necessary revolution angle u03b8 may be obtained without the need to rotate the building 18 u2032 about the axis 16 relative to the earth a conventional pivoting structure on the tool column 24 provides for the revolution angle u03c6 referring now to fig1 conventional cad programs typically provide for a definition of a three dimensional object in a data file 86 providing three cartesian coordinates of x y and z for each volume element of the object the program 60 of the present invention may therefore provide a translation of these coordinates of the data file 86 into a new set of coordinates in a data file 88 commensurate with the 3 d printer 10 of the present invention of revolution angle u03b8 rotation angle u03c6 and elevational positions z allowing the present invention to work with conventional tools for computer aided machining and computer aided design it will be appreciated that the motors may be any type of motor that can provide for controllable revolutions including stepper motors permanent magnet dc motors piezoelectric motors and the like referring again to fig1 the printhead 41 may be replaced with or used in conjunction with a scanning head 90 to provide for 3 d scanning the scanning head 90 may be for example a contact scanning head having a stylus 92 where the scanning.