slate: Designer of 3-D Printable Gun Has His 3-D Printer Seized

[JMS]

Test for the status qua in gun control.. Idiots think they can confiscate the guy's printer when what they would really need to do is confiscate the file which describes the gun.

But of coarse if that file has already been uploaded, it's impossible to confiscate. Technology continues to challenge our ideas of regulation... Can you imagine? The problem is you can't just confiscate the printer. If they are successful anybody could download a file and build their own plastic gun capable of getting through airport security any time they want.... Then their is really nothing anybody can do about it short of outlawing 3d printing all together, and maybe even computers.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2012/10/02/_3d_printed_gun_wiki_weapon_on_hold_after_stratasys_revokes_lease_on_printer.html

Designer of 3-D Printable Gun Has His 3-D Printer Seized

he promise of home 3-D printing is that you can construct anything you want from the comfort and convenience of your own living room. For a group whose mission is to 3-D print a working pistol from scratch, however, that promise has been revoked. Defense Distributed, a collective led by UT-Austin law student Cody Wilson, has raised $20,000 online in a bid to design and develop the world’s first entirely 3-D printed gun, which it calls the Wiki Weapon. If it succeeds, not only will it build its own prototype, it will share the design publicly, so that anyone around the world with a 3-D printer can print his own pistol. It’s sort of the opposite of “Don’t try this at home.”

In a promotional video, Wilson waxes philosophical about the project. “The Defense Distributed goal isn’t really personal armament,” he says. “It’s more the liberation of information. It’s about living in a world where you can just download the file for the thing you want to make in this life. As the printing press revolutionized literacy, 3-D printing is in its moment.”

Turns out the company that leased Defense Distributed its 3-D printer doesn’t see it that way. In a letter to Wilson dated Sept. 26, the legal counsel for Stratasys Inc. informed Wilson that it was cancelling his lease of the company’s uPrint SE printer. “It is the policy of Stratasys not to knowingly allow its printers to be used for illegal purposes,” the company wrote, noting that Wilson lacked a federal license for manufacturing firearms.

Wilson has maintained that he doesn’t need a license, because he’s not planning to sell the weapon. But Stratasys was not impressed. Wired's Danger Room blog reports that the company’s representatives showed up at his door to seize the device. Now he’ll have to find another printer—and according to Danger Room, he’s considering obtaining a manufacturing license even though he doesn’t believe it’s legally required. Meanwhile, his group has posted Stratasys' letter online with the caption, "Imagine if your biggest part in the human drama was to stand in the way of an innovation."

He isn’t the first to see a 3-D printer and think of guns. A blogger and gun enthusiast known as HaveBlue made headlines earlier this year by 3-D printing the lower receiver of an AR-15 assault rifle. The digital blueprints are now available for download on the Thingiverse, an online community for 3-D printing designs.

[No_Pressure]

So a plastic printer is capable of making a device (out of plastic) which is capable of withstanding and properly channeling the energy of an explosion in an enclosed environment? I've seen a gun made out of steel have the bore explode because somebody had done their own reloads and put too high of a grain in the round (as low as 260 instead of 160). And while those were rifles I've always assumed it is scaled for pistols and that the only materials which were practical in such weaponry were those made out of harder materials than plastic.

How does this even work?

[Teller]

Mind. Blown.

[frostyj]

The company that loaned him the printer took it back. It was not confiscated or seized. The reasoning for them taking it back is wrong. Anyone can make a gun legally.

[JMS]

So a plastic printer is capable of making a device (out of plastic) which is capable of withstanding and properly channeling the energy of an explosion in an enclosed environment? I've seen a gun made out of steel have the bore explode because somebody had done their own reloads and put too high of a grain in the round (as low as 260 instead of 160). And while those were rifles I've always assumed it is scaled for pistols and that the only materials which were practical in such weaponry were those made out of harder materials than plastic.

How does this even work?

Traditionally produced guns made of plastic have been available for some time. The Glock 9mm is made of Plastic for example.

When these guns came on the market I remember law enforcement agencies lobbied the manufactures to put metal components into the guns so they would be detectable with airports scanners... Not sure how that worked out though. There was no performance reason for the guns to contain metal and earliest models did not have any medal..

I'm quite fond of the FN 5-7 too. It does have durability issues, but for accuracy and performance it's a lot of fun to shoot.. very accurate, very light, Mostly all plastic too.

[FanboyOf91]

So a plastic printer is capable of making a device (out of plastic) which is capable of withstanding and properly channeling the energy of an explosion in an enclosed environment? I've seen a gun made out of steel have the bore explode because somebody had done their own reloads and put too high of a grain in the round (as low as 260 instead of 160). And while those were rifles I've always assumed it is scaled for pistols and that the only materials which were practical in such weaponry were those made out of harder materials than plastic.

How does this even work?

http://venturebeat.com/2012/08/23/3d-printing-weapons/

In this case, Guslick used commercial off-the-shelf parts to manufacture his gun and used the 3D printer to only make the lower receiver (see above image). He bought the upper receiver, barrel, grip, magazine, and ammunition.

[HOF44]

I would venture to guess that the plastic a Glock is made out of and the plastic a 3d printer can manipulate are probably not of the same properties. I'd be scared to shoot one off a printer.

[JMS]

I would venture to guess that the plastic a Glock is made out of and the plastic a 3d printer can manipulate are probably not of the same properties. I'd be scared to shoot one off a printer.

Absolutely. I agree. Coarse anything which can be liquified can potentially be used with 3d printing technology. So you could use aluminum or many sorts of plastics... theoretically...

But even then there is a difference between a barrel of a gun formed in a lathe, and one formed by sticking thousands of dots of a material together iteratively. The strength and safety would certainly be a concern..

[DCsportsfan53]

So a plastic printer is capable of making a device (out of plastic) which is capable of withstanding and properly channeling the energy of an explosion in an enclosed environment? I've seen a gun made out of steel have the bore explode because somebody had done their own reloads and put too high of a grain in the round (as low as 260 instead of 160). And while those were rifles I've always assumed it is scaled for pistols and that the only materials which were practical in such weaponry were those made out of harder materials than plastic.

How does this even work?

I saw a show related to this in which they were scanning and then printing 3D car parts and apparently this kind of thing is much closer than most realize. I won't even begin to pretend to know how it works or if it works but even putting aside the whole gun aspect the idea that you can design on a computer, or scan a real life object into a computer and then print it in 3D is mind blowing. Youtube search '3D printer wrench" (youtube's blocked at work for me).

[Predicto]

I would venture to guess that the plastic a Glock is made out of and the plastic a 3d printer can manipulate are probably not of the same properties. I'd be scared to shoot one off a printer.

3D printers generally use carbon, not plastic.

[Elessar78]

I'm quite fond of the FN 5-7 too. It does have durability issues, but for accuracy and performance it's a lot of fun to shoot.. very accurate, very light, Mostly all plastic too.

shoot (no pun intended), if I were a bad guy I'd only need the thing to work once!

[Arasmus]

Only the lower receiver on the Glock is plastic, the upper receiver (where all the boom happens) is tenifer coated steel.

[twa]

Only the lower receiver on the Glock is plastic, the upper receiver (where all the boom happens) is tenifer coated steel.

mere details, not like that matters;)

it's a plastic gun!!!!....Danger Will Robinson Danger

[Slateman]

So a plastic printer is capable of making a device (out of plastic) which is capable of withstanding and properly channeling the energy of an explosion in an enclosed environment? I've seen a gun made out of steel have the bore explode because somebody had done their own reloads and put too high of a grain in the round (as low as 260 instead of 160). And while those were rifles I've always assumed it is scaled for pistols and that the only materials which were practical in such weaponry were those made out of harder materials than plastic.

How does this even work?

It doesn't. The lower receiver is made of a polymer. The upper receiver, barrel, and bolt carrier group are all still metal. Typical terrible reporting. Harkens back to the days when Glocks were dangerous because they could get past metal detectors.

[Cept One]

Traditionally produced guns made of plastic have been available for some time. The Glock 9mm is made of Plastic for example.

When these guns came on the market I remember law enforcement agencies lobbied the manufactures to put metal components into the guns so they would be detectable with airports scanners... Not sure how that worked out though. There was no performance reason for the guns to contain metal and earliest models did not have any medal..

This is 100% false. The media did report that in the 80's out of sheer ignorance but it is not true. There is no plastic known to man that can withstand 35,000 psi (9mm SAAMI Specs)... not to mention that even if the barrel could withstand the pressure the riffling in the barrel would be unable to cut into the copper jacket of the bullet.

[ThisOneGoesTo11]

Some crazy info in here... Glocks are about 83% steel.:secret:

[No_Pressure]

Yeah the load bearing parts of a glock are not plastic. I own one. Plastic cannot withstand the pressure generated from firing a bullet which was the cause of my confusion- even if a plastic could be made which was capable of standing up to that power, chances are you couldn't just use it with any 3d printer and it would be a plastic made from a very difficult process. The post which described the fact that additional parts were bought from other sources and placed into what is essentially a grip and trigger assembly made from a 3d printer makes the most sense.

[twa]

This is 100% false. The media did report that in the 80's out of sheer ignorance but it is not true. There is no plastic known to man that can withstand 35,000 psi (9mm SAAMI Specs)... not to mention that even if the barrel could withstand the pressure the riffling in the barrel would be unable to cut into the copper jacket of the bullet.

What if it uses plastic bullets and unicorn farts for propulsion?

Would probably still not work w/o a steel spring in the magazine

[Fergasun]

What a mis-leading headline. I thought that the government had seized his 3-D printer. I clicked through to see that it's not your headline JMS, so I don't fault you. Headline should be something like, "Company Leasing 3-D Printer Used to Make 3-D Printable Gun Covering their Liabilities". Or "Designer of 3-D Printable Gun Gets Printer Taken Back: Leasing Company Not Happy with Use".

[Cept One]

What if it uses plastic bullets and unicorn farts for propulsion?

Would probably still not work w/o a steel spring in the magazine

even airsoft guns use metal barrels...

You can add the springs that propel the striker/ hammer, firing pin, trigger return and the sear to a list of parts that have to be made of hardened steel.

[Madison Redskin]

A fair amounts of guns have lowers constructed almost entirely out of plastic.