Texas company produces worlds 1st 3D printed metal firearm

[Bob Hubbard]

http://blog.solidconcepts.com/industry-highlights/worlds-first-3d-printed-metal-gun/

[video=youtube_share;u7ZYKMBDm4M]http://youtu.be/u7ZYKMBDm4M[/video]

Solid Concepts is a world leader of 3D Printing services, and our ability to 3D Print the world’s first metal gun solidifies our standing. The gun is a classic 1911, a model that is at once timeless and public domain. It functions beautifully: Our resident gun expert has fired 50 successful rounds and hit a few bull’s eyes at over 30 yards. The gun is composed of 30+ 3D Printed components with 17-4 Stainless Steel and Inconel 625 materials. We completed it with a Selective Laser Sintered (SLS) 3D Printed hand grip, because we’re kind of crazy about 3D Printing.

This is the genie, leaving the bottle.

 

[Dirty Dog]

That's pretty cool, but there's a couple of things I'd like to know.

How is 3D printing any different from using a milling machine to produce the same parts?
Was it just me, or did it seem like it took the slide a looooong time to return after ejecting the casing?

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Milling is currently cheaper. Much cheaper. But with a 3D printer, you don't need to be an expert machinist to do this. Load plan, load raw material, push go, assemble. In this case, the printer is -very- expensive. As the article says "This isn't desktop 3D". But costs will come down soon, and "prosumer" level units in the mid $thousands range will be created. Plans will be made freely available through the Open Source concepts and anyone with a few grand to spare will be able to make their own, whatevers. We've seen a functional "dump gun" made from plastics, now a more reliable one from metal. Company in this case has the ATF permits, but once costs come down and access greater the ATF will have a hard time dealing with it. Side effect is we will see more 'dump guns' that are unsafe to use flood out with little recourse as the maker was the guy using it.

 

[Dirty Dog]

How skilled do you need to be now, with modern computer controlled milling machines? I honestly don't know, but I have the impression that the process is very similar, in that you plug a CAD imagine into the machine and it churns out the pieces. Yes, this builds it up from powdered metal while a milling machine chews it out from a block, but it seems that the skill in either case is similar - using a CAD program to design the part.
How much are you anticipating the printer would cost? How much for the furnace to sinter the pieces after they're printed?
Yes, technology advances, but I'm not sure this is, at this point, all that earth shattering.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

The current unit is a multi hundred thousand dollar beast. I can see future versions going for much less though. Like all tech, it eventually filters down.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Of course it filters down. You can buy a 3D CNC milling machine on EBay for a few thousand, but I don't see people making their own guns at home with them.
Don't get me wrong. I'd love to be able to fab stuff like this at home. But I think it's a long way from doable.

 

[arnisador]

If the price ever decreases enough, you might well invest in one 3D printer that you could use to print auto parts, furniture, silverware, etc., whereas you might not invest in a machine with much more limited capabilities. So, it could be that a great many people end up with this as a possibility even if they never do print a gun, or sword, or nunchaku, etc.

 

[Dirty Dog]

But if you're printing things made of metal, you're also going to need a sintering furnace. Sintering is done at extremely high temps. Like 2000F and higher. You can't do that in your kitchen oven. Nor can you do it with a bottle of propane. Or a 125V circuit. The same would be true of things made from ceramic compounds.

I can see this in use by average people to make things that are plastic-formable, but that's about it. I don't see people making a lot of plastic guns. The dump guns that Bob mentioned are possible, but I don't see most people being willing to shoot something like that.

There are easier and cheaper ways to make weapons at home, without buying a machine that costs more than most cars. A broom can be turned into nunchaku. And ask any convict if you need help fashioning a knife from your toothbrush.

 

[Takai]

How skilled do you need to be now, with modern computer controlled milling machines? I honestly don't know, but I have the impression that the process is very similar, in that you plug a CAD imagine into the machine and it churns out the pieces. Yes, this builds it up from powdered metal while a milling machine chews it out from a block, but it seems that the skill in either case is similar - using a CAD program to design the part.
How much are you anticipating the printer would cost? How much for the furnace to sinter the pieces after they're printed?
Yes, technology advances, but I'm not sure this is, at this point, all that earth shattering.

CNC milling (even if utilizing CAD for CAM) is a lot more technically than just "plugging" in an image. A rough summary: Depending on your Software you will either draw your tool path or geometries then have to "post" this to a post processor and potentially edit for tool speed, rotation etc. Only then you can you look at transferring it to a machine. Of course, you also have to properly set up the machine now.