this post was submitted on 17 Oct 2023
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Piracy: ꜱᴀɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʜɪɢʜ ꜱᴇᴀꜱ
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You can't find them on printables / thangs / thingiverse?
I don't even have a 3d printer yet so I don't have a horse in this race, but given how countries are clamping down on 3d printers and such, like that thing I saw from lawmakers in new york (usa) where they want people to pass a background check or such to buy a 3d printer,
wouldn't it be a good idea to have a tracker that does 3d print stuff? Does the thingiverse etc have print files for copyrighted objects and components that breach patents and such? Or dare I say it, weapons and that side of things (which I don't support but it's a thing)?
I think a proper, free from national control resource is the best way. I hope such a thing exists. I can see myself one day needing to replace a part in my coffee machine or something, and thingiverse/etc not having the part file because it breaks the patent/intellectual property of the coffee machine company to host it, you know?
I just learned about this bill for 3D printer background checks. What a joke. Making your own plastic parts in the shape of a gun is not at all the same thing as actually building one from scratch. Yet another case of legislators knowing zero about the actual issues at hand, or purposefully avoiding them
I would recommend watching a few videos/documentaries on "Ghost Guns". Vice had a really good one, if memory serves.
It isn't JUST "hit print, rack the slide, bust a cap". But with a properly calibrated printer and filament other than cheap PLA, it is real close. Download the STLs, start the build, and then head to the local hardware store for a few small springs and the (REDACTED) that becomes a firing pin. Then spend an hour or two screwing stuff together and filing down a few defects.
But also? Additive manufacturing is a vital part of so many industries at this point that I would not expect a crackdown on the STL files. Probably something similar to how DMCA is used with media files (which artists and engineers would generally tolerate, if not prefer, due to threads like this...). But all the drill bit holders and gunpla mods and the like aren't going to go away.
Whether we start needing background checks/licenses for the printers themselves is still up in the air. But expect massive lobbying against that since "maker spaces" and even just a printer at the library are a big part of the industry and this is something where The West already do not have any meaningful advantage.
To put it in context. With a decent CNC mill, you can make a straight up "real" gun in a few days for probably less than 500 bucks worth of stock (although, I would not be surprised if aluminum block prices have skyrocketed). But those cost thousands of dollars. A decent 3d printer costs less than 500 for the tool and you need less than 100 dollars of filament for the gun. We don't ban mills and lathes from private ownership. But I can definitely see something similar to medium sized drones where you need to fill out a form to legally own 3d printers of a certain size/quality
My point was that all of the important parts are metal
Not really, actually.
At an intentionally vague high level: The main components of a firearm are:
1 and 2 are 100% able to be made with plastic. And that is increasingly becoming a selling point for a lot of firearms because of "weight"
4 is trivial to pick up at any hardware store and isn't even conspicuous.
Which leaves 3 and 5. Plastic/polymer barrels are not an issue for small caliber ammunition (e.g. pistol rounds). You just don't want to use dirt cheap PLA for that. And probably futz with the infill settings a bit.
The firing pin: Most engineering analyses I have seen say that is the one part that needs to be "real" (and, thus, is a traceable purchase). But I've seen a few resources tiptoe around how this could be easily improvised from stuff you buy at the local hardware store. And if I cared enough to check The Dark Web, I am certain I could find step by step instructions on how to do exactly that.
And there are youtubers like Emily the Engineer who have made it a point to show how ridiculously strong 3d printed stuff is. She doesn't do firearms (mostly because it would get her demonetized...) but 3d printed machetes, lawnmower blades, jacks for pick up trucks, etc are pretty trivial. And I would be pretty shocked if someone who was had a particularly well configured printer and some of the good plastic couldn't make a (mostly, if not entirely) polymer firing pin (I actually have no idea how modern ammunition works. I THINK it is just compression of the charge which means no metal needed. But if you still need a spark of some form, that is a metal tip instead of a metal pin).