7 replies to this topic

[nun]

Get ready. It's now possible to print weapons at home.

An amateur gunsmith, operating under the handle of "HaveBlue" (incidentally, "Have Blue" is the codename that was used for the prototype stealth fighter that became the Lockheed F-117), announced recently in online forums that he had successfully printed a serviceable .22 caliber pistol.

Despite predictions of disaster, the pistol worked. It successfully fired 200 rounds in testing.

HaveBlue then decided to push the limits of what was possible and use his printer to make an AR-15 rifle. To do this, he downloaded plans for an AR-15 in the Solidworks file format from a site called CNCGunsmith.com. After some small modifications to the design, he fed about $30 of ABS plastic feedstock into his late-model Stratasys printer. The result was a functional AR-15 rifle. Early testing shows that it works, although it still has some minor feed and extraction problems to be worked out.

HaveBlue has also been testing the "marketplace" for 3-D printing weapons. To do this he asked Thingiverse, the 3-D design sharing site run by Makerbot Industries, whether it was permissible to post weapons designs or not. According to HaveBlue, Makerbot's senior leadership decided to not disallow, but to discourage, the posting of weapons designs. Haveblue then posted a design for an AR-15 part on Thingiverse, but in the intensive legal discussion that followed Haveblue's posting, Thingiverse decided to ban weapons designs outright. However, since Haveblue's design is still on the site, it's unclear whether Thingiverse is enforcing a ban or not.

While there are still some details to sort out, it's pretty clear that making weapons at home using 3-D printers from commonly available materials is going to become much more commonplace in the near future. In fact, as 3-D printing technology matures, materials feedstock improves, and designs for weapons proliferate, we might soon see the day when nearly everyone will be able to print the weapons of their choice in the numbers they desire, all within the privacy of their own homes.

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2012-07/working-assault-rifle-made-3-d-printer

[Xeno]

Huh.

Well, shit.

[Smash]

This couldn't possibly be just a tad over-reactionary based on recent events? No?

[nun]

I expect it's completely-not-at-all-related-in-the-slightest to recent events.

That's not exactly a weekend project.

[doa12]

And... have you actually messed with the plastics from those? Granted you could print an assault rifle, but the plastic would shatter on the first shot because plastic wouldn't be able to contain the force. That was just printing the grips and stuff, and if you watched on Sons of Guns, they did the same thing. The barrel/chamber are still metal.

Now... that's not saying you couldn't print a pretty dangerous+sharp item from a printer. You definitely could, and you could also create one that launches projectiles. But not one that actually shoots more than one gunpowder bullet. I don't think they make any 3D printers/rapid prototypers that the output is strong enough to contain the backblast of a bullet being fired.

That's also not saying you can't take a chunk of metal and use a computer to carve that out for the required metal parts as you can.

[Colorless]

That's like some Star Trek shit.

[preston181]

You could get a more heavy duty machine that accepted commands or "recipes" for different objects. Things like this are already available for creating on-demand aftermarket car parts for cars that have become otherwise unavailable. The more durable, more heavy-duty machines are much more expensive though.

I guess the question is, what is more worthwhile, paying for an expensive machine that can mass produce weaponry, and having the ATF breathing down your neck, or if it came down to it, buying a single gun through back channels? Personally, I think the John Malkovich "build your own" from online schematics method would be the most cost-effective and inconspicuous method to go on.

[doa12]

If you have followed makerbot type machines you'll know that the cnc machines and the replicator machines can make a lot of the parts you need to make more machines. So once you buy one set, you can make most of the parts for another except the things like the motors/windings themselves. cnc machines can etch circuit boards, replicators can make the gears/etc.

One of my brothers works at a place where they prototype, and they have a machine you load up with resistors, capacitors, chips, etc and the thing inserts all the parts in a board, dunks the board in hot solder to solder the whole board at once. However as far as I know, they still buy the chips, resistors, etc. They do eeprom stuff as I have heard some stories about welding wiping some out that weren't shielded properly, and I know they do the programming. But still, in that and things like this you still have a fairly major investment up front for quality parts and materials.

I've been looking at CNCs to do stone and metal as well as wood and plastic (my little carver just does wood and plastic). I've also looked at the prototypers. But when they start at $1200 for one that does toys in one or two colors that are rough/bitty (think of pixelization in plastic) then go up to 24k for ones that use powder when forming and then up from there, it gets a bit expensive. Unless you were planning to mass produce them, I can't see where making a shop would be beneficial. And don't forget, those things take space and eat juice. Plus you have maintenance, and failures on them.

And then of course you have ammo, which you'd either have to purchase or make your own also.