"Wiki Weapon" Founder Wants to Build the Google of 3-D Printed Guns

[Surenas]

The Texas law student behind a project to build a fully 3-D printed gun has a new venture: a search engine for gun parts and other 3-D printable contraband.

In Austin this evening, Cody Wilson of the nonprofit Defense Distributed is announcing a new, for-profit startup called Defcad, which he envisions as a repository for 3-D printing blueprints that established 3-D printing sites won’t touch. He’s hoping to raise $100,000 over the next 30 days to make Defcad.com a reality.

The site would build on the makeshift database that Wilson and co. built at Defcad.org in response to Brooklyn-based MakerBot’s December decision to remove all designs for firearm components from the Thingiverse, its popular online marketplace for 3-D printed goods. Those included a blueprint for the lower receiver of an AR-15, billed as a way for people to put together a working gun without having to obtain a license.

“It’s still legal in America to make guns and have gun parts, but Thingiverse took those files down from its site,” Wilson told me. “So when we get to the interesting battles that are yet to come—DMCA takedown requests, physical DRM—we know those people will fold. That’s why we want to build this infrastructure early. And search is a viable way to do it.”

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_te...gun_parts.html

[RangerChallenge]

I think 3D printing is the future but couldn't creating entire plastic guns lead to an increase in crime and terrorism?

Make a plastic pistol, murder someone, then melt it down.

Carry a plastic pistol through security and use it on a plane.

Etc.

It seems the technology has endless limits which is sort of scary.

[Chiptox]

I think 3D printing is the future but couldn't creating entire plastic guns lead to an increase in crime and terrorism?

Make a plastic pistol, murder someone, then melt it down.

Carry a plastic pistol through security and use it on a plane.

Etc.

It seems the technology has endless limits which is sort of scary.

3D printers aren't cheap. If you wanted to commit a crime with a weapon it would be easier to just go out and buy the real article.

The reality is that pretty much any industrial process could be used to manufacture a weapon. It's like saying that CNC machine tools are dangerous because someone could use them to make weapons. They could... but it's not practical.

[Ought Six]

Reminds me of 'Pallas', by L. Neil Smith.

[dave81]

The reality is that pretty much any industrial process could be used to manufacture a weapon. It's like saying that CNC machine tools are dangerous because someone could use them to make weapons. They could... but it's not practical.

A completely plastic gun is absolutely practical for getting through a metal detector.

[James]

I think 3D printing is the future but couldn't creating entire plastic guns lead to an increase in crime and terrorism?

Make a plastic pistol, murder someone, then melt it down.

Carry a plastic pistol through security and use it on a plane.

Etc.

It seems the technology has endless limits which is sort of scary.

Significant portions of any firearm and ammunition will continue to require metal.

[James]

A completely plastic gun is absolutely practical for getting through a metal detector.

A completely plastic gun wouldn't function.

[Ought Six]

Significant portions of any firearm and ammunition will continue to require metal.

While there are alternate materials to metals on the horizon (like engineered ceramics), I do not see any new materials that are going to work in a 3D printer with the strength, heat resistance and other qualities necessary for critical parts like the barrel and bolt.

[RangerChallenge]

While there are alternate materials to metals on the horizon (like engineered ceramics), I do not see any new materials that are going to work in a 3D printer with the strength, heat resistance and other qualities necessary for critical parts like the barrel and bolt.

It wouldn't have to function for thousands of rounds. You could probably make something that would last for 3 mags maybe even less, but that still is significant damage, especially if you have multiple weapons.

[Ought Six]

It wouldn't have to function for thousands of rounds. You could probably make something that would last for 3 mags maybe even less, but that still is significant damage, especially if you have multiple weapons.

No, you could not make a barrel out of plastic that would last for even a single shot of .22LR or .410. The chamber pressures and heat are just too high for such materials. The chamber would rupture or the chamber locking mechanism would fail for sure. That would be extremely unpleasant for the user. Even the 3D-printed .22LR AR-15 upper & lower receiver a guy built and assembled with metal parts self-destructed after a few rounds, and all the real strain was on the steel bolt and barrel. It would take a real breakthrough in 3D-printable materials to get something strong enough to make a complete 3D-printed firearm that would work at all.

[[WDW]Megaraptor]

The real near-term implications are that this guy may have made magazine size bans impractical.

[Ought Six]

The real near-term implications are that this guy may have made magazine size bans impractical.

Beyond that, think of the commercial and economic implications. A lot of companies make their living selling molded plastic stuff. A very large portion of China's exports consist of such products. When 3D printers become cheap enough for the average consumer to buy, those companies will all go out of business. That of course includes companies like Magpul.

[Surenas]

Beyond that, think of the commercial and economic implications. A lot of companies make their living selling molded plastic stuff. A very large portion of China's exports consist of such products. When 3D printers become cheap enough for the average consumer to buy, those companies will all go out of business. That of course includes companies like Magpul.

I beg to differ. No potential 3D printer could in my opinion ever substitute mass-produced goods, economically.

[santana]

Make your own Gun with a 3D Printer

[santana]

And the debate is going on