These geniuses converted a treadmill into a huge 3D printer with a moving belt

Sometimes, a 3D printer bed is just too small, no matter how big they are. They're usually the right size when doing smaller prints, but when it's time to make something bigger, you usually need to break it up into segments and stick them together once you're done printing.

But what if you didn't have to compromise on bed length? In fact, what if you could have a print bed that was, theoretically, infinitely long? Sounds like a sci-fi concept at first, but if you, say, strap a 3D printer to a treadmill and have the bed oh-so-slowly move forward as the printer prints, you could make really huge prints all in one go. The best bit? This solution actually kind of works, and I'm very impress with what they've achieved already.

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This treadmill gets a new life as a 3D printer belt

As spotted by Tom's Hardware, this amazing feat comes to us via Ivan Miranda on YouTube. His ultimate goal is to use a 3D printer to print out a full-sized kayak, but as you might imagine, a regular 3D printer bed isn't going to cut it. However, if you set up a 3D printer to continuously print on a slow-moving treadmill, then you can print something as long as you like, just as long as you have the space (and the filament) to make it.

You can see his construction description video above, where he teams up with John from Proper Printing to get the job done. The end result is a little strange; for one, the nozzle sits at an angle because it's hanging off what used to be the treadmill handles, so prints develop at a slight 45-degree angle. However, using a treadmill does come with one benefit: because the end of the treadmill is curved, it allows 3D prints to cleanly pop off the end of the bed by themselves while the print continues.

While Ivan didn't get around to making his kayak in this video, he does prove the system works by printing out an I-beam that's taller than he is, all in one continuous print. I don't mean to jinx it, but I honestly think a 3D-printed human-sized kayak is possible after seeing this demo. Whether or not it would float is another story, but actually getting it printed seems very achievable. Best of luck, Ivan!