make your own gun

[twiceinathens]

Another great day for the Republic of Texas.:cb. The proud inventor of a gun built from a 3d printer admits that it might be dangerous - "it is a gun after all" but does not feel that this is any reason for him not to publish the blueprint on line:confused:. Now the printer is not cheap - a new one is $8000 dollars but no doubt some enterprising individuals will set up a business producing these potentially undetectable things, since the free market allows them to fulfil the most important freedom or a large number of Americans - the right to bear arms. It seems somewhat ironic to me that in the Land of The Free there seems to be a persistent paranoid fear:paranoid: of one's fellow citizens or indeed government.

[easty]

http://www.wikihow.com/Turn-Your-Hand-Into-a-Rubber-Band-Gun

[Future17]

http://www.wikihow.com/Turn-Your-Hand-Into-a-Rubber-Band-Gun

"Only shoot at people in a consenting game."

Advice for life.

[VickMackie]

I don't understand this 3d printing. Is it not essentially a tool that carves out the material?

Surely any craftsman could do this now or is the issue because you're essentially putting it in a computer and hitting print. Is that not what they do in manufacturing anyway?

I did some reading on this and looked at the wiki page but I'm still confused.

[RyeSloan]

I don't understand this 3d printing. Is it not essentially a tool that carves out the material?

Surely any craftsman could do this now or is the issue because you're essentially putting it in a computer and hitting print. Is that not what they do in manufacturing anyway?

I did some reading on this and looked at the wiki page but I'm still confused.

Think of it as additive rather that reductive.

3d printers add the material layer by layer rather than a traditional machine tool which starts with a block of metal say and takes away what you don't need.

I've read a lot about 3D printing and its safe to say that it's going to be a very very disruptive technology.

Already it has substantial commercial uses but the more futuristic thoughts are that it's not beyond the realms of possibility that you will be able to peruse items online and when you see what you want simply print them off, either in your own home or the local print shop down the road...scan in your hand dimensions for example and then print off a pair of gloves made to measure.

While it will still be cheaper to mass produce most items for some time yet I'm pretty convinced 3d printing will change the world of production and manufacture very significantly.

[easty]

We have a 3d printer just along the corridor in my work, I don't think they'd let me make a gun though. In fact, they wouldn't let me play with it at all I reckon...:devil:

[Geo_1875]

Think of it as additive rather that reductive.

3d printers add the material layer by layer rather than a traditional machine tool which starts with a block of metal say and takes away what you don't need.

I've read a lot about 3D printing and its safe to say that it's going to be a very very disruptive technology.

Already it has substantial commercial uses but the more futuristic thoughts are that it's not beyond the realms of possibility that you will be able to peruse items online and when you see what you want simply print them off, either in your own home or the local print shop down the road...scan in your hand dimensions for example and then print off a pair of gloves made to measure.

While it will still be cheaper to mass produce most items for some time yet I'm pretty convinced 3d printing will change the world of production and manufacture very significantly.

I can't wait! Pretty plastic gloves in an instant.

I think the Big Bang Theory episode where the guys buy a 3D printer and don't know what to make with it is accurate. There are only so many whistles you can make before it becomes boring. I imagine that home printers will be a novelty that soon gathers dust with the juicer and sandwich toaster.

There is a company 3D printing your childrens drawings and some of the results are amazing though expensive.

The idea of producing a working gun in your home may scare some people but the hard part is getting ammunition for it.

[hibby rae]

I can't wait! Pretty plastic gloves in an instant.

I think the Big Bang Theory episode where the guys buy a 3D printer and don't know what to make with it is accurate. There are only so many whistles you can make before it becomes boring. I imagine that home printers will be a novelty that soon gathers dust with the juicer and sandwich toaster.

There is a company 3D printing your childrens drawings and some of the results are amazing though expensive.

The idea of producing a working gun in your home may scare some people but the hard part is getting ammunition for it.

That one will never wear off!

[Future17]

I can't wait! Pretty plastic gloves in an instant.

I think the Big Bang Theory episode where the guys buy a 3D printer and don't know what to make with it is accurate. There are only so many whistles you can make before it becomes boring. I imagine that home printers will be a novelty that soon gathers dust with the juicer and sandwich toaster.

There is a company 3D printing your childrens drawings and some of the results are amazing though expensive.

The idea of producing a working gun in your home may scare some people but the hard part is getting ammunition for it.

Why couldn't you just print the ammunition?

[heretoday]

Scary. The creator's callous attitude astounded me. But I suppose there are so many firearms in the world that it won't make much difference.

[RyeSloan]

I can't wait! Pretty plastic gloves in an instant.

I think the Big Bang Theory episode where the guys buy a 3D printer and don't know what to make with it is accurate. There are only so many whistles you can make before it becomes boring. I imagine that home printers will be a novelty that soon gathers dust with the juicer and sandwich toaster.

There is a company 3D printing your childrens drawings and some of the results are amazing though expensive.

The idea of producing a working gun in your home may scare some people but the hard part is getting ammunition for it.

Sorry but that's pretty much nonsense. 3D printing is already used in advanced manufacturing...there is unbelievable scope for it to produce parts that simply can't be machined and even if you can machine a part the 3d printed version is often lighter and stronger....something that Airbus and the like have already recognised and use.

Another huge advantage is the production of prototypes and the like...instead of needing to retool a machine and the often huge expense of bringing a cad design to life you can now print one there and then. Pretty sure F1 will be using 3D printed parts already to design and build their cars.

The medica potential is also massive...sure I read recently someone who had reconstructive surgery on their jaw using 3D printed parts. In future hips etc will be made to measure and with a lattice bone like structure that simply can't be made any other way. When you also look to the fact that already there is some really progressive work being done on printing living tissue (a US lab recently printed a functioning liver) then to suggest this tech is only good for Big Bang Theory whistles and action figures is plain wrong.

The cost may be prohibitive for most mass produced items just now but already you can buy 'desk top' printers for a few grand. The tech is in its infancy still but that's what makes it so exciting.

[HibsMax]

When I saw this story a couple of days ago it reminded me of the movie, In the Line of Fire.

I think that people will be able to find real guns a lot easier, and more cheaply, than printing their own....but that is the future, folks!

[jonty]

This is almost 18 months old, but gives you an idea of what 3d printers are used for in manufacturing
http://www.theverge.com/2011/12/20/2650157/microsoft-model-lab-3d-printing-video

And on the medical side
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16907104

[heretoday]

Shoot the *******s!

[The_Todd]

It's frightening enough but gets worse when you think how easy it would be to get a plastic gun on a plane.

The human race saddens me sometimes.

[(((Fergus)))]

Sorry but that's pretty much nonsense. 3D printing is already used in advanced manufacturing...there is unbelievable scope for it to produce parts that simply can't be machined and even if you can machine a part the 3d printed version is often lighter and stronger....something that Airbus and the like have already recognised and use.

Another huge advantage is the production of prototypes and the like...instead of needing to retool a machine and the often huge expense of bringing a cad design to life you can now print one there and then. Pretty sure F1 will be using 3D printed parts already to design and build their cars.

The medica potential is also massive...sure I read recently someone who had reconstructive surgery on their jaw using 3D printed parts. In future hips etc will be made to measure and with a lattice bone like structure that simply can't be made any other way. When you also look to the fact that already there is some really progressive work being done on printing living tissue (a US lab recently printed a functioning liver) then to suggest this tech is only good for Big Bang Theory whistles and action figures is plain wrong.

The cost may be prohibitive for most mass produced items just now but already you can buy 'desk top' printers for a few grand. The tech is in its infancy still but that's what makes it so exciting.

It's easy to imagine 3D printing having a similarly "democratising" impact on physical property as the internet generally has had on intellectual property. People will be reverse engineering all sort of items and file-sharing "objects" online. Plastics technology has advanced incredibly over the last 50 years - less easy to imagine how far it will be in another 50 years. We are already seeing new techniques slashing the price of high-performance plastics. And just as more and more authors/artists are finding audiences for their work without the curatorial bottleneck of traditional publishing industries, so designers will increasingly be able to bring products to market without being beholden to investors, factories, logistics, etc. It will be good for creativity, good for choice and will raise the standard of living at, relatively, very little cost.


It's frightening enough but gets worse when you think how easy it would be to get a plastic gun on a plane.

The human race saddens me sometimes.

As with any technology, so long as the good guys outnumber the bad guys, then it will be a good thing. :wink:

[HibsMax]

It's frightening enough but gets worse when you think how easy it would be to get a plastic gun on a plane.

The human race saddens me sometimes.

Are you sure about that? I know it wouldn't set off any metal detectors but with these full body scan thingies you get at some airports, I think they see everything.

[The_Todd]

Are you sure about that? I know it wouldn't set off any metal detectors but with these full body scan thingies you get at some airports, I think they see everything.

I've seen them in airports but never been scanned by one - the don't use them on everyone.

Anyway, the airplane thing is only one example. I think this is a terrible idea.

[jonty]

Lets not forget the cost of the printer and materials in the first place. If you want to get your hands on a gun, there are easier ways.
You can create bombs with fertiliser and kill people with cars. Lets not kid ourselves that this will bring guns to the masses. It wont.
And as already pointed out - you still need ammunition.

[(((Fergus)))]

Lets not forget the cost of the printer and materials in the first place. If you want to get your hands on a gun, there are easier ways.
You can create bombs with fertiliser and kill people with cars. Lets not kid ourselves that this will bring guns to the masses. It wont.
And as already pointed out - you still need ammunition.

Human ingenuity will find a way to make/get ammunition.

Technology can be dangerous. There are four times as many road fatalities in the US (12 per 100,000) than there are homicides by gun (3 per 100,000). Our road fatalities are much lower than those of the US, right enough - about equal with their homicides by gun.

[RyeSloan]

Lets not forget the cost of the printer and materials in the first place. If you want to get your hands on a gun, there are easier ways.
You can create bombs with fertiliser and kill people with cars. Lets not kid ourselves that this will bring guns to the masses. It wont.
And as already pointed out - you still need ammunition.

Correct....makes a good story but really if you want a gun then you can get a gun...it's always been possible to make your own gun and this is just another way.

[HibsMax]

And you still have to get it on board the plane in the first place.

I agree that it's scary to think of what power will be in people's hands once 3D printing becomes as common and cheap as other technological advancements but that doesn't mean it's a bad thing. I'll be printing a flak jacket anyway. :)

[twiceinathens]

On STV now(7.30) Tonight America and their guns

[Sylar]

Been speaking to one of my colleagues in our Plasma Research cluster as he recently bought one of these printers using a grant.

They're extensively used in some manufacturing processes and mostly operate using a small range of base materials.

However, we've recently submitted a proposal which theorises that under the right conditions and using the correct environment, it's possible to compile synthetic diamonds which can then be integrated into a metal composite to enhance the longevity of metallic structures at varying scales.

Obviously there are drawbacks to these printers (weaponry being a key example) but that shouldn't preclude their use as they can aid in making some great scientific (and resulting societal/economical) advances :agree:

[RyeSloan]

It's easy to imagine 3D printing having a similarly "democratising" impact on physical property as the internet generally has had on intellectual property. People will be reverse engineering all sort of items and file-sharing "objects" online. Plastics technology has advanced incredibly over the last 50 years - less easy to imagine how far it will be in another 50 years. We are already seeing new techniques slashing the price of high-performance plastics. And just as more and more authors/artists are finding audiences for their work without the curatorial bottleneck of traditional publishing industries, so designers will increasingly be able to bring products to market without being beholden to investors, factories, logistics, etc. It will be good for creativity, good for choice and will raise the standard of living at, relatively, very little cost.



As with any technology, so long as the good guys outnumber the bad guys, then it will be a good thing. :wink:

Totally agree Fergus...will be very interesting to see how this technology disrupts the status quo.