Weapons made with 3-D printers could test gun-control efforts
Feinstein’s proposed legislation, which would also ban AR-15s, restricts manufacturing of such items by anyone in the country, said a spokesman for the senator.
But 3D-printing experts say that logic is dated and misses the point of the technology. Making guns for personal use has been legal for decades, but doing so has required machining know-how and a variety of parts. With 3-D printers, users download blueprints from the Internet, feed them into the machine, wait several hours and voila.
“Restrictions are difficult to enforce in a world where anybody can make anything,” said Hod Lipson, a 3-D printing expert at Cornell University and co-author of the new book, “Fabricated: The New World of 3D Printing.” “Talking about old-fashioned control will be very ineffective.”
It is unclear how many people are trying to print their own gun parts and magazines. But Cody Wilson, a University of Texas law student who is leading the ideological and technical campaign for 3-D printed guns through an organization called Defense Distributed, said blueprints have been downloaded hundreds of thousands of times from his group’s Web site.
Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
Comment pages: 1 2 Next »
Good.
petefrt on February 19, 2013 at 1:28 PM
No, the congress will make 3d printer have a software patch that prevents them from building guns. Of Course some Hacker will find a way to remove that patch
ChunkyLover on February 19, 2013 at 1:28 PM
Wow. Guns made from 3-D printers sounds about as technologically advanced as the Star Trek transporter.
Bitter Clinger on February 19, 2013 at 1:30 PM
My question is how hard will it be to get raw material if the feddies suddenly decide 3D printers have to be regulated?
This is an amazing advance and a serious wrench in the libtards’ gun-grabbing but not a cure-all.
MelonCollie on February 19, 2013 at 1:32 PM
Lord I am sick of these absurd stories. Guns made by 3-D printers DO NOT EXIST. Some PARTS have been made, but it is IMPOSSIBLE to make a gun with a 3-D printiner I.M.P.O.S.S.I.B.L.E. And even the parts that are made crumble and fall apart after a few rounds are fired. This is a non-story.
Warner Todd Huston on February 19, 2013 at 1:34 PM
Yes, think of the restriction now in place regarding the chemicals and equipment required for the manufacture of meth.
SWalker on February 19, 2013 at 1:38 PM
It is encouraging to think that our technology could potentially keep freedom ahead of tyranny at least by a nose…
CycloneCDB on February 19, 2013 at 1:38 PM
That’s the technology as it exists today, but, that doesn’t mean that people aren’t refining/improving it.
Of course, I would hope that any politicians looking into it would be fully informed on what is and isn’t possible (and what may and may not be possible in the near future) before they start passing laws.
I hope, but, I don’t hold my breath (as blue skin does not look good on me).
JadeNYU on February 19, 2013 at 1:39 PM
Aw, please!
Just make it from a shovel…no fancy plastics necessary!
http://www.northeastshooters.com/vbulletin/build-yourself/179192-diy-shovel-ak-photo-tsunami-warning.html
ProfShadow on February 19, 2013 at 1:41 PM
Sounds like the perfect “throw-away”.
IrishEyes on February 19, 2013 at 1:44 PM
This is where you are partially mistaken Todd, today the technology is impractical, but today is not next year or the year after that. The advances that are being made in 3D printing resemble the advances made just a few years ago in the computer industry. What can be done is increasing exponentially every year. What these guys are talking about is not what they see as possible today, or even tomorrow, but in the next decade, and nothing they are suggesting is so impractical or technologically improbable as to be impossible.
SWalker on February 19, 2013 at 1:44 PM
Do people realize that firearms are an ancient technology?
Do they also realize that it’s already possible to manufacture guns with the machine tools that are available to everyone?
Do they realize that fire melts steel?
Galt2009 on February 19, 2013 at 1:46 PM
Exactly. And those restrictions at least make sense because meth is A: dangerous has hell to the public (ask a cop who’s had to square off with an enraged user) and B: is not Constitutionally protected by any means.
I’m extremely wary of this being a supposed cure-all. 3D printers are expensive, bulky, require lots of power & raw material, and as pointed out their products can only print pieces that crumble after a few shots.
MelonCollie on February 19, 2013 at 1:50 PM
Can a 3D Printer make one of those fancy guns with the flashing indicator light that tells you if it’s loaded?
/David Frum
Galt2009 on February 19, 2013 at 1:51 PM
I have an entire fabrication shop and the know how to create “things” but I’ve never turned a barrel; maybe I should update my knowledge base.
Bishop on February 19, 2013 at 1:52 PM
Barrels are a bit of a tricky one.
Bmore on February 19, 2013 at 1:54 PM
It’s physically impossible to store a trillion bytes of data on a 3.5 inch hard drive. IMPOSSIBLE. Dream on.
/s
Bat Chain Puller on February 19, 2013 at 1:55 PM
Rifling will be the key.
Galt2009 on February 19, 2013 at 2:00 PM
True today, but they have made 30 round magazines (except for the spring) which hold up well to a couple of uses. I don’t see barrels anytime soon though, as somebody else said.
Fenris on February 19, 2013 at 2:01 PM
“Printer Machine………..one coffee,one 32%cream, one brown sugar….serve in a 50 round banana clip” “enter”
BL@KBIRD on February 19, 2013 at 2:04 PM
As I told Todd, yes, that is true today, but think back a few decades to what the average desktop computer could do, or even for that matter what it cost. Today you can buy a 3D printer for around the same thing that a bleeding edge desktop computer cost back in 1990. You can even get a cheap one for $600.00 or $700.00 dollars.
Will it print usable firearms parts, no. But you couldn’t play today’s version of “Call to Arms” on a $4000.00 1990′s bleeding edge desktop either.
It is already possible to print with metals and ceramics that once printed only require tempering to reach 420 steel 50HC hardness levels. Yes, the printers and materials are expensive right now, but the prices on them are following pretty much the same downward curve that desktop computers followed during the 1990′s and early 2000′s.
SWalker on February 19, 2013 at 2:05 PM
That would indeed be an “Interesting” skill set to develop.
SWalker on February 19, 2013 at 2:07 PM
The only important part to fabricate is the receiver since everything else can be purchased freely (except for magazines in crazy states, of course).
ThePrimordialOrderedPair on February 19, 2013 at 2:07 PM
In the future 3D printers will be able to print metal as well as plastic, and thanks to its low melting point lead will no doubt be among the first metals you’ll be able to print. Soon you’ll be able to download and print your own bullets in the privacy of your home, several at a time, and if you can print copper you’ll be able to print FMJ, too. Even if copper can’t be printed at first perhaps the plastic or something else it can print would provide a suitable anti-fouling jacket as a substitute.
FloatingRock on February 19, 2013 at 2:11 PM
Yeah, that would be the thing holding me back at this point. I honestly don’t know what sort of specialized machines or blanks might be needed to turn and rifle a barrel.
Well that and creating a receiver proof. But a metal mag…not so problematic.
Bishop on February 19, 2013 at 2:12 PM
Polymer lower receivers have been commercially available on the market for some time now, they work every bit as well and reliably as metal ones. This is what makes the concept of 3D printing so frightening to the gun grabbers. 3D printed polymer parts may not yet have the strength of injection molded polymer parts, but they are not terribly far away from that either.
SWalker on February 19, 2013 at 2:17 PM
If you thought Mexican drug cartels were bad, imagine Mexican arms cartels running munitions across that unsecured border.
They don’t care what they run as long as it makes them money.
TxHotGas on February 19, 2013 at 2:18 PM
All it takes to make a mag is a Box brake and a tig.
SWalker on February 19, 2013 at 2:21 PM
They already do that. They are also already capable of printing ceramics.
SWalker on February 19, 2013 at 2:23 PM
And a spring.
Does anybody know if it’s hard/easy to make a suitable spring at home? Can you simply take some steel wire of the correct diameter, bend it to shape and then heat/cool it accordingly to turn it into a spring?
FloatingRock on February 19, 2013 at 2:29 PM
Another cool thing that 3D printer fans are working on is to design 3D printers that can print their own replacement parts, so that you can print a new 3D printer for a friend and even print your own upgrades to your 3D printer.
FloatingRock on February 19, 2013 at 2:33 PM
At home is an interesting definition. My little brother for example has just about a fully functional machine shop in his garage (mill, lathe, brakes shears presses chop saws mig/tig), if he was inclined to take the time to do so, making a spring would be quite feasible, just not economical.
SWalker on February 19, 2013 at 2:35 PM
I’m not an Alex Jones fan but this is still an interesting interview with the guy who helped make the 3D printed 30 round AR-15 magazine available online.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKAaO26FAvA&feature=player_embedded#!
FloatingRock on February 19, 2013 at 2:37 PM
0.0 Holy cow, this really IS straight out of sci-fi!!!
MelonCollie on February 19, 2013 at 2:38 PM
Yeah, I priced replacement AR-15 springs a few weeks ago and they were only a dollar or two.
But if fascists ban them then people will have to learn to make their own and I hope it will be pretty easy even without a machine shop.
FloatingRock on February 19, 2013 at 2:40 PM
I don’t know … Numrich tried to charge me $14 for 1 little, itty-bitty, 22LR recoil spring (shipped). That’s some business, the spring business …
ThePrimordialOrderedPair on February 19, 2013 at 2:41 PM
Here’s more information about 3D printing 3D printers.
RepRap Project:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RepRap
FloatingRock on February 19, 2013 at 2:45 PM
The only reason this is even an issue is that the “gun” is the lower receiver, according to the BATFE.
The obvious solution, if they really care, is to designate the upper receiver as the “gun”. Or, say, the bolt. Something that gets up close and personal to the hot-expanding-gasses part of the equation and therefore won’t be printed out of plastic in any foreseeable timeline.
This is also why desktop CNC equipment is at least as interesting as 3D printers, though we’ll all still be counting on Bishop for our barrels.
TexasDan on February 19, 2013 at 2:45 PM
Bishop, you would need a tool called, are you ready? A gun drill and probably a high pressure coolant pump. Broaching is more of a problem but short hand gun barrels are fairly simple.
countrybumpkin on February 19, 2013 at 2:48 PM
I think you have to pay attention to what kind of wire it is, and you may have to hold its shape through the tempering process, but it can’t be all that crazy difficult.
TexasDan on February 19, 2013 at 2:49 PM
If I were going to try to make a spring without a machine shop, I would probably make a wood template/form to bend it around, marking it up with lines to show where the spring should follow as it coils around, and then use that to size it up and check my work. If the template is made out of a hardwood like hickory perhaps the wire could be clamped directly to the template and used as a form to force the wire into shape. If that process damages the wood then at least it would make a good template to verify the shape. Then a person who is good with their hands could probably bend the wire into shape with a few pairs of pliers or something.
Then once bent into shape, if the wire is the right kind of steel then heat treating it correctly should turn it into a spring, I believe.
FloatingRock on February 19, 2013 at 2:54 PM
Wire springs can be made by hand with a simple fixture using ‘Music Wire’. It’s already hardened and comes in coils of any diameter you can think of. Flat ‘zig zag springs are made from coiled spring stock. Again a variety of widths and thickness. This would require heat treatment, heating and an oil quench usually that is not too difficult to master.
countrybumpkin on February 19, 2013 at 3:03 PM
Cool, thanks for the info.
FloatingRock on February 19, 2013 at 3:11 PM
Springs are made by cold wrapping wire around a steel arbor.
SWalker on February 19, 2013 at 3:14 PM
Rifling can be done by hand on machines and jigs that you can build yourself.
It’s slow – but some of the most accurate barrels ever made have been done by hand…one groove at a time.
I’m sure the information and directions are available online. (Or at the public library, for that matter.)
Solaratov on February 19, 2013 at 3:23 PM
I own a Dimensions 3d printer and I like my fingers way too much to ever fire a weapon made with it. That said, you can take the parts made in this and use them as positives for molds to go to lost wax casting. There are several steps, but you can have a very nice aluminum part this way. It won’t be the quality of a Colt part, but will last for some time.
You can also make silicone molds and cast urethane parts for grips, etc.
Barrels need to be precision drilled (rifling can be accomplished with a lathe). The problem here is hardening the barrel without distorting it. You’re better off just buying one.
Anyone with a good machine shop could do all of this without the 3d printing.
RINOs are people too on February 19, 2013 at 4:01 PM
I have a three-shot, revolving barrel black powder pistol made using nothing but primitive blacksmith tools.
My father turned a target barrel for a Mauser action from a Ford truck axle on a Craftsman lathe in the garage. He did send it out for drilling and rifling.
Hand tools were used to drill and rifle barrels before modern machine tools existed. Do some research on old black powder gunsmiths barrel drilling and rifling techniques. It requires craft, but it can be done by anyone with access to metal and metal working tools.
Three-D printer receivers are already usable, if not particularly durable. But if they can last for 3-500 rounds, they are are obviously problematic. Use once, and then build a new one, using all the same parts except the reciever. As pointed out above, all the other parts are unregulated and widely available.
No power on this earth can eliminate the firearms that already exist, or prevent the manufacture of more.
novaculus on February 19, 2013 at 4:05 PM
I skipped down and didn’t see your post before I posted. My apologies to all for the redundancies.
novaculus on February 19, 2013 at 4:07 PM
Just in case fascists really do ban magazine springs at some point and people have to start making their own: with regard making a wood bending template (or form if it’s strong enough), you would also need to radius the edges to allow for the properties of wire your using, with the added advantage that the edges will be more durable when rounded. Also, I would probably make the template out of multiple plies of hickory or another of the hardest woods, to make it more dimensionally stable over time and potential reuse, and perhaps coat it with epoxy after it is has been marked with the lines where the spring should line up.
It’s perfectly legal to make a spring in the US as far as I know, so assuming somebody hasn’t already done it, a YouTube video titled something like “How to make a 30 round AR-15 spring for 3D printed magazine”. I’m not going to do it but somebody else is welcome to.
FloatingRock on February 19, 2013 at 4:22 PM
I’m not saying my way is the best way, BTW, just one potential on-the-cheap way to do it without expensive machine tools that the government will probably require be licensed and registered some day.
FloatingRock on February 19, 2013 at 4:25 PM
Comment pages: 1 2 Next »