SHIGGSHOGG
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2023
A printed part and printer are far cheaper and more dimensionally accurate than any casting, unless we're talking a pressurized high end injection mold with Zamak. Although 3D materials are not as strong as forged 7075 aluminum or heat treated tool steel, you can still do a lot with them.
Look at basically every striker pistol in the last 20 years, the P90, and probably a bunch of others I don't know about. They're made of presumably GF Nylon or Zytel, but you simply just make shit thicker and make it out of weaker materials, like the Hoffman lowers. We even have relatively affordable machines like the SV06 that can print CF and GF Nylons, so we're able to get pretty close to factory guns in many ways. That filament is pretty expensive at $60 or so a KG, but that's nothing when you compare it to actually buying gun parts, something that should be avoided sometimes so we have full DIY designs just in case. Printing isn't perfect, but it has tons more development to come, whereas casting doesn't seem to have a whole lot more to do. Maybe someday we'll be lucky enough for those metal dust printers to be easily accessible for your average person, and you can print a kickass can or whatever else.
To cast a part you pretty much need a printer plus a few hundred bucks of shit that can't be done indoors unless you spend more money on an electric furnace. Making a pattern is really hard and can't really be done without a printer or CNC to any meaningful level, at least for something as intricate as gun stuff. Sure you could do all this, but the quality of guns you make wouldn't be that much better than some dude with a $300 printer and a roll of CF Nylon.
Cast aluminum is also weak as shit and isn't very ductile, and there's really not a way around it. Zamak is heavy and surprisingly good. You'd still need to alter the gun design a lot in order to have a somewhat strong gun, probably to the same level as a printed design. You'd then need to finish the part a lot unless you were able to have a CNC mold where you inject high pressure Zamak, like a Hi Point slide. Ths would require a router with a lot of jigs time, a mill, CNC, or lathe. These would also require at least $100 in cutters as well probably. There's already options for easily machinable receivers where you basically bolt together metal plates.
Like I already mentioned, parts builds are cool and all, but we should come up with full DIY stuff like the FGC9 if we can't get parts, or if you're in the rest of the world besides God's greatest country.
The Hoffman super safeties are made out of either stainless or titanium that are SLS or MJF printed, since that's at least somewhat dimensionally accurate and predictable for shrinkage. This is actually really good and there's good suppressors made this way using titanium and inconel, but they're super fucking expensive. Like half a mil expensive. Powder isn't cheap either, and it requires processing to be reusable.
Look at basically every striker pistol in the last 20 years, the P90, and probably a bunch of others I don't know about. They're made of presumably GF Nylon or Zytel, but you simply just make shit thicker and make it out of weaker materials, like the Hoffman lowers. We even have relatively affordable machines like the SV06 that can print CF and GF Nylons, so we're able to get pretty close to factory guns in many ways. That filament is pretty expensive at $60 or so a KG, but that's nothing when you compare it to actually buying gun parts, something that should be avoided sometimes so we have full DIY designs just in case. Printing isn't perfect, but it has tons more development to come, whereas casting doesn't seem to have a whole lot more to do. Maybe someday we'll be lucky enough for those metal dust printers to be easily accessible for your average person, and you can print a kickass can or whatever else.
To cast a part you pretty much need a printer plus a few hundred bucks of shit that can't be done indoors unless you spend more money on an electric furnace. Making a pattern is really hard and can't really be done without a printer or CNC to any meaningful level, at least for something as intricate as gun stuff. Sure you could do all this, but the quality of guns you make wouldn't be that much better than some dude with a $300 printer and a roll of CF Nylon.
Cast aluminum is also weak as shit and isn't very ductile, and there's really not a way around it. Zamak is heavy and surprisingly good. You'd still need to alter the gun design a lot in order to have a somewhat strong gun, probably to the same level as a printed design. You'd then need to finish the part a lot unless you were able to have a CNC mold where you inject high pressure Zamak, like a Hi Point slide. Ths would require a router with a lot of jigs time, a mill, CNC, or lathe. These would also require at least $100 in cutters as well probably. There's already options for easily machinable receivers where you basically bolt together metal plates.
Like I already mentioned, parts builds are cool and all, but we should come up with full DIY stuff like the FGC9 if we can't get parts, or if you're in the rest of the world besides God's greatest country.
The Hoffman super safeties are made out of either stainless or titanium that are SLS or MJF printed, since that's at least somewhat dimensionally accurate and predictable for shrinkage. This is actually really good and there's good suppressors made this way using titanium and inconel, but they're super fucking expensive. Like half a mil expensive. Powder isn't cheap either, and it requires processing to be reusable.
