.380

and so it BEGINS.

Amazing!

Did anyone catch the AR on the bench?
Printing lowers at home?

Impressive.

I read elsewhere that the gun destroyed itself after 6 rounds.  However, the only videos I can find are identical to this one, showing the first shot fired and the significant glance.  Has anybody seen this thing shoot a 2nd round?  Right now, all I see is an overpriced zip gun.

I read elsewhere that the gun destroyed itself after 6 rounds.  However, the only videos I can find are identical to this one, showing the first shot fired and the significant glance.  Has anybody seen this thing shoot a 2nd round?  Right now, all I see is an overpriced zip gun.

Baby steps, Tom.  Every technological breakthrough opens a door.  Stay tuned for future developments!

Xerox had no idea what they had spent tens of thousands to develop.  They saw no market for a home computer that cost them $14,000 to prototype.  So they sold the rights to their technology ... to Steve Jobs!  That technology became the Apple computer, complete with WYSIWYG graphics, a mouse pointer, and, in line with Xerox copier technology, a laser printer!

I think Xerox would like to have been allowed a do-over!  But it illustrates how new technology spawns better and never-before-available products.  We may see 3D printers in businesses fabricating car parts and replacement pieces for any number of products instead of buying from the manufacturer.  The possibilities are limitless.

To me, the is a major step toward achieving yet another science "fiction" device in the real world:  a replicator!   

3D printing is theoretically (almost) unlimited in its potential.

They currently print in plastic but it is quite possible to print in other materials using (more or less) the same technique.

Printing metal is possible but you won't be seeing home machines for doing so for a while.

3D printing is theoretically (almost) unlimited in its potential.

They currently print in plastic but it is quite possible to print in other materials using (more or less) the same technique.

Printing metal is possible but you won't be seeing home machines for doing so for a while.

If you follow Glen Beck, he's been raving about this technology for a couple of months.  One application would be to create a mold and then use that to cast your parts for almost anything.  So the plastic product from the printer would be the beginning of almost anything made FROM almost anything.

ive also heard 6 shots before it broke, but saw no proof. i love how only the firing pin and some other small part are metal, mostly to comply with the 1988 "plastic hitman gun" law

either way i downloaded his CAD PDF file in case some court injunction tries to take it down.

ive also heard 6 shots before it broke, but saw no proof. i love how only the firing pin and some other small part are metal, mostly to comply with the 1988 "plastic hitman gun" law

either way i downloaded his CAD PDF file in case some court injunction tries to take it down.

did it include the ar lower file as well... ps whats up jay

...........We may see 3D printers in businesses fabricating car parts and replacement pieces for any number of products instead of buying from the manufacturer.  The possibilities are limitless.............

Rapid prototyping has already been around for a long time.  I think maybe the first main stream time this came up to the general public was with Jay Leno and how he discussed using this tech to make replacement parts for his old cars.  Scan, prototype, rescan and then CNC the replacement parts.

Yeah, I first heard of 3D printing from a CAD designer about 6 years ago. He did the 3D prototype design files for inventors so they could see how their ideas would work and start narrowing down mass production options. If I recall, it was done in a solution bath at the time.

Everyone is ranting and raving about how this will democratize this and that... and to a degree it will. As long as this and that can be made out of plastic. It'll be a looooong while before it costs less to mass produce things this way, though. Its exciting, but not nearly as exciting as people are thinking it is.

did it include the ar lower file as well... ps whats up jay

no just the liberator.
i just double checked right now.


whats up bruddah! 

I was thinking about this and it occured to me that Electro Discharge Machining could be used in a similar way to produce metallic parts out of hard steels..

I saw this being done once, where the electrodes were guided by hand with a 3-axis compound rest above the tank, but I think CNC technology can be applied to the process in guiding the electrode(s).

So plastic parts are not going to be the ultimate output of CAD printing of parts. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_discharge_machining

See especially these sections in the above linked article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_discharge_machining#Die-sink_EDM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_discharge_machining#Wire-cut_EDM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_discharge_machining#Metal_disintegration_machining

As far as I know, nobody else has thought of  linking  CAD printing of parts to EDM-ing of parts by computer.

Terry, 230RN

The time it makes to make that gun is way too long.

From a few automotive brakeline parts I can make a pistol in less than 10 minutes.
Crude but works.

The time it makes to make that gun is way too long.

From a few automotive brakeline parts I can make a pistol in less than 10 minutes.
Crude but works.

With a name like "SpeedTek", what else could you say?

I was thinking about this and it occured to me that Electro Discharge Machining could be used in a similar way to produce metallic parts out of hard steels..

I saw this being done once, where the electrodes were guided by hand with a 3-axis compound rest above the tank, but I think CNC technology can be applied to the process in guiding the electrode(s).

So plastic parts are not going to be the ultimate output of CAD printing of parts. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_discharge_machining

See especially these sections in the above linked article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_discharge_machining#Die-sink_EDM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_discharge_machining#Wire-cut_EDM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_discharge_machining#Metal_disintegration_machining

As far as I know, nobody else has thought of  linking  CAD printing of parts to EDM-ing of parts by computer.

Terry, 230RN

EDM are already CNC driven. They are also CAD supported. It is not cost effective to produce guns using EDM. I spent about 16 years as a Design Engineer (Mechanical) prior to coming back into the military. We used to play with the CNC machines and make frames, stocks and all kinds of stuff after hours. I was in R&D, so I had access to all of the cool toys...man, those were the days.

I'm not sure that cost-effectiveness from an industrial/production/business  standpoint is part of the equation at present.

Isn't this just reinventing the wheel so to speak? I mean this is how composite frames started...a way to produce guns cheaper with the same quality of steel. Or am I totally missing something?

Isn't this just reinventing the wheel so to speak? I mean this is how composite frames started...a way to produce guns cheaper with the same quality of steel. Or am I totally missing something?

What you're missing is the technology is not about materials that might be suitable to make a gun.  It's about technology that will allow anybody -- people with absolutely no machining skills, tools or equipment other than a computer, 3D printer, and software -- to produce almost anything, including firearms.

Imagine millions of people able to download a file and "print" thousands of useful objects in the privacy of their own homes.  No tracking by stores or the government while private citizens produce weapons, drug paraphernalia, badges for any public agency uniform (including TSA), etc.  it's not that this can't be done now.  It's that this technology enables millions more who will be able to do this with little more effort than it takes to steal a movie or song off an Internet sharing site.

design and materials will get better with time and who cares if it destorys itself in 6 shots, I'll print out a few hundred if I need it!