3D printing...Well, that escalated quickly.

[Chucktshoes]

A company has 3D printed a 1911 in metal. That ought to pucker up a few asses in the gun control lobby.

 

 

http://www.solidconcepts.com/news-releases/worlds-first-3d-printed-metal-gun-manufactured-solid-concepts/

[RobertNashville]

Yeah - this could get real interesting.

Maybe I'm wrong but isn't it currently "illegal" under fed law for anyone to make a firearm without a license, etc? Not sure about that. Anyway, this technology has to be frightening to the BATF and gun control nuts since this takes so much control out of their hands.

[Jonnin]

Its not scary yet --- the price of a printer > price of a gun.  When that changes....   but it will be a WHILE before the METAL printers are mainstream.  ATM most at home folks can get the plastic and even that is kinda pricy.

Edited November 7, 2013 by Jonnin

[Dolomite_supafly]

Yeah - this could get real interesting.

Maybe I'm wrong but isn't it currently "illegal" under fed law for anyone to make a firearm without a license, etc? Not sure about that. Anyway, this technology has to be frightening to the BATF and gun control nuts since this takes so much control out of their hands.

 

It is perfectly legal for ANYONE to make ANY gun they want provided they are allowed to own the weapon they made. A person can make a semiautomatic rifle or pistol and not break the law provided they are allowed to own them. They can make a bolt action rifle or shotgun and be well within the law. And it doesn't matter how or what was used to make those guns. As an individual you can make as many guns as they want. They can make them using whatever means they want. The guns do not need to have a serial number and they do not need to be registered. That is for an individual that does not make them with the intent to sell them.
 

I can walk out into my garage, make a gun and it is perfectly legal even though I do not have a license to manufacturer firearms. And after it is made I can actually sell it if when I made it I didn't intend to sell it. The key is intent to sell it when it was made. Those that are manufacturing weapons for resale rarely do one or two. Most people who makes guns for themselves rarely make more than a couple a year. Yet those who intend to sell them will make dozens or more. And that is where it is easy to prove intent. Now if people began making with the intent to sell receivers made on the 3d printer they would need a manufacturers license. But if they are making them for themselves, initiall, they are perfectly legal.

[mikegideon]

I thought a 3D metal printer was called a CNC mill. The paranoid Libtards would be entertaining if they weren't so dangerous.

[Chucktshoes]

I thought a 3D metal printer was called a CNC mill. The paranoid Libtards would be entertaining if they weren't so dangerous.

Mike , a mill removes material, this is an additive process.

 

(Or are you just being facetious?)

[mikegideon]

Mike , a mill removes material, this is an additive process.

 

(Or are you just being facetious?)

 

I'm just commenting on an article I didn't read :). Oops. point is... 300,000,000 guns in this country, and it probably doesn't make sense to panic over somebody being able to make one with their expensive gear. 

Edited November 7, 2013 by mikegideon

[gjohnsoniv]

I feel like this could get shut down for violating the ITAR rules like the plastic gun.

[Jonnin]

The difference is that 0.000001% of the population can buy a mill and make a gun. 

90% of the population can buy a printer and print a gun. 

[mikegideon]

The difference is that 0.000001% of the population can buy a mill and make a gun. 

90% of the population can buy a printer and print a gun. 

 

90% of the population can just buy a gun. In fact, 100% of the population can if they wanna break the law.

Edited November 7, 2013 by mikegideon

[Schadenfreude]

Can 90% afford one? & its not as easy to use as an inkjet - I use one at work occasionally & i doubt 10% of the people there could successfully use it

[KOM2]

I didn't see any pictures in the article. Are there any they're showing?

 

[mikegideon]

The only folks that are going to get lit up about this are the ones that freak out over GUNS!!! to begin with. I hope they all shit themselves to death.

[RobertNashville]

It is perfectly legal for ANYONE to make ANY gun they want provided they are allowed to own the weapon they made. A person can make a semiautomatic rifle or pistol and not break the law provided they are allowed to own them. They can make a bolt action rifle or shotgun and be well within the law. And it doesn't matter how or what was used to make those guns. As an individual you can make as many guns as they want. They can make them using whatever means they want. The guns do not need to have a serial number and they do not need to be registered. That is for an individual that does not make them with the intent to sell them.
 

I can walk out into my garage, make a gun and it is perfectly legal even though I do not have a license to manufacturer firearms. And after it is made I can actually sell it if when I made it I didn't intend to sell it. The key is intent to sell it when it was made. Those that are manufacturing weapons for resale rarely do one or two. Most people who makes guns for themselves rarely make more than a couple a year. Yet those who intend to sell them will make dozens or more. And that is where it is easy to prove intent. Now if people began making with the intent to sell receivers made on the 3d printer they would need a manufacturers license. But if they are making them for themselves, initiall, they are perfectly legal.

Okay...thanks for clearing that up...I guess it's just with intent to sell (or actually selling) where the law steps in.

 

With this technology on the horizon which will likely only get less and less expensive; I'd bet real money that the fed govt will be looking at some new laws (after all; it will be to protect the children)!

Edited November 7, 2013 by RobertNashville

[MacGyver]

The .dxf file that generates the print file is exactly the same as the .dxf file that generates the g-code for a milling machine.

 

I'm excited to see all of the popular support for 3D printing as it's dropping costs and promoting innovation. 

 

But don't kid yourself.  This is not an amazing new way to manufacture a gun.  People who want a gun that can't be traced buy one off the street.  People who are looking for one-shot zip guns like the Liberator aren't going to print one.  They're going to go to the hardware store, spend $25, and make their own out in the garage with nothing more than a few hand tools.

[Jonnin]

That is a good point, I forgot that mills now have computers doing the work, used to the hand operated type.  

So yea its an inferior way to make one than a milling machine, in that case.  

 

I want a 3d but not now.  Later, when its cheap to get a metal one, if that ever happens. 

[Chucktshoes]

The .dxf file that generates the print file is exactly the same as the .dxf file that generates the g-code for a milling machine.

 

I'm excited to see all of the popular support for 3D printing as it's dropping costs and promoting innovation. 

 

But don't kid yourself.  This is not an amazing new way to manufacture a gun.  People who want a gun that can't be traced buy one off the street.  People who are looking for one-shot zip guns like the Liberator aren't going to print one.  They're going to go to the hardware store, spend $25, and make their own out in the garage with nothing more than a few hand tools.

Even though I am a big supporter of the tech and am excited about the speed of advances, I would pretty much agree with your assessment. Where I personally see the value is that the democratization of manufacturing by making it cheap and easy to obtain scares the bejeezus out of the power structure. Whether practical or not, the idea than anyone can download a file and print out a working firearm is terrifying to them. They are going to run around in circles and wasting energy attempting to stop a signal that can't be stopped. All they will accomplish in the end is showing their impotence. 

[KOM2]

Here's another article with pictures and a video. http://bearingarms.com/video-solid-concepts-produces-the-worlds-first-3d-printed-metal-1911/

[MacGyver]

Even though I am a big supporter of the tech and am excited about the speed of advances, I would pretty much agree with your assessment. Where I personally see the value is that the democratization of manufacturing by making it cheap and easy to obtain scares the bejeezus out of the power structure. Whether practical or not, the idea than anyone can download a file and print out a working firearm is terrifying to them. They are going to run around in circles and wasting energy attempting to stop a signal that can't be stopped. All they will accomplish in the end is showing their impotence. 

And I'm all for showing the emperor without his clothes, so to speak.

 

We own and use both a 3D printer and a CNC mill.  Both were purchased for less than $2,000.  The economy falling off the cliff in 2009 put so many small tool and die shops out of business that you can still find lightly used machines for pennies on the dollar. 

 

For that matter, the internet and rapid-prototyping companies like FirstCut have made rolling your own more economical than ever - why bother with buying and setting up your own equipment when there are dozens of companies that will machine you parts from your own drawings for $99.

 

It's funny to watch them try to stuff Pandora back in his box.  It's sad to realize that they actually think they can succeed - and yet these are our "leaders".

[Dolomite_supafly]

Even though I am a big supporter of the tech and am excited about the speed of advances, I would pretty much agree with your assessment. Where I personally see the value is that the democratization of manufacturing by making it cheap and easy to obtain scares the bejeezus out of the power structure. Whether practical or not, the idea than anyone can download a file and print out a working firearm is terrifying to them. They are going to run around in circles and wasting energy attempting to stop a signal that can't be stopped. All they will accomplish in the end is showing their impotence. 

 

Absolutely. And they should not be able to do anythng about it. Printing a gun, which is a tool, is the same thing as cutting a limb into a club. In the end all tools should be legal to own and the way bad people use them should be their concern.

 

I am really looking forward to the Montana case that is making its way through the courts. The guy was making and selling firearms without a FFL. He has been arrested and his case will set a precedent that will either validate or invalidate the various "freedom firearms" laws that states have passed. If it does pass the next step will be challenging the NFA process if the item is made within the borders. And I would love nothing more than to walk out into my garage and hacksaw every barrel I own and attach a homemade suppressor.

 

Personally it should be a non issue. Firearms, of any type, should not be regulated any more than a shovel or a screwdriver. If I want to own a machine gun, an anti tank missile or a fighter jet I should be allowed to.

[peejman]

The difference is that 0.000001% of the population can buy a mill and make a gun. 

90% of the population can buy a printer and print a gun. 

 

 

 

:confused:

 

A 3D printer capable of producing metal parts to the tolerances needed in a traditional firearm costs somewhere in the $1M-$5M range.

[mikegideon]

 And I would love nothing more than to walk out into my garage and hacksaw every barrel I own and attach a homemade suppressor.

 

 

 

Don't forget hammers, disconnectors, selectors, and drop-in auto sears. A guy can dream, right? :)

[Jonnin]

:confused:

 

A 3D printer capable of producing metal parts to the tolerances needed in a traditional firearm costs somewhere in the $1M-$5M range.

 

 

For now, yes.  And 5 years ago having a 3d printer for even plastic doo-dads was unheard of for individuals.  Its coming.

Edited November 7, 2013 by Jonnin

[BigK]

Personally it should be a non issue. Firearms, of any type, should not be regulated any more than a shovel or a screwdriver. If I want to own a machine gun, an anti tank missile or a fighter jet I should be allowed to.

 

+1,000,000

[peejman]

For now, yes.  And 5 years ago having a 3d printer for even plastic doo-dads was unheard of for individuals.  Its coming.

 

 

Agreed.  Some key patents have expired and the technology is poised to go mainstream in a big way.  I think 3D printers capable of high precision metal components will remain at the high end of the spectrum.  I'm not sure how precise a laser based printer is.  The high dollar EB based printers will remain high dollar.