Technology dooming gun control?

[Cybrludite]

An interesting post over at Popehat

[HTRN]

Yeah, RobertaX had two similar posts recently, the latter linking to Popehat's link.

What I found interesting about the Popehat article, is they gave credit to everybody under the sun for bringing manufacturing to the masses( ), but they neglected the 3 most important ones(2 everybody knows, the third - probably not).

Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs companies brought us cheap powerful computers, something that's vital for hobby CNC. Without them, computers would still cost big money, sit on their own floors in office buildings, and would be used for such fun things as accounting, and databases.

The third big name is John Parsons, the man who basically invented what we now think of as CNC back in the early 50s(yes ladies, computer controlled machine tools predate the transistor!). Initially made for the machining of aircraft parts, CNC really didn't trickle down to the jobshop level until the 80s, because of high costs(due in part to high cost of control components, which is where Bill and Steve come in).

Now, about "replicators" destroying gun control..

Don't bet on it.

Rapid Prototyping(the proper name for the technology, not "3D printing") has been around awhile - I remember my school just getting an Stereolythography machine just as a I was about to graduate. It cost them about a quarter million dollars. Nowadays, extruder based additive fabricators intended for hobbiest like RepRap and Makerbot have made the tech accessible to anybody with a decent job - Makerbot for instance, can be bought full assembled for 2500 bucks.

But here's the problem - everybody focuses on the first word of the name "Rapid" and forgets the second "Prototype". They don't make anything useful. They never have. About the closest they've come is the socalled sintered metal STL machines, but they have a pricetag in the stratosphere, and the parts make sandcastings look like polished billet. They're all hoping sometime in the very near future, they'll be able to churn out usuable parts.

Why? Especially when CNC hobby mills can be had only slightly more money(I've seen chinese gantry mills for under 4 grand), and able to do usable parts today?

I think it's because the RP machines are more novice friendly - they don't require you to know things like what G code is, what speeds and feeds mean, what machine shop practice is, and why it's important. It's an entirely foreign skill set that may take a fair bit of time and money to learn.

[JohnOC]

Look also to services like http://www.ponoko.com/

They don't offer CNC milling, yet. They do offer CNC routing, laser cutting, and 3d rapid prototyping. Do up your design in Inkscape, solidworks, blender, autodesk, or others. Upload it to the website. Pay a fee for the machine time and the materials. Receive parts shipped to you.

[Steamforger]

I would be pleasantly surprised if that little Sherline CNC can mill out an AR receiver.

[HTRN]

They do offer CNC routing, laser cutting, and 3d rapid prototyping. Do up your design in Inkscape, solidworks, blender, autodesk, or others. Upload it to the website. Pay a fee for the machine time and the materials. Receive parts shipped to you.

It's called a Jobshop.

The difference is, they're catering to individuals, wanting onesie, twosies, Bigbluesaw is basically doing the same thing, only with their own online design applet. The reason most jobshops won't deal with "retail" vs. commercial customers is, Joe schmoe walks in off the street wants a hole drilled, and then screams bloody murder when you tell em it cost a hundred bucks - "But's just one hole!" Meanwhile, said shop could be using their time to get that 300,000 dollar order they just got out, rather than deal with a whiner who doesn't understand that the price he got was at cost.

[George guy]

If 3D printers can't quite make anything useful yet, they can at least make stuff out of chocolate.

[Durham68]

How long before we can afford a printer that will print an AR lower well enough for a parts kit to fit?

[Rich Jordan]

There's a fellow on one of the Jeep boards using a 3D printer to make custom scoops and adapters to allow cold air induction from the grille area on some Jeep models (Liberty for certain). The polymer used is apparently holding up pretty well for the folks that have bought them, and measurable improvements over stock are claimed.

[HTRN]

How long before we can afford a printer that will print an AR lower well enough for a parts kit to fit?

For one that can fire once? Right now.

For one that has a service life approaching that of a conventional lower? Not for the forseeable future, and going by past trends, not anytime soon.

[Captain Wheelgun]

How long before we can afford a printer that will print an AR lower well enough for a parts kit to fit?

For one that can fire once? Right now.

For one that has a service life approaching that of a conventional lower? Not for the forseeable future, and going by past trends, not anytime soon.

Perhaps use the 3D printer to make a wax pattern for lost-wax casting? There may be people doing this already, though not specifically for gun parts.