Home made guns don't require a serial.



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No different than building an AK receiver from a flat. No serial number required for personal use.

100% legal to manufacture a semi-auto rifle for personal use.

The extrusion-nozzle based 3D printers are one version of the technology.  (And one I want to build soon...so bad...saving up for it as one of my major project purchases in the next couple of years.)



I have also seen resin-based DLP (Digital Light Projector) printers.  I wonder how the resins do in resisting heat?


 

something that some of you may not know; there are methods for 3D metal printing as well.  Jay Leno makes parts and tools for his rare cars this way.

http://www.shapeways.com/themes/stainless_steel_3dprinting_gallery

You and me both.  I don't necessarily want to build my own, but I want a MakerBot in the worst way imaginable.

That process doesnt look strong enough to make a tool from , but very cool none-the-less

I wonder if cost effectiveness comes into play with the metal 3D printing.

Well, I suppose if the item is no longer available for purchase, then the cost effectiveness is 100%

TRG

That is cool.






 

I think in the not-so-far future, they will be a household item.  I mean who would have thought in the 1960's or 70's that people would have "printers" in their homes?

This is relevant to my interests …

tag

Right after having a high speed color cartography printer gets declared intent to counterfeit money.

I wonder what it would look like on a higher resolution machine. My brother was mulling over this idea as he has access to a very high quality 3d printer at his university.

We were talking about the idea, and I think that the place that the lower needs to be beefed up is in the threads holding the buffer tube in place. What do you think about a threaded steel insert?

I would note the school's firearm policy, state and local laws FIRST.

I doubt any professor is going to sign a waiver for the creation of a firearm on a 3D machine on campus.

After that, I would press 'Print' and see if it works.

TRG

That's one of the reasons he hasn't done it yet. He's the head of the architectural department's print shop, but laws still have to be followed.

What would be a good model choice if you were setting up an R&D shop? Say, with a budget of $15k?

I'd love to have the drawings for that.  Looks like a really fun mill project.

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http://www.weaponeer.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10874&PN=1

Tag. Will want this in the near future!!

Thank you.  

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Yeah Doc , thanks

Hey guys, might wanna look these over real close.  I breezed through them and noticed he had the buffer tube tower listed with a .500" radius.  Iirc that's .75"

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Wow, I greatly underestimated the interest in this project!

hotdog250j - My printed lower fitted out with a parts kit weighs in at 297g, while my Stag Arms lower fitted out identically is 464g.

Caboose314 - The buffer tube threads are just as they came off the printer - zero tapping required!  A buffer tube threaded right in, which made me quite happy (I don't have a buffer tube tap, and they aren't cheap).  I didn't have to play with any settings at all - the nice thing about the Stratasys machines is that they hold pretty tight tolerances.  Stratasys generally quotes accuracy as +/- 0.005", but my machine has a lot of miles on it and could be approaching +/- 0.010".  Holes come out a smidge undersized, but I prefer that to being oversized.  I did have to tap the grip screw threads, but I'm tempted to experiment with modeling them into the solid as well.

CFCNC - I love it!  Very cool, looks great!  You know, with a piston .22 upper (I have no idea if such a beast exists), I'd actually be inclined to give it a try!  With crank's printed magazine, I've been wondering just how much of an AR could conceivably be printed.

NY_Shooter - Buttstock, pistol grips, forends - a 3D printer would be the ultimate tool for making custom furniture.  I can easily imagine your local gunsmith having a 3D printer in a few years - rather than having to find a buttstock of just the right size, or messing with adjustable cheekpieces, you could have rifle furniture custom made to fit perfectly, just like a pair of expensive Italian shoes.  Have an injury that makes standard stocks or pistol grips uncomfortable or unusable?  There's nothing as ergonomic as something tailored to your specific measurements.

RDTCU - I did notice a little bit of flex on the buffer tower, but unless the material is subjected to its yield stress, it should remain elastic and return to shape when the load is removed (ignoring any possible creep deformation).  Even so, I intend to increase the thickness on the buffer tower for the next iteration (whenever that is).

Xanatos903 - I don't think a threaded steel insert would be necessary, just sufficient material thickness around the buffer tower.  The really high resolution printers generally use a photopolymer rather than a thermoplastic, so you need to consider the brittleness of the material (the black ABS I used is ever-so-slightly rubbery, so it holds up to shocks quite well).

BM-ARM-DPMS-guns - Stratasys machines (what I printed this on, though mine is quite old) start at just under $10k, but that model only has a 5x5x5 inch work envelope (and is brand new in the market - who knows if it will be successful).  At $15k, you're looking at something more like a uPrint.  If you can swing $45k, then you start getting into the really fun toys.  Your best bang-for-the-buck is to find a used one - I got mine from Craigslist for a cool grand, if you can believe it!  If you're seriously looking for one, drop me a line and I may be able to point you in the direction of a used machine at a good price.

When I tell people what I am building, some get it and others don't. For the ones that don't get it I have to explain the possibilities of the technology. Have a light switch in your house that should stay on? Create a switch lockout then print it. What about cabinet locks for kids or animals? Print it. Project boxes, phone stands, odd replacement part, just about anything you can imagine that fits on the print bed.
You know, plastic isn't the only material that can be printed. There are some out there that print in chocolate,cake batter, or clay. The parts that are printed can also be used to create molds, so you are not limited to the printed material.

All you guys wanting 3d printers should see if local hackspaces have one. Here in Seattle we have metrixcreatespace where they rent printers and laser cutters by the minute.

How intricate can they get?  The video I watched on YT, it looked like a nozzle spewing out a steady flow of glue looking substance.  It didn't look like it could print something really detailed.

Are they higher grade printers that print in more detail?

The much more expensive commercial printers that use power and binder give a very good resolution. Depending on how well tweaked the printer is, resolutin can be very good. Some people use acetone or sandpaper the printed parts to give them a smoother appearance. There are also printers that use a liquid and DLP projector to get some very intricate prints. I'm just getting started so I'm sure someone more experienced could provide a better answer.

the ones at MCS have a resolution of about .5mm. High resolution is slower.

Thanks, I'll check out Craigslist and other sources. The only quote I've gotten so far started abbout $19k for the printer but was $32k by the time all the add-ons showed up.

How do I get to come push "print"?

According to my professor, when I show up for class in fall we will have the new Fortus printer with the soluble support material.

Depending on which model they get, I'm going to try and print nearly every AR part that I have time to CAD out, the buffer tube is the only one that I might not be able to print due to size requirements.

Has anyone printed a 30 round magazine yet? I remember seeing some IIRC 5 and 10 round magazines where everything, including the spring, was printed but the files were not posted.

If the tolerances are good enough for a receiver, they should be good enough for magazine bodies and floor plates.

The link in the quoted part of my post right above is for a 15 rounder, but he says its only holding 5 rounds. I wouldn't imagine a 30 round mag would be much harder other than getting the curve to work.

As a Recent owner of a PS90 this thread makes me thing about the possibilities of manufacturing a a Gen 1 Trigger pack for my Gen 3 carbine. as well as other Applications outside the AR15 Platform

Wow.  Awesome!

I didn't see a serial number or any info about who manufactured it - is the lower registered?

Um, the OP (original poster) manufactured it himself using a 3D printer. It's already been said in the thread that if you manufacture a firearm yourself for your own personal use it does not need a serial number nor manufacturer info.

We have "printed" (SLA) a few test suppressors for .22 application and they work also.  

3-D is still in relatively early days...but a definite "watch this space" for upcoming developments!!

Think of it as a way to drag and drop almost ANY part or plastic item from a PC screen near you into a physical working item

Esp. for the AR series - HOW MANY of those parts/spares/accessories are plastic already?
What about the other shooting gear you need/use??

Imagine going to the Brownells site, for example - seeing an item you want - and instead of buying it and have them box it & send by the mail, you buy the software to download it to your hardrive and then print it out.
No lost delivery, no 2-3 day waiting for the mail, etc.
...same as how mp3/Itunes has changed the way most people listen to music



...the Brown Van Of Happiness may soon be a thing of the past

This thread is about to get a lot busier.

From the replies:






It's only a matter of time before someone starts marketing "pre-ban" 3D printers.

We should 3d print money, I like money

this is awesome

In the 22 Century they will be doing this in steel.  mind-boggling indeed.  A replicator from  Star Trek!

The long term goal is machines that can re-arraign atoms with this concept, buy a bag of various atoms and away you go. There was a discovery show on it a while back.

There are apparently units that work in metal. Called DMLS, direct metal laser sintering. Just found out about it and haven't look too far into it.

Story made Slshdot today also (where I first saw it), article also links to a more verbose ExtremeTech write up.  

http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/12/07/26/1636254/the-worlds-first-3d-printed-gun