3D printed AR lower - 600 rounds

[hman]

I assume this is not OT, because 3D printing is indeed a valid machining/fabrication technique. It just hasn't been applied to weapons very often.

I will apologize in advance for the snarky, in-your-face, "throw a middle finger to Congress" tone of the article. I'm aware of the forum's prohibition against politicization, and hope the article's attitude doesn't offend. In addition, the video is just a bit boring, as it takes them a while to shoot off all 600 rounds.

Nevertheless, the article and video do offer what appears to be a very good proof-of-concept demo for 3D printing of this receiver.

That said, I'll bet that the AR being demo'd is a gas piston version. I'd expect that the amount of hot gas blown into the receiver by a "traditional" AR action would soften and melt the plastic long before 600 rounds were fired.

- hman
(John Herrmann, Tempe, AZ)

 

[brt]

I assume this is not OT, because 3D printing is indeed a valid machining/fabrication technique. It just hasn't been applied to weapons very often.

I will apologize in advance for the snarky, in-your-face, "throw a middle finger to Congress" tone of the article. I'm aware of the forum's prohibition against politicization, and hope the article's attitude doesn't offend. In addition, the video is just a bit boring, as it takes them a while to shoot off all 600 rounds.

Nevertheless, the article and video do offer what appears to be a very good proof-of-concept demo for 3D printing of this receiver.

That said, I'll bet that the AR being demo'd is a gas piston version. I'd expect that the amount of hot gas blown into the receiver by a "traditional" AR action would soften and melt the plastic long before 600 rounds were fired.

- hman
(John Herrmann, Tempe, AZ)

By the looks of it, I think this was printed on a high-end commercial printer, not the consumer-level FDM printer. If I'm right, that would mean that the material used is likely to be more thermally stable. The more expensive machines have a wider variety of available materials, including ones that have higher melting temperatures.

 

[pineyfolks]

Is there a link to the video ?

 

[hman]

Is there a link to the video ?

I've tried Googling for "defense distributed." No direct links to the video by itself, but it's on their home page, http://defensedistributed.com/

There's also some more detail provided on their blog, http://defdist.tumblr.com/

I probably should have done this search before my first post on the thread - neither are as snarky as the first article I sent out.

PS - in answer to an earlier post, here's a quote from the http://defdist.tumblr.com/ article:
"The FDM printer was a used Dimension SST, and the material was p400 ABS."
ABS is not a high melting plastic. Quoting from Wikipedia, "Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) ... is a common thermoplastic. Its glass transition temperature is approximately 105 °C (221 °F). ABS is amorphous and therefore has no true melting point." So I'd say this adds some weight to my speculation it was a gas piston AR action.

- hman
(John Herrmann)

 

[tripletap3]

With the panic buying explosion and subsequent limited availability of firearms and accessories, 3D printing has moved heavily into the firearm industry. I have seen on the web that simple to make Hi cap mags being one of the most produced items using 3D printing. 3D printing will make it's mark in time just as the automobile, television, and computer has.

http://youtu.be/CP1oBwccARY

Printing some gears

http://youtu.be/bpcwBQKUqK4

 

[ScubaSteve]

You betcha. I remember reading an article years ago about 3D printing....the focus was on "faxing" prototypes to someone on the other side of the planet. It seemed so sci-fi to me.....now anyone can have one of these as a hobby machine. If printing magazines and AR lowers is interesting, Check THIS out:

[video]http://www.ted.com/talks/anthony_atala_printing_a_human_kidney.html[/video]

 

[PurpLev]

their moto is insane... brilliant, yet insane.

'every citizen has near instant access to a firearm through the internet...'

they forgot to mention this also applies to:
and every non citizen, and every other person which really shouldn't have access to this...

talk about getting out of control.

not to be taken out of context - I myself am a gun enthusiast, yet do not carry any, and am a firm believer in tight gun control as to who can and cannot own/carry one and the proper licensing of those who can.