On today’s episode of Uncanny Valley, we discuss how WIRED was able to legally 3D-print the same gun allegedly used by Luigi Mangione, and where US law stands on the technology.
tl;dr printers got cheaper
And better and people got better at making 3d printed guns.
Printers improved too.
And they wirk with more than plastic. I have had that conversation several times. People honestly think all 3d printers can do is cheap plastic.
What else do they work with?
Depends on the type of 3D printer.
Fused Deposition Modeling, the standard “filament” 3D printing everyone thinks about when hearing the word 3D printing prints with plastics - of some sort. All of them,to a certain degree.
There are incredibly sturdy options nowadays, which include carbon fibers, but in the end the adhesions between layers will always be an issue. There are also options to print a cast for a mold and some funny techniques where you print a model with a specialised filament that is half plastic,half metal powder and send it to a company which “burn off” the plastic part, replace it with metal and send you back an (almost as sturdy as a cast) part that is fully metal.
Resin based printing is also a thing but not nearly as sturdy as FDM.
Last but not least there is metal powder based SLS(Selective Laser Sintering), but that does not produce those sturdy parts everyone thinks of, is extremely sensitive/requires a lot of knowledge and lastly money - these printers start around 20k for the better models.
In terms of additive manufacturing people are able to print non load bearing gun parts. Maybe even sturdier than before. And easier. (A 400$ printer nowadays does what a 1300$ printer did a year ago and a 15000$ printer did 15 years ago. But for everything load/pressure/shock bearing, like a barrel, spring assembly,firing pin,etc. will still need to be from pure metal. So people would still need to improvise these,most important, parts.
BUT: There are also self-built CNC machines. MPCNC, etc. are a thing, and more advanced projects for around 2500-3000$ omwards can easily achieve a level of precision on steel that is more than sufficient for an all metal ghost gun and close to what industrial guns makers in WW1, maybe even WW2, achieved.
It’s currently really the golden age of home manufacturing.
I never understood why they never just bundled a bunch of carbon composite front loader barrels with electric ignition along with a laser pointer. No need for any metal nor 3d printing.
I really don’t think these would withstand the pressure,tbh. At least as long as you mean 3D printed ones.
No, just laminated ones. Closed at one end. Easy enough to make or buy. You can even improvise the propellant.
I saw an sls printer make a copy of ironman’s suit. It was crazy thin and highly detail pieces. Add some paint abd it look just like the movie.
Metals, catbon fiber but I heard thise nozzles wear out fast. One printer i saw used lasers to weld metal powder into shapes layer by layer.
biocompatible bone too
Oh yeah, I forget about sintered metal printers. Which is funny because that’s one of the first ones I saw.
Carbon fibre is a big one.
Republicans be Pro-2A until the rich are threatened.
“Under no pretext should arms and ammunition be surrendered; any attempt to disarm the workers must be frustrated, by force if necessary”
Rich Republicans tbh. For the poor ones it’s when race or “the gays” gets involved,.
Do they have a transcript? I can’t stand listening to podcasts for long
Fosscad
Yes
I started listening but was immediately assaulted by a progressive insurance ad so I am gonna go elsewhere lmao
Model link? 😏
No plastic can withstand the pressure and shock from the propulsion of the shot, nor the heat or the friction generated. The 3D printed whatever is a fallacy. The only thing you can print is cute things you can attach to whatever.
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Uhhhh my friend you can print a 9mm CZ scorpion that shoots as well as the real thing. Same with an MP5. You can find videos of them being tested and shot on the internet. A lot has changed in the past few years with 3D printed guns.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=kucefQ6sYbo there are silly videos too
Of course, they are not 100% plastic, but that’s irrelevant. They can be made at home with little effort using a 3D printer and from simple materials anyone can buy at a hardware store, without any registration or serial numbers.
A lot of “real” guns are made from plastic, too, btw
Only the non critical to function parts can be plastic. IE, the barrel can’t be plastic. And you can use literally anything else other than 3D printed stuff.
So why is 3D printed even an issue. Anything… A CNC, scissors, metal, a grinder, wood, springs, screws…can be made part of or be used to make anything else. Making things is not magic and a 3D printer is not magic either.
The highest pressure rated plastic has a Ts or just maybe 28ksi. But with 15% elongation and a really weak modulus. So you can make toys basically.
In the United States, only the lower is considered a gun. There’s no check needed to buy the barrel or slide components, meaning you can print the lower, preferably from a fiber reinforced material, and just slap the unregulated upper components into it.
You kidding? I know nothing about these things but that sounds just wrong.
Nope, not kidding. the receiver is the component that is registered as a firearm, and the rest of the parts that go in it are unregulated. That’s also why you may have heard of “80%” receivers. They’re not machined all of the way so they are not considered firearms and the purchaser can then finish the machining and install the parts.
only the non critical to function parts can be plastic
This just isn’t reality. For .22lr, nearly 100% of the gun can be plastic, including the barrel. Here are two real examples where the only required metal component is the firing pin:
https://www.cnet.com/news/politics/the-3d-printed-gun-controversy-everything-you-need-to-know/
https://3dprint.com/107062/worlds-1st-3d-printed-revolver/
For more reliable and more powerful guns, some critical components must be metal, of course, like the barrel might at least require a liner, but the majority of the gun and internal mechanism can still be plastic, not only non-functional or cosmetic parts.
And you can use literally anything else other than 3D printed stuff. So why is 3D printed even an issue.
Idk, I didn’t say it is. I’m just informing you that 3D printed guns are real, not a “fallacy”, some function very well and reliably, and can actually be made with almost no or minimal metal parts
But the issue at hand is about regulating 3D printers. So how about HF CNC machines? Or lathe mill combos? What about resin?
What about meat? It has vitamins and proteins to make some people really really strong… Enough to choke people with their bare hands! And they are allowed to freely walk among us and even ride the bus, train our plane! Protein is very dangerous stuff. I hear you can even 3D print it!
I don’t support regulating 3D printers
Ngl I was hoping for The Glong lmao, close though!
It’s a hell of a statement considering theres tons of videos and evidence that prove the opposite of what you just said.
Yeah, cute things like an unregistered glock 19 lower printed at a 45 degree angle out of pla+ you can attach to a trigger and rails via pins, rails that themselves connect to a glock 19 upper?
Hmmm…
That’s the rub, you can make that more functional with simple tools like hammer, pliers, shears, sheet metal, drill press, aluminum extrusion. None of those things are controversial or subject to regulations.
If you’re looking to have an argument about regulations, I believe you’ll find I’m a poor choice. I support more relaxed regulations on the guns themselves than you likely do, much less regulating things that can be used to make guns. Suppressors should be seen as safety equipment rather than locked behind an antiquated tax, SBR/SBS should be removed from that same tax system not because of safety but simply because the NFA was bad and pointless from the start, people between the age of 18 and 21 still deserve their rights (OR we need to raise the age of legal adulthood to 21, including military service and trying people as an adult, but the mix-matched mess is nonsense), there’s more but that’s enough controversial opinions on regulation to make my point:
Tl;dr I don’t support regulation of much, including any of that stuff you said. Fact still remains that printing a chairmanwon g19 is very, very possible. I won’t even bring up how much easier it is than learning how to use a lathe nor how much cheaper it is to buy an ender3 than a CNC mill.
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