3D printing

Gun related chat that doesn't fit in another forum

3D printing

Postby LumberZach on Mon Jan 21, 2019 12:05 pm

Hey everyone,

I’m starting to get interested in 3D printing. It seems most discussions and information is from 2013 or so, which seems about 100 years ago in terms of the technology. Are many people doing much 3D printing? I am currently looking at the Creality Ender 3. It seems to be a trade off in price for being high maintenance, but most people seem to think it’s pretty excellent once it’s all worked out.

Mostly, I’m interested in just making small gun parts to experiment with. Lowers and magazines for sure, but also one off stuff like 10/22 recoil buffers, etc.

Who here has more information?


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Re: 3D printing

Postby westhope on Mon Jan 21, 2019 1:27 pm

I'm a retired Professional Engineer and have used 3-D printing over the last years. Great for design, only lately are some of the materials available to actually make functional parts.

Below is a company that makes REAL 3-D printers, not something that is just a TOY. If I remember, the cheapest started at $10,000 and they go up from there and the materials started about $500 per spool.

https://www.stratasys.com/

Todays best 3-D printers can use materials that can actually be used in functional parts, not just representative shapes. But, they are expensive and may require sintering after modeling.

I love the "anti's" scare tactics of 3-D modeled guns. 3-D models MAY work once and then blow up on you. The "Anti's" never mention I can make a "Zip Gun" from $20 worth of steel black iron pipe and a nail from Fleet Farm that will not blow up when I use it. (Lots of designs on the internet.)
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Re: 3D printing

Postby Ghost on Mon Jan 21, 2019 1:41 pm

One of the guys that works for me has one at his desk for making small non-load bearing parts. It works pretty well but it's got limitations because of the material. We have the monoprice maker select since it was given to us for buying computers.

I've always wanted one for myself but I just can't justify it for making plastic stuff.

I was at IMTS last year and the sky is the limit when it comes to the machines. I'd recommend getting a dual extruder model if you do buy one.
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Re: 3D printing

Postby ZeeC on Mon Jan 21, 2019 4:18 pm

I have the original Prusa i3 Mk2 which is the best hobby level printer. I only say this because everyone else copies it.

https://shop.prusa3d.com/en/3d-printers/180-original-prusa-i3-mk3-kit.html
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Re: 3D printing

Postby grimbeaver on Tue Jan 22, 2019 3:38 pm

My advice do not go that cheap because you just find yourself replacing parts and hacking it. I have a cheap Hyperion Forge 3d (i3 clone) that my friend bought and brought to me and said make it work because he had nothing but problems. We've hacked it and upgraded this and that in the quest for a better printer but it still isn't as easy to get good prints as I would like. I will admit though part of my problem is I need to standardize on one brand/type of filament and really get the settings for that filament figured out. Recently tried ABS and had lots of trouble, part of which I think was because the room was too cold. Keep in mind most of your gun parts can't be printed with PLA as it is far too weak and ABS gives off a smell as it prints. There are other filaments but I am not sure if there are many that would have the strength you need.

I'm looking hard at upgrading to the Prusa i3 Mk3. The two major features I want in a new printer are a self leveling bed and a magnetic bed. Having the bed level is one of the most critical pieces and doing it with a feeler gauge manually starts to get really old. If your bed is not level your first layer won't go right and that can mess up the whole print. Getting stuff off depending on what you printed can be very difficult which is where the magnetic bed that you can remove and flex to pop the part off would be really nice.

Also highly recommend spending the $150 on Simplify 3D:
https://www.simplify3d.com/

While the open source slicing software is getting there we had a lot easier time getting prints to come out with Simplify.
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