planeflyer21 Posted October 4, 2012 Report Share Posted October 4, 2012 Not much of a surprise here:http://www.activistpost.com/2012/10/3d-printed-wikiweapon-company-has.htmlWe should do a story about being able to melt crayons into firearms at a preschool and see if the feds raid it.Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98Z5V Posted October 4, 2012 Report Share Posted October 4, 2012 That was only a matter of time. They don't know what to do with the technology, but they don't have any laws against that technology. They can't limit that technology, in any way, but they can't prosecute against that technology with the current laws about "manufacturing your own." They're clueless right now, and scrambling. For anything. What's happenning, on and individual basis, with 3d printers and firearms, is not illegal (state-by-state, of course, but not on a national BATFE level).They don't know what to do... :o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jgun Posted October 4, 2012 Report Share Posted October 4, 2012 I'm somewhat confused here. I understand that logic has nothing to do with firearms regulations, but I thought that the present technology in the private level with the 3D printers, was that the material is not strong enough for most stressed parts. Isn't it more like hot glue gun material? And I also thought that they were not able to produce finished parts to close tolerances yet, so if your not actually making usable gun parts what's the problem? Couldn't I legally produce replica AR lowers out of wood and sell them as display items, without running into trouble with BATF? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robocop1051 Posted October 4, 2012 Report Share Posted October 4, 2012 Couldn't I legally produce replica AR lowers out of wood and sell them as display items, without running into trouble with BATF?Not if they can be used to make a functional firearm.All of the 3D printed AR's I've seen are .22lr only. They tried to shoot larger but the frames crack at the seams. The "plastic" guns that are holding up are CNC'd on small mills. Similar technology, similar computer program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jgun Posted October 4, 2012 Report Share Posted October 4, 2012 I hadn't considered .22LR. You say the ones that have been produced with the technology, have to be machined on mills, doesn't that mean that the 3D printer is not turning out a finished, usable .22 lower? Maybe I'm not up on the technology enough, and maybe this falls into the more than 80% finished catagory, but if the 3D printer only turns out a semi finished part that can't be used unless further work is done to it, they shouldn't be seizing the printers, they should be arresting the people running the company, that are taking the semi finished plastic parts and using the mills to finish them. I have not yet seen a 3D printer capable of turning out a finished part of close tolerance (like an AR lower), without secondary operations. Am I misinformed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
planeflyer21 Posted October 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2012 I think you misunderstood.He is saying that the functional plastic lowers have been made on CNC machines (although I thought they were injection molded ala GLOCK), and that the only ones that so far made with 3D technology are only .22LR.As far as the accuracy of 3D printing my understanding is they can get it down to 0.002", which is comparable to mass production machining.Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robocop1051 Posted October 4, 2012 Report Share Posted October 4, 2012 The 3D printed one I saw looked really good. The guy who made the complete 22lr has a GREAT step by step blog on how he broke it and fixed it repeatedly. I think the gun is more JB weld than it is 3D printed plastic. <lmao>The CNC plastic one I saw was made on a home CNC machine. The machine only can make an 8x8x12 object, which was just enough to make a lower. He had limited money and the plastic he used was consistent with a synthetic cutting board material. He said he mounted it and shot it a few times just to show it worked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jgun Posted October 4, 2012 Report Share Posted October 4, 2012 First off, I don't want anyone to get the idea I'm being argumentative here, just an interesting discussion as far as I'm concerned, hope all see it the same. You know we've had tabletop cnc mills for years and although they don't have the ability to hog out material quickly, and are not built for comercial use, some are extremely accurate. But If we are all talking about the same thing here, we are talking about machines that deposit liquid material in a chamber as opposed to a machine cutting a solid part placed in the chamber. It has been my understanding that the state of the art units are capable of duplicating parts to very close tolerance. I believe that I saw something on TV where Jay Leno had one they were using to duplicate a gear for one of his old cars. But since the part is not strong enough to be used as is, it's just an aid to the CNC machinning centers if you need something made from steel or any other hard material, and they cost several $100K. The versions that I have seen intended for the hobbyest (Makerbot) are much cruder and unable to duplicate anything to that accuracy, but the technology is evolving. They are presently using it to deposit molten metal in vacuum chambers to save machining time, and that is in the commercial sector. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
planeflyer21 Posted October 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2012 Won't be long until someone figures out how to 3D MIM, then boost that up to 3D welding or such.Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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