Has this been discussed anywhere?

So now it IS possible. New for me. Soon anybody with a 3D printer will be able to print his own guns. Will it end there? I don't think so. People will start to invent.
My own gun, my own bazooka, my own missile... Who knows.

Well not very likely actually. More likely that people put them into cellphones, pencils, anything that doesn't look like a gun....

 

You can print parts of guns...barrels, bolts, and any other part exposed to pressure will fail dramatically. And then there's springs and firing pins..

 

Print part in ABS, make a mold, cast it in metal. Done deal.

and no their will not be an end. As CNC machines and laser scanners become affordable you'll beable to download what ever gun you want and cut out the parts. As for the printing machines same thing, but you will need to sand and polish it to proper tolorances. But while a printed 3d gun is need, the real deal will be the peices to print molds to actually cast real metal parts that are banned. Within 5-10 years you'll be able to download any gun you want in CAD forms.

 

I just briefly checked it out; googled DEFCAD and went with the first result, defcad.org. Pulled up some of the gun files and I see this:

Disclaimer: I HAVE NOT printed this. I HAVE NOT tested this. It IS likely to blow up in your hand if you choose to use it, ABSOLUTELY NO testing has been done.

As I suspected, it seems you can't print a gun out of plastic and have it withstand the tens of thousands of PSI generated by a small arms round. It still needs to have a metal barrel and chamber. So you could make a printed gun, so long as you also had the equipment to machine the metal parts. But then, what is the significance of the 3D printer? I have the metalworking equipment; I could go in my garage right now and make a gun without a 3D printer. I could make a BETTER gun, made of all metal, or I could do it the way it's been done for hundreds of years, with a wood body. Remember, guns HAVE been made for hundreds of years, before CNC, before 3D printing, before the assembly line. You can make them by hand with a blackmith's forge and wood carving knife - this is how they were made in the beginning.

Anyway, until 3D METAL printing reaches the hobbyist, it is still going to be easier to get already-made guns, either legally or illegally. Even if 3D metal printing gets into our hands, I bet it still would be easier and cheaper to just buy guns than make them. And if not, hopefully the 3D printing process will by nature require enough nerd blood to preclude dumb thugs from figuring it out.

 

I didn't think the barrel is made of metal: http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/06/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-liberator-3d-printed-pistol/

Of course it is not comparable to a real one.

 

I didn't think the barrel is made of metal: http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/06/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-liberator-3d-printed-pistol/

Of course it is not comparable to a real one.

You're right. Here's an article from yesterday; he just fired it by hand.

Even so, I still fail to see the alarm of the situation. He made a single shot .380, on an $8000 printer. Hardly as lethal as a $99 10-shot .22LR from Walmart.

The only thing that worries me is that it's plastic and could potentially go through a metal detector undetected. Maybe someone could sneak it into a plane - but even still, with only one shot, it has less potential threat than a plastic knife, which could be used multiple times.

 

Kinda reminds me of the zip guns of the 50-60s. A piece of car antenna serves as the barrel, stapled to a furring strip, a rubber band and a nail. And now you have a .22

 

I was thinking the same thing. Pipes and other hardware can easily be interfaced to a printed weapon. Personally I as worried about a knife being printed, which is to say, not very worried.

Over time the process will improve however. I do not believe the answer is regulating printers though. It is a little like China or Russia regulating fax machines or copiers, it can be done, but not very well.

 

The only thing that worries me is that it's plastic and could potentially go through a metal detector undetected. Maybe someone could sneak it into a plane

Oh, but our fearless leaders have already handled that.

New York Congressman Steve Israel responded to Defense Distributed’s work by renewing his call for a revamp of the Undetectable Firearms Act, which bans any firearm that doesn’t set off a metal detector. “Security checkpoints, background checks, and gun regulations will do little good if criminals can print plastic firearms at home and bring those firearms through metal detectors with no one the wiser,” read a statement sent to me and other reporters. [...] On Sunday, New York Senator Charles Schumer echoed Israel’s call for that new legislation to ban 3D-printable guns. “A terrorist, someone who’s mentally ill, a spousal abuser, a felon can essentially open a gun factory in their garage,” Schumer said in a press conference.

Gee, I feel safer already.

They've already banned guns that can pass through a metal detector undetected and now they are wanting to ban 3D printed guns. And it's pretty clear that they really believe that banning 3D-printable guns will actually prevent a terrorist, someone who's mentally ill, a spousal abuser, or a felon from essentially opening a gun factory in their garage. The chair now recognizes the members from Pluto.

How many gangs stopped making zip guns when they were outlawed?

 

I was thinking the same thing. Pipes and other hardware can easily be interfaced to a printed weapon. Personally I as worried about a knife being printed, which is to say, not very worried.

Over time the process will improve however. I do not believe the answer is regulating printers though. It is a little like China or Russia regulating fax machines or copiers, it can be done, but not very well.

I agree. If you are going to regulate 3D printers, you are going to have to regulate CNC milling machines, and a vast number of other tools and methods that fuel industry.

Take a look at this video. It is a time lapse of a 1911 pistol being milled on a tiny bench-top hobbyist CNC mill that probably cost 10% of what the 3D printer costs. Replace that aluminum billet with a chunk of ABS plastic and you have a plastic gun just like the printed gun. The tech to make plastic guns has been around for a while - I assume it was first realized in the early '80s and led to the Undetectable Firearms Act of 1988. The CAD files for the CNC mills can be just as easily disseminated across the internet as the 3D printer files.

This printed gun really isn't revolutionary - That is, it did not mark some unprecedented turning point where it was impossible or difficult to manufacture guns at home before, and now it isn't. It is simply the first time someone made _______ on a 3D printer, fill in the blank with "gun." There will be more words to fill in that blank as time goes by. I will be impressed and worried when someone discovers how to make a brand new type of destructive device that I can't also make by my own methods, or any other method in existence other than 3D printing.

 

Why does everyone think 3d printers cost $8k? Average price made is around $2000. Average price of a hobbiest CNC is about $3000. Not exactly big money.

 

Read the articles linked. The guy making the printed guns is using an $8k printer, says it right there. It says that that specific printer's heated cabin is what allows the gun to withstand the blast. Can't do it on a $2k printer, but they are trying to find a way.

 

I suspect that making a gun on a cheap printer that can handle a .22LR is probably pretty doable.

Printing rifling would not be a challenge. Getting the rifling to work probably would be.

 

So, did this "printer" work with the plastic or did they mill the plastic to the specifications?

Senator Schuman (D-NY) already want's to add the 3d printer to the list of prohibited items for gun manufacturer.

Are we missing some steps in the process? Does it go from computer screen to working gun by pressing the "print" command?

 

Working gun made with 3D printer:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22421185

 

Cellphones, keychains etc, not so new actually: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Improvised_firearm

 

So, did this "printer" work with the plastic or did they mill the plastic to the specifications?

Senator Schuman (D-NY) already want's to add the 3d printer to the list of prohibited items for gun manufacturer.

Are we missing some steps in the process? Does it go from computer screen to working gun by pressing the "print" command?

One the highest-end printers it could be done just like that, except you would have to install the firing pin (a small nail, in the case of this gun). But on this printer he printed the individual parts, including the springs and the assembly pins that hold everything together. I think he had about a dozen parts, total. He then rinsed them in acetone to give them a smoother finish. Then he assembled it and fired it.

 

Guns are not really all that high tech, so it would be difficult to ban what was originally made with 1700's tech (muzzle loaders) or mid 1800's for the centerfire/cartridge revolution.

If someone could make the cartridges 3D printers would be perfect for bring back the Gyrojet gun of 1950's. The guns where low pressure, low recoil. I would guess that a 3D printer should be able to print the Microjets rounds, which would just leave the propellant issue.

 

Gyrojet, wasn't that some kind of simple rocket gun scaled down?

 

Spin stabilized mini rocket round. I think they were about .51 cal. Not very accurate in the 50's, but I'm sure there is some sort of fix for that now.