The God gun......

D

Don

New member
............as some on other websites would have you believe, that it would take that kind of blind faith to believe a fully functional metal gun firing full samii loads could be produced using a 3D printer metal cintering printer, helical rifled barrel and chamber included.

Guess we need to sell our lathes, mills, barrel riflers, forges, etc.......


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7ZYKMBDm4M
 
Don said:
............as some on other websites would have you believe, that it would take that kind of blind faith to believe a fully functional metal gun firing full samii loads could be produced using a 3D printer metal cintering printer, helical rifled barrel and chamber included.

Guess we need to sell our lathes, mills, barrel riflers, forges, etc.......


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7ZYKMBDm4M
Click to expand...

Not really. The technology shown in the video is real and viable. It will be some time before it becomes cheap enough to be cost competitive, but it is the future.

I don't expect to be selling my lathe any time soon. There is a big difference between a 1911 pattern pistol and bench rest rifles.
 
Ah, the future. This is fascinating and definitely the new way. The process has no waste, not like taking a block of steel and milling, turning it into shape. This process "creates" the piece in its final shape. I'm curious about the types of metal it can produce. They refer to a couple different numbers of stainless steel parts in this particular pistol. Also wonder what tolerances they can "print" to. Some of the parts in the 1911 seem to have shiny surfaces like they may have had some finishing done to them. But I'm betting this process and its evolutionary designs are here to stay.
 
"Printing" will never replace traditional mfg techniques..... it's somewhat useful for prototyping but of limited use even there.

The furor will die down soon, as it always does when the funding has run it's course.

as gimmicks do

al
 
alinwa said:
"Printing" will never replace traditional mfg techniques..... it's somewhat useful for prototyping but of limited use even there.

The furor will die down soon, as it always does when the funding has run it's course.

as gimmicks do

al
Click to expand...

Although the video is titled "Worlds First 3D Printed Metal Gun", I don't really see the DMLS process as "Printing". It is laser sintering and although it bears similarities to digital printing, it is substantially different. It is a process still in relative infancy and I would not be making any bets as to how large a footprint it may eventually create. in the long term, it may overtake many conventional manufacturing methods. There are huge cost and quality obstacles to overcome. Time will tell.

I do know that modern digital plastics printers are being used in my shop (at a Naval Aviation Facility) to make sturdy, durable forms over which aluminum aircraft panels are shaped. We had our doubts at first, but it has become the standard. We do also make plastic prototype parts for fit testing prior to expending the time and money on the actual metal part.

10 or 20 years from now we may not recognize some of the manufacturing practices that will be common in large scale manufacturing, but we will probably still be fitting barrels with lathes.
 
.

alinwa said:
"Printing" will never replace traditional mfg techniques..... it's somewhat useful for prototyping but of limited use even there.

The furor will die down soon, as it always does when the funding has run it's course.

as gimmicks do

al
Click to expand...


Note that there are no photo's/video of the actual "print" operations, a nice video showing 10 percent, 30 percent, and 75 percent of the barrel fabrication, along with a Rockwell 'C' harness test, and ultrasonic scan of the gun barrel would go along way in providing credence to use of the "printing" process in gun manufacturing.

Ah you guys are no fun, I figured for sure somebody would claim that this was old technology already replaced by "replicator" mfg.
 
MilGunsmith said:
We are experimenting on this. Parts need fitting and finish. Material strenght is an issue also.
Click to expand...

We are using a laser in the process for the purpose of refining the surface finish of metallic parts. They are not suitable for surfaces with relative movement without machine work, but they are good enough for functional cosmetics.

The materials are just a part of the problem that has to be solved, the process to lay down the materials is non-trivial and we're just taking the first baby steps.
 
The company I work for makes architectural concrete products for high end homes and businesses. Lately we have been making the complex molds on a CNC router, some are to complex to make a mold so a model is made and I make a rubber mold off of the model. Earlier this week the young man that does all the shop drawings came to me and said he thinks that the computer printer I mentioned 2 years ago may be a better way to go than the CNC router process we are using now. If we ever go to the printer it will be a plastic printer as nothing we do requires any more strength than plastic. Just the PTB admitting it has merit is a move I never thought I would see. Progress
 
We use a process that lays down colored parts that look great, but they are fragile and only suitable for simple fit checks that don't require force to assemble and show and tell. The filler is died corn starch.
 
When I was a youngster, we were on a six family party line. Now, I have a cell phone that I carry around in my shirt pocket...and could have a much more powerful phone if I wished (don't know what 4G is or how it will help me)...still in my shirt pocket. This stuff takes time and money but, if a profit presents itself it won't be long.

Wonder how they plan to control the things we can make.....I can't imagine, but they will.
 
Wilbur,

Read Ray Kurzweil. Try to find much that you would argue with him, and try to imagine the countermeasures that would be required to stop or slow his predictions.

Do this early in the day so you have something to reoccupy your mind before you go to bed.
 
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