'Wiki Weapon Project' Aims To Create A Gun Anyone Can 3D-Print At Home

reply to post by g146541

Yea, and this is just today's tech. As fast as things are progressing, who knows what's in the pipes. While the polymers may be inferior for now, they could still be used to make a functional gun or weapon via 3D printing me thinks.

what about 3d printed cross bows and bolts....

i did a search on google but found nothing about 3d printed bows or crossbows...

just thousands of pics of different handmade ones people have made

google link

I've seen one of these printers at a convention.

www.makerbot.com...

The best part of the printer is in making replacement items for plastic items that break.
It will be amazing to have one of these.

Bah, forget guns...

Time to get all "Tony Stark" up in here and print some kick-arse armor... if nothing more than having a fun afternoon playing Iron Man and War Machine with my little boys!

Seriously though, this technology is (I hope) going to be incredible. So many uses we haven't even begun to think of yet... woohoo!

Originally posted by NewsWorthy
.....

Could a 3d printer print a 3d printer?? now that would be awesome!! i'd print em for all my friends so we can mass produce stuff thats useful like bows and fishing poles. An i don't mean for war, (TPTB already cornered the market on that I'm sure) I mean for basic survival for if TSHTF

As a matter of fact, yes...

Open source 3D printer copies itself

Based in the Waitakeres, in West Auckland, software developer and artist Vik Olliver is part of a team developing an open-source, self-copying 3D printer. The RepRap (Replicating Rapid-prototyper) printer can replicate and update itself. It can print its own parts, including updates, says Olliver, who is one of the core members of the RepRap team.

The 3D printer works by building components up in layers of plastic, mainly polylactic acid (PLA), which is a bio-degradable polymer made from lactic acid. The technology already exists, but commercial machines are very expensive. They also can’t copy themselves, and they can’t be manipulated by users, says Olliver.

RepRap has a different idea. The team, which is spread over New Zealand, the UK and the US, develops and gives away the designs for its much cheaper machine, which also has self-copying capabilities. It wants to make the machine available to anybody — including small communities in the developing world, as well as people in the developed world, says Olliver.

Accordingly, the RepRap machine is distributed, at no cost, under the GNU (General Public Licence).

Of course, this only compounds the problem of trying to force consumers to depend on sales channels. In the end, I think the real threat lies there. Imagine the economic impact of never having to buy a fork, a glass, a comb, tools, and miscellaneous parts we would have had to purchase and have shipped to us? Imagine not ever having to rely on some weird profit-scheme based on "proprietary parts" ...

Commerce-minded interests must absolutely hate this potential... which is why, I suspect, that the first idea the media will promote about these printers is all the benefits to criminals..... after that it will be deemed a threat to society and regulated into oblivion.

Originally posted by Maxmars

Originally posted by NewsWorthy
.....

Could a 3d printer print a 3d printer?? now that would be awesome!! i'd print em for all my friends so we can mass produce stuff thats useful like bows and fishing poles. An i don't mean for war, (TPTB already cornered the market on that I'm sure) I mean for basic survival for if TSHTF

As a matter of fact, yes...

Open source 3D printer copies itself

Based in the Waitakeres, in West Auckland, software developer and artist Vik Olliver is part of a team developing an open-source, self-copying 3D printer. The RepRap (Replicating Rapid-prototyper) printer can replicate and update itself. It can print its own parts, including updates, says Olliver, who is one of the core members of the RepRap team.

The 3D printer works by building components up in layers of plastic, mainly polylactic acid (PLA), which is a bio-degradable polymer made from lactic acid. The technology already exists, but commercial machines are very expensive. They also can’t copy themselves, and they can’t be manipulated by users, says Olliver.

RepRap has a different idea. The team, which is spread over New Zealand, the UK and the US, develops and gives away the designs for its much cheaper machine, which also has self-copying capabilities. It wants to make the machine available to anybody — including small communities in the developing world, as well as people in the developed world, says Olliver.

Accordingly, the RepRap machine is distributed, at no cost, under the GNU (General Public Licence).

Of course, this only compounds the problem of trying to force consumers to depend on sales channels. In the end, I think the real threat lies there. Imagine the economic impact of never having to but a fork, a glass, a comb, tools, and miscellaneous parts we would have had to purchase and have shipped to us? Imagine not ever having to rely on some weird profit-scheme based on "proprietary parts" ...

Commerce-minded interests must absolutely hate this potential... which is why, I suspect, that the first idea the media will promote about these printers is all the benefits to criminals..... after that it will be deemed a threat to society and regulated into oblivion.

They'll claim it's the 'gray goo' apocalpyse in its infant stages...

But replicators replicating themselves... yeah, if this rabbit gets out of the hat, good luck regulating it!

There is more to 3D printing than polymers. Google laser sintering. This is where a fine layer of metal powder is heated with a laser until it fuses together. The part is built layer upon layer until finished.

As far as a gun barrel goes, I would print the barrel in a medium that was designed to be burned out during casting. I would then use a ceramic slurry to form a mold around the printed part. Pack the mold in sand to support it and pour in the steel. Investment casting is very detailed and I should be able to mold in the rifling in the barrel. Control the cooling and you will end up with a better barrel than most of the ones you buy.

reply to post by Maxmars


Absolutely correct.

And to be honest the way to make money in a 3D printing world will be the people that sell the 3D models.
Already we have sites that sell those models. And as these printers go out in the wild more sites will pop up.
And 3D modelers are going to make a killing.

Originally posted by grey580
And 3D modelers are going to make a killing.

Not yet. I do 3D modeling for a living. I have since 1996. Occasionally I do a little engineering as well.

Originally posted by JIMC5499


As far as a gun barrel goes, I would print the barrel in a medium that was designed to be burned out during casting. I would then use a ceramic slurry to form a mold around the printed part. Pack the mold in sand to support it and pour in the steel. Investment casting is very detailed and I should be able to mold in the rifling in the barrel. Control the cooling and you will end up with a better barrel than most of the ones you buy.

This is what my father, who was a jeweler, used to do when he wanted to make jewelry.

He would make a mold of a ring.
Then after the mold was made inject the mold with wax.
That wax was put into a sandlike material that was hardened in a kiln which melted away the wax.
We would next take that mold and put it into centrifuge.
We would then melt gold in a crucible. Then we would pour the gold and unleash the centrifuge.
After the centrifuge was done spinning you let the item cool.
Wash it and bam you have your jewelry.

this is good not just for the bad guys but good ones to...
hunters , marksmen competitors, security personal, and home defence
although id imagine the platic these things use will not be cheap ether

reply to post by JIMC5499


Wait till these things become popular.
It will be interesting to say the least.

Hmm, $3,000 'table top' CNC's have been around for almost a decade now.

Why make it out plastic, if you can just make the real deal?

Originally posted by Maxmars
There is something utterly disingenuous and misleading about this article (not the OP) and those that have preceded it.

First of all, no way are you going to be able to manufacture a barrel and chamber that can withstand the sustained explosions of automatic fire. The lower receiver with all its moving pats does not constitute a weapon; and unless you all know of a malleable plastic that can endure automatic fire and the high temperatures that accompany them, as well as a printer that melts this notional super plastic,. it wont work.

In other words, you need to have a weapon already to be able to replace the lower receiver with your own parts.

Another poster has already pointed out the gunpowder/ammunition flaw in this as well.

This entire line of fear-mongering is for the majority of their audiences who know nothing of firearms. Let alone the plastics used for 3-D printing. It is fodder to legitimize fear of personal weapons.

People can make their own weapons, and have had that capability for ages.

It is already possible to print with metal instead of plastic, just not for home use. Once this technology becomes readily available, it will be easy to print a barrel and any other part you need as long as you have the correct metals to feed your printer.

You wouldnt need to print the gun in one piece either, manufacturers also stamp or mold individual parts and then assemble them. Doing thiis at home with a 3rd printer that works with metals would be easy.
The hard part is making a 3d printer that prints in metal for home use.

Say bye bye to your hand!
gun barrles are mad of hard metal.
they are tested to be safe.
if you think some glue and iron fileings are safe.
then you will print a hand next.

reply to post by IsThisThingBugged


It will be an interesting future because designs will go for free on line and shortly after a new design comes out the file will hit the web or someone will scan the printed product and recreate the design. They will probably have printers that have contracts with companies and have to have repair men or something. They will have to make it less open ware and complicate it so they can limit what people can print. They will have to find a way to make people pay for it. Know what i mean? I didn't articulate it well, but they are going to try to make limitations and so people will probably be able to do more now than they will in a few years when the printers are better.

reply to post by buddha


Nah, you aren't going to blow your hand off with a 22.

AR15.com: 3D printed lower - yes, it works

Here's a thread where somebody did make their own lower with a 3D printer and shot ~200 rounds of .22 through it before putting a .223 chamber/barrel on it.

To recap, I have an old Stratasys 3D printer (mid-to-late 90s machine, but works fine) and early last summer I printed a modified version of the lower from cncguns.com (I beefed up the front takedown lugs, bolt hold lugs, and added an integral trigger guard)

I assembled it first into a .22 pistol. It's had over 200 rounds of .22 through it so far and runs great! To the best of my knowledge, this is the world's first 3D printed firearm to actually be tested, but I have a hard time believing that it really is the first (if anyone can point me to earlier work, it would be much appreciated).

But you guys want more than rimfire, I'm sure. Last weekend I finally re-assembled a .223 upper and gave it a go. No, it did not blow up into a bazillion tiny plastic shards and maim me for life - I am sorry to have disappointed those of you who foretold doom and gloom.

Lots of pictures and discussion at the thread.

ETA: Found this youtube vid of someone shooting their AR with a printed lower:

Originally posted by Maxmars
The lower receiver with all its moving pats does not constitute a weapon

I have to disagree with you here. An AR15 is basically comprised of four main parts: lower receiver, upper receiver, barrel assembly, and stock. As defined by the BATF, because many weapons these days have modular barrels and other parts, the part or assembly that contains the trigger is the registerable part, or basically the firearm itself. In the case of the AR15 this is the part called the "lower".

ATF Open Letter PDF

Under section 921(a)(3)(B) of the Gun Control Act of 1968, frames or receivers are defined as firearms.

reply to post by thov420


I stand most clearly corrected!

I'm glad you told me this, because I am certain I would have my repeated myself... and I hate being wrong on the same topic twice!

I still feel that this sudden media fixation with personal defense, gun ownership, and crime is a clumsily covert way to influence public opinion. It irks me. Hence I should have anticipated that there might already be some definition whereby the lower receiver will be legally considered "a weapon."

Considering the ability of the public to manufacture these (not that they didn't have before) 'weapons' are they not breaking some law about gunsmithing, ordinances, etc.? I would have thought the idea of someone making their own potentially automatic weapons would be political fodder by now. Not just owning them.