3d printed guns

[praveen77]

http://www.gizmag.com/worlds-first-3d-p ... gun/29702/


Just saw this even though the technology sounds complicated I don't think it would take much time to reach our shores
I've seen wax model 3d printers recently in a expo in Mumbai and as far as I understand the wax models are used
For casting gold jewellery and I don't think it will be different for steel,probably the govt is going to ban 3d printers too let us wait and watch

[Vikram]

The point is, it does not matter what technology is used to manufacture a firearm. It is still illegal to manufacture firearms without a valid licence and still illegal to possess a firearm without a valid license.

A firearm produced using a 3D technology is as illegal as the khatta made using a crude furnace and water pipes.Or on a CNC machine.

Best-
Vikram

[praveen77]

And if people. Stop doing things just because it's illegal then the world would be a far beautiful place brother

[xl_target]

And if people. Stop doing things just because it's illegal then the world would be a far beautiful place brother

You need to bone up on US laws before you make a statement calling Solid Concept's activities illegal.
It may be illegal in India but it is not illegal in the USA.
Solid Concepts has a Federal Firearms License and it is perfectly legal for them to manufacture firearms.

As far as banning stuff, that is a stupid idea and doesn't really work. How did Prohibition work in the US?
When copy machines first came out, the USSR banned them as they thought it would be too easy to copy and steal secrets. Did it make a difference? I don't know but the Soviet Union has been gone for quite a while and I believe scholars and researchers can browse the KGB archives now.
As far as making firearms, any one with basic machining skills and a home shop can make a firearm. Something like a Sten is perfect for a home shop.

[timmy]

...I understand the wax models are used For casting gold jewellery and I don't think it will be different for steel...

The lost wax method for casting has been used for centuries -- maybe millennia would be more accurate. The process used for gold (jewelry making) is also used for image making, and is alive and well today. Check out this most interesting documentary (15 minutes) to see it in action:



The process is similar for investment casting of alloy steel, and was pioneered in firearms manufacture by Bill Ruger. Investment casting allowed him to create firearms with less wasted metal, from parts that needed less machining than required by raw forgings. The part played by clay in gold and bronze casting, above, is provided by ceramic molds that are fired similar to pottery making.

However, this isn't the same process used to make the firearm shown in the picture. A newer method of making metal parts is fusing metal powder, in this case by laser. Sintered alloy steel is used for making a number of other kinds of parts: for instance, high strength connecting rods are made from a sintering process in many cars today. (They don't even cut them on the big end: Instead, a groove is formed where the cap section separates from the body of the rod, and the cap is broken off. The rough break surface between the parts serves to locate the parts on assembly more accurately than any other method, and without the expense of machining. This breaking process is nothing new, as aluminum rods were made this way for cheap small engines many years ago, for instance by the McCulloch chain saw company.)

While computerized design ("printing") may be involved in this process, the laser sintering equipment will not be in every hobbyist's garage anytime soon.

The overall effect, as I see it, of these technologies will be, just like investment (lost wax) casting of alloy steel by Bill Ruger was, a new process that allows quality firearms to be made by processes that hold down costs. I'm not sure that this will have a big effect on laws, however. That will require getting attitudes changed, which is sometimes much harder than shaping metal!

Regarding XL's statement about the Sten, these things are pretty simple and crude, and were made in Resistance basement workshops in many countries occupied by the nazis. Cheap and simple, they were not the weapons of a surgeon, however they were simple, reliable (for the most part), and effective.

edit: Sorry, I can't resist the Chola reference!

[praveen77]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... earms.html



Sorry guys just found this link about exactly what we were discussing

[timmy]

That link is to a story so full of harum-scarum baloney, that it isn't even funny! Consider this sort of language on a gun-ignorant public: "One of the latest models, which includes a rifled barrel to ensure deadly accuracy..."

However, this last link is precisely NOT what you brought up with the link that started this thread. That first link was talking about 3D METAL manufacturing, for which the machinery needed is completely different than the plastic gun discussed in the "Chicken Little - Help! The Sky is Falling" article linked in this recent post.

So, if you are now turning the discussion back to plastic guns, read these articles:

http://www.gizmag.com/liberator-3d-prin ... tol/27393/

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technol ... n-15450141

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/1563 ... led-barrel

There are many points made in these three articles that you need to read carefully and digest, but concerning the "One of the latest models, which includes a rifled barrel to ensure deadly accuracy..." bunkum, you will see that there's no guarantee that rifling in the plastic barrel even works, much less provides "deadly accuracy"!

Do some research on these things before you get all of your stuff ready to give away before the end of the world!

[xl_target]

I should also point out that making a gun yourself, at home, is perfectly legal (in the USA) as long as you don't sell or distribute it.

[praveen77]

May be I should change the topic to how 3d guns are going to affect a corrupt country with so many intelligent people like ours. The point is this is not about metal or toy looking plastic guns from what we see in those posts I think they both can do their jobs as well as a local khatta or a basement machinists sten
I'm just saying how easily this can be done in an innocent family home by a couple of tech savvy cool dudes who prefer an easier job without the usual shady charcters involved in these kind of things ,everyone in our country knows that these kind of illegal weapons are available in some remote up or Bihar but who knows where that is , when some street smart guys get a hold of this these things will be available like a pirated DVD in the market


And I hear that the sintering process is already in India with some big jewellery corporates and they cost a lot I'm not sure of it though

[captrakshitsharma]

The latest is a full metal 1911 type handgun has been printed using 3d printer.