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Can't Find Mags... No Problem... Just Print One


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That is a beautiful thing.

 

I love the idea of products becoming open source print at home.

 

Gouging will be a lot harder in a few years, except for the cost of plastic pellets and whatnot.

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How big are these machines? I'd like to get a few gals I know get a print mold made of them so I can have some fun without the wine-n-dine expenses!

 

You can glue the smaller sections together to make as large of a sex doll as you like.

 

You sick bastard. ;)

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How big are these machines? I'd like to get a few gals I know get a print mold made of them so I can have some fun without the wine-n-dine expenses!

 

You can glue the smaller sections together to make as large of a sex doll as you like.

 

You sick bastard. wink.png

Hell, I didn't even think of the parts I actually won't use. I could really get the plastic pricing down, now that you mention it.

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Once 3D printing becomes capable of high strength alloys I'd like to see the government attempt to try to restrict/ tax/ regulate the production, and possession of anything.

Oh you can bet they will, I suspect it would likely end up like drugs are now. Illegal but readily available to anyone who wish's to purchase.

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You can build a perfectly competent 3d printer that will hook up to your computer via USB, controlled by free open-source software, for less than $500. The resolution isn't the best, but it's fine for making a throw-away magazine body.

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Once 3D printing becomes capable of high strength alloys I'd like to see the government attempt to try to restrict/ tax/ regulate the production, and possession of anything.

 

Remember when Hillary C. Tried to sponsor a bill to tax email?

 

Yeah there is a desktop 3d printer out now. It costs around $2000 I think. There is also a program for a 1-2 shot pistol like the liberators of WW2.

 

 

Similar for simple open source milling tools. My little brother just got a 3 axis cnc mill for a few hundred dollars. It looks pretty solid. You can print your toys and clean em up on the table. Even print your own clamping jigs to hold complex printed shapes into the mill!

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When they become available at a resonable cost, I'm geting one. A couple of good projects would be to make a 10/22 style receiver or an AK style stock for it to make it look like an AK-47. Another one is the Ruger Mark I or II pistols frames or receiver tube.

Edited by uzitiger
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My father-in-law is an Engineer in the plastics industry. He said items "printed" are not nearly as strong as injection moulded things. It is still neat technology although you still need a source for magazine springs if you are going to make them from scratch.

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Ok, people need to hold their horses here a bit. This is the engineering equivalent of hippie medicine. Sure, it sounds great, but does it actually do what you want?

Yeah, it looks great for making polymer mags, and that will address the power of a mag ban, but it won't make metal parts of any sort of strength.

 

Remember the powdered metal controversy? Reputable gun makers used them for parts in some guns, and they usually work, but people don't like them,

and they're limited to minor parts. Plastic certainly would do even less. You can't print metal. Metal is made 4 different ways, casting (pouring liquid into a mold),

that powdered metal way, which is like casting, or forging, where you beat the shit out of a semi molten shape. Or, or "and" you machine it from a bigger shape.

 

A CNC machine is basically a multi axis mill. We've had mills forever, and they are how shit gets done in this country. A 3d printer deposits a polymer in a printing

method. CNC machines cut material from a larger piece, think like whittling from wood. 3D printers make your wood sculpture from sawdust and glue. Even a novice

should be able to understand the difference in structural integrity there, even using the same materials. Also, you can't print something of one strength, then use

it to make something stronger. Doesn't work that way. A steel mill can cut plastic. A plastic mill can't cut steel.

 

If I wanted to make AR mags, I wouldn't get a 3d printer. I'd get a small injection molding machine for the body, the floorplate, and the follower and a small mill.

Order a bunch of springs, like thousands, and some steel plate. Use the mill to make simple molds for the follower, the floorplate, and the body, then make small lots.

Use the mill to clean em up, then assemble. Yeah, they'd be ugly, but they'd work, and I wouldn't be out much more money than for the 3-d printer.

 

There's a reason these are called 3-d printer prototyping machines. They make proof of concept 1:1 models for prototypes. I work in manufacturing, and I have a couple

mechanical engineering degrees, and I'm not trying to sound negative, but this tech isn't the best way of doing what you want.

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^^^yet.

 

And most of us know all that already. It isn't a panacea but what is cool is that small scale tools that do high precision complicated cuts on open source software are now available for under a thousand dollars. They can make parts from plans that can be shared and uploaded that a few years ago would have required a skilled machinist a $350 K multi axis multi tool head mill, and thousands of dollars in CAD software (which you would need to know how to use)

Now you can just buy a $600 3 axis mini CNC mill kit, plug it into your laptop and clamp some materials down and let it go. It is not industrial scale or speed, but it is greatly improved access to for the little guy with a neat idea. For items that lot's of people want, the little guy doesn't even need much understanding beyond clamping things down solidly because someone can make a walkthrough and provide the CNC instructions.... Bolt the sucker down, run plan 1. un bolt the part flip onto it's side. align off of this surface, clamp down. run plan 2..... And now you have a new ______ Just like a betty crocker cake mix. If you can follow directions you can have nice things.

 

 

You can make good springs out of easily obtainable piano wire. I've even looked into suppliers of wire made for springs with different profiles. you can buy a spool of wire, make a mandrill and wrap the wire a fixed # of turns around the mandril take it off, straighten each wrap a bit, and temper it. This is how prototyping for springs is generally done.

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