World’s First 3D Printed Metal Gun, page 1

Another improvement, slowly but surely.

Source

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.

How Metal Sintering Works:

WHAT IS LASER SINTERING?

The selective laser sintering process involves the use of a high power laser to fuse small particles of plastic, metal or glass powders into a mass that has a desired three-dimensional shape.

The laser selectively fuses powdered material by scanning cross-sections generated from a 3D digital description of a part on the surface of a powder bed.

After each cross-section is scanned, the powder bed is lowered by one layer so that a new layer of material can be applied on top.

The process is repeated until the part is completed.

How Metal Sintering Works:

“The whole concept of using a laser sintering process to 3D Print a metal gun revolves around proving the reliability, accuracy and usability of 3D Metal Printing as functional prototypes and end use products,” says Solid Concepts’ Vice President of Additive Manufacturing Kent Firestone. “It’s a common misconception that laser sintering isn’t accurate or strong enough, and we’re working to change people’s perspective.”

The price has to come way down for this to be anything other than a novelty at this point but it does pose a solution to future problems that may arise.

Update We’ve been getting a lot of questions (which is lovely) so I wanted to address a few of them here. The gun is 45ACP. It’s rifled and the rifling was built directly into the part – or as we like to say, “grown” into the part – using 3D Printing. This gun has NOT BEEN MACHINED. We used hand tools for some post processing (our finishers are wonderful), but we did not machine this gun. It’s born this way.