Be afraid...

[Mike O'Dell]

Do not confuse the Makerbot Replicator with production 3D printers 
operated by service bureaus.
My understanding is that the "printed gun" was produced at a service 
bureau.

Some 3D printers can produce metal parts using laser sintering or laser 
fusion of metal "dust".
NASA is going to flight-test laser-fused components of the J-2X rocket 
engine done with a 3D printer.

Other 3D printers use UV-induced polymerization of resins and the 
resulting structures are
highly cross-linked. Mix some carbon nanotubes in with the resin and the 
resulting composite
can have remarkable properties.

Given that the modulus of elasticity of unidirectional carbon fiber is 
*far* in excess
of stainless steal, filament-wound or tape-wound structures are readily 
capable
of containing the pressures significantly in excess of that in handguns.
Solid-fuel rocket engine casings are one such example.

I am not particularly surprised that this is doable, knowing how 
aggressively
the 3D printing competitors are advancing the state of the art. You 
won't have
a really good one at home any time soon (unless you are a serious 
experimenter
of the sort that, in an alternate universe, would spend $30-50 Grand on a
world-class contesting station), but you can have a 3D printer which is 
the equivalent
of the "5-tube wonder" AM radio. It's not all that far to TV, FM Stereo, 
and Ham Transcievers.

This is one of those things I'm not about to bet against. I might not 
get the "when" right,
but the "if" is much more likely than not.

    -mo




Chip Fetrow wrote:
> I am willing to buy a 3D printer, and print out a gun, if you will 
> agree to shoot it.
>
> This goes way back to the early days of Glock Pistols, where Jack 
> Anderson was stating they were made of plastic,  There were not.
>
> There is no way any plastic, especially plastic squirted out of a 3D 
> printer, could ever contain the pressure of a firearm cartridge.
>
> This is just STUPID!
>
> --chip
>
> On May 6, 2013, at 10:01 PM, tacos-request at amrad.org wrote:
>
>> Message: 1
>> Date: Mon, 06 May 2013 16:48:15 -0600
>> From: Joseph Bento <joseph at kirtland.com>
>> To: tacos at amrad.org
>> Subject: Re: Be afraid...
>>
>> On 5/6/2013 7:20 AM, Phil wrote:
>>> It had to be done? 3D printed firearms.
>>>
>>> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22421185
>>>
>>> Phil M1GWZ
>>
>> To avoid alienating myself from many of my friends, I'll only comment by
>> saying that not all advances in technology benefit the human race.
>>
>> Joe, N6DGY
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