ320 × 430 mm and does not name the layout. Creality’s Ender-3 V3 SE page names none either, but describes a “Y-axis” running on “8mm thick linear shafts” under the bed. The guide rails are a separate spec line from the layout: the SV08 page also lists “All-axes Linear Rails” (rails vs rods vs wheels).

Once you know the layout, read four other lines with it:

• Max acceleration. In the database, bedslingers claim 2,500 mm/s² (Ender-3 V3 SE) to 20,000 mm/s². Every CoreXY that states a figure claims 20,000 mm/s² or more, up to 40,000 on the Sovol SV08. The deltas claim 30,000 to 40,000, and the OrangeStorm Giga 5,000. These are maker claims. Why CoreXY printers are faster explains the gap.
• Enclosure. 19 of the 20 shipping bedslingers are open frame. The Snapmaker Artisan is the one sold with an enclosure. 23 of the 31 CoreXY printers are enclosed, 12 of them with an actively heated chamber. The chamber temperature list compares the heated ones.
• Physical dimensions. The Bambu Lab A1 (bedslinger) measures 465 × 410 × 430 mm and the Bambu Lab P1S (CoreXY) 389 × 389 × 458 mm, and both print a 256 mm cube. The A1’s bed moves front to back as it prints, so leave room for that travel. The dimensions guide covers footprints.
• Build volume shape. Bedslingers, CoreXY and gantry printers print inside a box (X × Y × Z). A delta prints inside a cylinder, so the table shows it as Ø diameter × height.

For a side-by-side of the three common layouts, see Cartesian vs CoreXY vs delta.