2012 has been a big year for 3-D printing, but the industry has quietly been growing for decades. And the innovations are impressive — for every new plywood-clad 3-D printer kit that makes the rounds on the internet, engineers are developing ways to print titanium parts for jet engines that will change the aerospace industry.This week at Euromold, a manufacturing trade show, the companies behind these devices are demonstrating new products and highlighting the novel technologies that will change the way we build things. The 3-D printing industry is on track to be a $3.1 billion business by 2016 and the innovations on display this week show its foundation is growing — both in revenue and in physical print size.__Above:____Objet 1000__The big news out of Euromold is really big — a 3-D printer so large that it requires a palette jack to unload. The newest 3-D printer from Objet combines their world-class accuracy (16 micron/0.0006 inch layer thickness) and the ability to create models with 14 materials in one print job with extraordinary size. The new Objet 1000 is named for its 1000 x 800 x 500 mm (39.3 x 31.4 x 19.6 inches) print area which is over three times the size of competitive printers. To put this in perspective, the Objet 1000 holds over 238 pounds of resin to print with, more than some 3-D printers weigh. Size matters in 3-D printing. An oversized build chamber, along with print materials that come close to that of mass-production counterparts, means engineers can apply additive fabrication to new classes of products. Instead of being limited to printing small components like a bike helmet or pedal, engineers can now print an entire bike frame in one shot. It may not be a practical replacement for carbon fiber or tubular steel yet, but with a few more years of work, don't be surprised to see a 3-D printed bike winning the Tour de France.Photos: Objet

__VoxelJet__We've seen printers that deposit plastic, cure resin, or even print chocolate, but VoxelJet makes a line of machines that print sand. Their systems deposit a mixture of the grainy substrate and glue to create molds that are used in in metal-casting. Voxeljet software takes 3-D models and inverts them to create empty voids along with channels for funneling in molten metal. The printed sand molds are delivered to foundries where they are filled with liquid aluminum, bronze, or other metals. After the metal has cooled, the 3-D printed mold is smashed with hammers, revealing a metal version of the designer's original CAD model. After the 3-D printed part is cast, the metal can be machined and coated, making it ready for use. While the process is not cheap, it can sometimes be the only economical way for designers to bring high-end furniture and other bespoke products to market.Photo: VoxelJet

__MCOR Technologies__MCOR 3-D printers use paper instead of plastic to make models. Their machines glue sheets of standard 20 lb. bond paper together while a knife cuts the cross section for the 3-D model. The machine repeats the process thousands of times until a solid paper model is removed from the build chamber. This week, they also announced the new MCOR Iris, which adds color printing to the specs, giving designers access to millions of colors via inkjet printheads.The paper output offers a much more environmentally friendly approach to printing than standard plastic machines — and the adhesive used is essentially safe wood glue. This also creates the advantage of not having to deal with proprietary resins or hard-to-find plastics — the printer can be restocked at any office supply store.Photo: MCOR Technologies

__Concept Laser__Concept Laser produces high-quality parts by melting metal powders using — surprise — high-powered lasers. Their systems can process precious metals to create jewelry, or high-performance titanium to create turbine components for jet engines. While hobbyist 3-D printers are experimenting with wooden filaments, Concept Laser is making medical-grade products out of stainless steel and pure titanium.Photo: Concept Laser

__Geomagic__3-D printing hardware is important, but CAD software still has a lot of room for improvement. Geomagic Spark is a new software package that allows engineers to capture 3-D data with a scanner, but quickly convert it into parametric data that can be modeled, expanded, and refined. Tools like this would be ideal for engineers who need to quickly fix a complex piece of machinery, without requiring them to remodel every feature of a complicated part.Image: Geomagic

__3D Systems__3D Systems had two announcements this week. First, a pair of new high-resolution printers (16 micron layer thickness), the ProJet 3500 HDMax (plastic) & CPXMax (wax), with larger format print areas (298 x 185 x 203 mm / 11.75 x 7.3 x 8 inches). The technical specs are good, but 3D Systems is also showing a commitment to ease of use by announcing the tablet apps to control and monitor the print jobs. 3-D printing: There's an app for that.Continuing the Apple theme, they also announced a new offering as part of their desktop Cubify system, called FreshFiber sculpture cases. Customers choose a phone model, color, and an photograph, and their web-based software converts them into a 3-D model which can be printed and shipped.Photo: 3D Systems