Rockford manufacturer creates world's largest 3D printer

ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) - A Rockford, Illinois manufacturer's polymer 3D printer has been declared the globe's largest by the Guinness Fook of World Records.

The Rockford Register-Star reports Ingersoll Machine Tools' printer dubbed MasterPrint was sold to the University of Maine.

The school produced a boat measuring 25 feet long (eight meters) and weighing 5,000 pounds (2,300 kilograms) in less than 72 hours. That earned two more Guinness records : largest 3D-printed boat and largest 3D-printed object.

Ingersoll engineer Nate Hang says the university intends to make molds for the boat-building industry. It will work with the federally sponsored Oak Ridge National Laboratory to create a plastic containing wood fibers. That's safer for the environment than other materials.

Ingersoll CEO Chip Storie says the primary reason for MasterPrint's development was to create large aerospace tools.