A 3-D "printer" AR lower
- Thread starter Creeper
- Start date
BPowderkeg
Moderator
read this:
and i still don't quite understand the process, sounds a bit looney to me.
and i still don't quite understand the process, sounds a bit looney to me.
FrankenMauser
New member
...just as much as you currently need an FFL to buy a lathe, milling machine, drill press, bench vise, or any other metal working tool.
If I read the article right, what I thought was interesting was that people were printing drugs? I wonder if these are pharmaceuticals or narcotics... most likely the later.
And I wonder how printing the buffer tube threads works, or if that was one of the compatability problems
And I wonder how printing the buffer tube threads works, or if that was one of the compatability problems
spacecoast
New member
Hey, don't give those hard-working, common-sense lawmakers any more ideas...
BPowderkeg said:
I'm a complete neophyte with this technology, so bear with me.
Think in terms of a regular printer. It uses ink to print in two dimensions... the X and Y dimension, or to put it another way, horizontally and vertically on the paper. Although thin, and generally not thought of in these terms, the paper itself provides the Z or dimension of depth.
With a 3-D printer, you don't have paper, you have an actual capability of creating a Z or depth dimension... from nothing. Layers of plastic are deposited, one up on the other, in all 3 dimensions, to create the completed piece. In this case, an AR lower. A processor, using programed data, deposits the plastic at the exact locations as needed.
You can create a very complex shape... even a shape that cannot be made conventionally with metal, say, with moving parts... in one process.
Here's a good example of what I'm talking about. What you see below, made by Objet Geometries, is fully functional... and comes out of the printer as you see it.
Same thing with the more recognizable chain. It functions just like a chain does... yet the complete chain was made in one process, just as you see it.
Cheers,
C
BPowderkeg
Moderator
i was with the understanding that you can not create something from nothing, so where did the material come from to produce the gears and chain, how can it be used in a practical manner ? and why plastic, why not metal ? can i produce a gold coin that is real ? i guess i am more a neophyte than you, maybe just a dunce ! 
i sure hope my metal and wood lathe, milling machine, drill press, bench vise, grinder, sander, saws both radial arm, table and band saws will not be listed under FFL laws and rules.
i sure hope my metal and wood lathe, milling machine, drill press, bench vise, grinder, sander, saws both radial arm, table and band saws will not be listed under FFL laws and rules.
By nothing, I mean there is no substrate on which the item is printed... like a piece of paper is the substrate for ink printing.
Metal is on the way... plastic, to start, is easier, cooler and cheaper.
Here's a good place to start your education on 3-D modeling and firearms... the company that made the printer for Tiberius Arms.
Cheers,
C
Metal is on the way... plastic, to start, is easier, cooler and cheaper.
Here's a good place to start your education on 3-D modeling and firearms... the company that made the printer for Tiberius Arms.
Cheers,
C
From what I understand the material in the printer is similar to a powderized plastic. The "ink" in the printer head is basically a glue that binds the powder together and creates a hard plastic. The printer contains a box full of the powder stuff, and the printer head makes repeated swipes over the materials building the parts in layers.
Right now the main use of the technology is prototyping. It allows designers To easily create actual 3d physical models of the objects they are designing. In the future it could be used to make all sorts of complex parts provided they can create a durable printing substance.
Right now the main use of the technology is prototyping. It allows designers To easily create actual 3d physical models of the objects they are designing. In the future it could be used to make all sorts of complex parts provided they can create a durable printing substance.
The toner in a laser printer is actually colored plastic. It is deposited onto the paper in the proper position and then heated which melts it into place.
The layer of plastic is very thin, but if the process is repeated, it can be built up to be thicker and thicker.
A 3-D printer is set up to build up plastic layers into 3D objects. It takes time, but you can "print" just about anything if you have patience.
There are metal 3-D printers already available. They print using a metal toner/binder mix which is then fired/cured, much like an MIM part. After the firing/curing, it is infused with a bronze alloy. At SHOT 2012, there was a company exhibiting which uses 3-D metal printing technology to make low-volume parts.
Here's an artist who uses the process to create her sculptures. She describes it in some detail.
http://www.bathsheba.com/sculpt/process/
Here's the company that prints her designs.
http://www.exone.com/materialization/what-is-digital-part-materialization/metal
There's a video on their website that shows the process and explains it.
The layer of plastic is very thin, but if the process is repeated, it can be built up to be thicker and thicker.
A 3-D printer is set up to build up plastic layers into 3D objects. It takes time, but you can "print" just about anything if you have patience.
There are metal 3-D printers already available. They print using a metal toner/binder mix which is then fired/cured, much like an MIM part. After the firing/curing, it is infused with a bronze alloy. At SHOT 2012, there was a company exhibiting which uses 3-D metal printing technology to make low-volume parts.
Here's an artist who uses the process to create her sculptures. She describes it in some detail.
http://www.bathsheba.com/sculpt/process/
Here's the company that prints her designs.
http://www.exone.com/materialization/what-is-digital-part-materialization/metal
There's a video on their website that shows the process and explains it.
It was just a small booth, but they did have some interesting displays.
They had one printed part that was the front sight and gas block of an AR-15. I suspect they aren't quite ready to print parts that really require a lot of strength like barrels and bolts, but I think they could make just about anything else.
They had one printed part that was the front sight and gas block of an AR-15. I suspect they aren't quite ready to print parts that really require a lot of strength like barrels and bolts, but I think they could make just about anything else.
A 1960's science fiction book "Space, Space, Space"
http://www.amazon.com/Space-William-Sloane/dp/B000K7IMRQ
had a fun (and rather right-wing politically) story about a space ship repair shop that boasted they could repair any ship in space. One of the processes they had to obtain by hook or crook was the 'molecular spray'.
Shrug. I see the 3-d printer stuff and wonder if I can even wonder what will come next.
(Of course for mass production you really need the Star Trek replicators!)
http://www.amazon.com/Space-William-Sloane/dp/B000K7IMRQ
had a fun (and rather right-wing politically) story about a space ship repair shop that boasted they could repair any ship in space. One of the processes they had to obtain by hook or crook was the 'molecular spray'.
Shrug. I see the 3-d printer stuff and wonder if I can even wonder what will come next.
(Of course for mass production you really need the Star Trek replicators!)