First 3D printed metal gun
 

Looks like it shoots well too. A 1911 of course. I want one.

World

Think of the possibilities of parts you could make for the MB:).

Repressive governments everywhere lost a bit...good!:cool:

Amazing to me that they even printed the barrel with the rifling built in, and it only needed minimal polishing, no machine work at all.

I wonder how hard laser-sintered rifling will be -- see how the gun works after 5000 rounds, not 50...

Glenn Beck had the guy on his TV spot maybe 6 months ago if not longer.
You should broaden your self educational horizons. :D

I tell you, they are. The science is here and now......even make food with the printers.

I wonder if they could print a printing press. I bet they could. :D

What Beck had on was crude stages.....but highly effective and workable.....the biggie is this science has grown way beyond what Beck showed and is blooming like you couldn't imagine.

Its a manufacturing device.......yes they can....one part at a time.

Run 3d printing on goog and see what comes up.

fascinating technology. Im familar with the nylon plastic 3d printing, but that setup lays down a layer of glue, then nylon, then glue, ect.

How does the pure metal setup work? how is the material bonded?

The death of toolmaking as we know it...How sad.

A powerful laser melts/fuses a metal power into a cohesive object.

I don't think so just yet. This technology necessitates possession of a half a million dollar machine probably.

The plastic rapid prototyping stuff has been around for a long time, and people still bake stuff out of clay, sculpy, and whip up cardboard models because it costs a fraction of a percent still.

i think there will always be a place for traditional toolmaking probably, and machinists definitely, because while im willing to pay a machinist a few hundred bucks to whip me up a custom widget, I don't want to pay a company that can afford one of these machines, 15k for the same widget.

There is an intellectual part of the tooling business that cannot get lost (if we want this tooling to actually work. JPL - you know this.

(especially if you look at the age/skill of the CAD operators these days :)

-John

interesting, amazing technology!

Yes--myself, im an old school tooler. there are (well used to be anyway)all kinds of toolmakers, just like doctors, lawyers, hookers, etc.

Especially that they can use SS.

Von Neumann's self-replicating automaton.

Imagine that device used to make all the proposals of this to help figure out what it really is.

Antikythera mechanism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

or when the finally figure out how to layer print living cells.

Organ 'Printing' Creates Beating Heart Cells - Wired Science

Really amazing.


Wait, it just hit me. Maybe this is how the Terminator comes to be. Oh Noes...!

Edit: Too late.

http://www.cyberdyne.jp/english/company/index.html

Pssst, make me an M-16 receiver, will yuh?

It will be one of those things where "oh yeah, we have one" in a back room off the main floor.
Like how many other skilled venues lost to technology.:(

Glassblowing. Blacksmithing. Cooperage. Etc.

And yet all those crafts persist and those who are willing to apprentice for them can do quite well.

Sure. And I am glad the methods persist in the hands of artisans and craftsmen.

Though I sure like having standardized parts and methods for almost everything.

Will this machine be able to replicate the parts to repair itself?

"Our DMLS service utilizes a variety of metal and alloy materials to create strong durable parts from 3D CAD data without the need of tooling. Metal parts built with this technology have the design versatility of layer additive manufacturing while possessing the mechanical properties and appearance of metal materials."

it dosent want to go into any detail or explain How this is done. what kind of metal--or "metal".
I know how chrome plating is done electronically--in a bath the molecular molecules attach to a metal object.

But then i found
"“The 17-4 Stainless Steel has not been post heat treated because that would further strengthen it and we wanted to test our least strong option first,” says Eric Mutchler, Project Engineer at Solid Concepts. Mutchler explained "

&

"
The 1911 3D Printed metal gun was manufactured 40 micron layer by layer with 3D Printing; it was not machined via conventional CNC methods. “The barrel was cleaned up with our hand tools only,” says Mutchler. The rifling was sintered into the barrel layer by layer, just like the rest of the gun components (save the springs, as mentioned before, which were store bought). Our 1911 has a unique serial number as ATF requires."

sintered? layer by layer? I kinda understand plastic being deposited this way --but NOT layer by layer of stainless steel.

In regards to the gun it was made out of stainless steel. Seems that a lazer melts material and puts it down one small piece at a time. This is how it was explained to me.

"A: Solid Concepts Inc. is a supplier of custom manufacturing and rapid prototyping services. We do not sell equipment, rather we are a service bureau. Founded in 1991, Solid Concepts has grown steadily to a seven-facility, multiple technology company known to be a solutions provider with project management and engineering expertise. Our custom manufacturing technology capabilities include: PolyJet, Stereolithography (SLA), Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), QuantumCast™ Cast Urethanes, CNC machining and composites. We provide manufacturing solutions for prototypes and low-volume production of plastic, urethane, and metal components directly from CAD design data. We also offer Tooling and Injection Molding services for full scale production to bring your project through to completion. Solid Concepts holds ISO 9001 and AS9100 certifications as well as a Type 7 Federal Firearms License (FFL) and a 2014 SOT from the ATF."


Cast urethanes injection molding I understand perfectly, but if they are able to doo metal stuff i dont understand why they are still messing with plastic.......................................
or doing guns?????
There are more guns out there than needed and always will be in this country.

These guys dont seem to understand what they could be doing-or else there are lots more people already doing sintered metal printing than anyone knows.
China will be investing this stuff right out from under everyone here--and these guys are playing with their antique pistol.

Guns == shock/publicity value, get their name in the papers better than any P.R. flak (pun intended) can.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_gK7WmTtYN2...0/DSCN9711.JPG

Part Size - 1 1/2" Tall 1 1/4" Wide 1" Long 20 micron layers

Took 7.5 hours $650.00

Looks like ill have to keep loping my burro while all these guys are ridin their pulse desination wave engines:rolleyes:

this is as cool as friction stir welding......

The designer becomes the only craftsman in the process . . .

"Loping my burro"...is that a euphemism? :D ;)

True. And the 1911 is an iconic American weapon. Used in continuous military service for a hundred years. Good choice, when they coulda picked some scary black rifle or something.