New 3D printer - Trying out some designs

[Wombat of Doom]

The Gatalog – The Gatalog

 

[RBB4ME]

Friday, I received a new 3D printer to play with. This is my 1st foray into 3D printing and design. I set the printer up Saturday morning and after a few YouTube videos and trial and error was able to do a test print of the included rabbit figurine.
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Hey! That's pretty cool!

So, next thing was to try to design something myself. There is a free site by AutoDesk called TinkerCAD for doing simple designs, so I created an account and went to work. it took several hours and a few versions, but I was able to design a storage box for my CMMG .22LR bolt conversion. 14 hours later............

TaaDaa! A box with a slide-lock lid to hold my bolt.

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And it holds the AR15 bolt while I am using the conversion.
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Before, I just used cardboard tubes, and they are probably cheaper and more durable, but I made this (my 2nd print and 1st self-designed item), so I am a little proud of it.
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Do any of you do 3D printing and have some interesting prints to share? Maybe we need a "What did you print today" thread.

Well, I am downloading Fusion3D to start teaching myself how to do some more advanced designs. Wish me luck!

No Benchy Boat? I thought that was a right of passage for new 3D printer owners…

 

[Gbirk]

No Benchy Boat? I thought that was a right of passage for new 3D printer owners…

I did one not long after getting the printer, but honestly it was a bit anticlimactic. The printer ran pretty well out of the box, so it came out fine. It was not until I started playing with other filaments and speeds that I had to start running tests to make things work, and Benchys just take too long to print. Current 3D printing technology is a big lesson in patience. There are some things I have printed that I could have had delivered by Amazon quicker!

 

[Gbirk]

The Gatalog – The Gatalog

That is pretty cool. I have spent a bit of time on Odysee where most of the links point, but having an index is really awesome as searching is not great there.

 

[Gbirk]

3D printer go brrrrrrr....... I know, I know, don't post the ghost guns. it is perfectly leagal and I am already on all the lists, so whatever.

 

[Gprm1911]

3D printer go brrrrrrr....... I know, I know, don't post the ghost guns. it is perfectly leagal and I am already on all the lists, so whatever.

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As a curiosity, is cottage firearms manufacturing a viable industry?
or is it overburdened by prohibitive licensing requirements?

 

[Dust2Dollars]

Well....
That bunny looks like it would be a nice target if nothing else!!
How about a box that holds 50 .22 rimfire properly?
Mark Sr

 

[Member 34319]

3D printer go brrrrrrr....... I know, I know, don't post the ghost guns. it is perfectly leagal and I am already on all the lists, so whatever.

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That didn't take long at all!

 

[Gbirk]

That didn't take long at all!

It is important to have priorities in the right order.

 

[arakboss]

It is important to have priorities in the right order.

Have you tried making any bullets?

 

[Wombat of Doom]

As a curiosity, is cottage firearms manufacturing a viable industry?
or is it overburdened by prohibitive licensing requirements?

overburdened by ITAR and other regulations IMO

 

[Gbirk]

Have you tried making any bullets?

Probably not in the way you are thinking, but there may be a 37mm flare gun in my future with 3D printed signalling loads.

Not my print, but this is what I am working on printing. It is a tough one though as the tolerances are pretty tight. Lots of printed parts and some hardware store parts for the barrel and springs and such. There are 3D printed designs for ammo for this as well.

 

[Ginocide]

As a curiosity, is cottage firearms manufacturing a viable industry?
or is it overburdened by prohibitive licensing requirements?

If you make with intent to sell, you are an FFL so it comes with all the requirements that implies. You basically become a manufacturer with licensing requirements akin to Ruger or Remington.

 

[bolus]

Have you tried making any bullets?

I cant find it right now but there is a guide to making ammo in very inhospitable countries that still have access to hardware stores. Its a last resort sort of guide since they make everything - casing, shells, primers, powder, etc from stuff found in hardware stores.

 

[Wombat of Doom]

I cant find it right now but there is a guide to making ammo in very inhospitable countries that still have access to hardware stores. Its a last resort sort of guide since they make everything - casing, shells, primers, powder, etc from stuff found in hardware stores.

It is in the FGC MK 2 download files

 

[Gbirk]

Well....
That bunny looks like it would be a nice target if nothing else!!
How about a box that holds 50 .22 rimfire properly?
Mark Sr

I have not printed any of them yet, but Ammo Boxes of all calibers are very popular items.

Printables

www.printables.com

Search Thingiverse - Thingiverse

Download files and build them with your 3D printer, laser cutter, or CNC. Thingiverse is a universe of things.

www.thingiverse.com

 

[red442joe]

Thanks. Looking around the Internet at 3D printing forums, the 3D printing world seems to be split into two camps; decorative and functional. The decorative camp focuses on superior print quality and tends to make figurines and trinkets. Some of the stuff they make is just incredible. You see this a lot in the people making cosplay items. Truly artistic. The functional group tends to be more about strength and function in their prints. As with everything there is crossover and balance, but I find the most joy in making something useful which is good because I don't have an artistic bone in my body. I like it to look good, but not necessarily perfect. In the safe rest you can clearly see the layer lines in the end result, but they don't look too bad. The decorative camp would see that as unacceptable, but for me that is perfectly fine as it does not look awful and still works perfectly well.

Form Follows Function.

Joe

 

[Deavis]

I feel like I always have to pull a gun out of the safe to reach what I want to shoot, and then I have to find somewhere to put it or more likely lean it precariously against something in the closet. Well I put my beginner design skills to to work and came up with a "Safe rest" (see what I did there?).

It is a rifle support that fits to the edge of my safe and has some neodymium magnets on the back to hold it in place.
There is so much to learn, not just in how to make the printer work well, but 10x that in how to use design tools and specifically design for thew 3D printer. I "only" had to print this one 3 times before I had it come out correctly.

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Put these in the classified.

Id like to buy a six pack!

 

[Gbirk]

Well, I took the jump to step up my 3D tools recently. Upgraded from an Ender 3S1 to a new Bambu Labs X1 Carbon with the AMS. Wow, this thing is amazing. I can now basically hit print and go with amazing results instead of spending hours "calibrating" the printer to get 1/2 way decent results, and the AMS makes multi color prints or diffrent support interface materials so easy. Crazy how big of change the X1 was to the 3D printing community.

Before:


After:



I have also added a couple non-firearm prints to my gun stuff since I started this tread.

I printed a magnetic Hygrometer mount to put in the safe to keep an eye on the humidity.


Also, the "coin driver" is pretty awesome for changing batteries in scopes and red dots.


I know a few people asked about buying some of the things I posted, and with the old Ender 3 I was just not confident enough to sell anything, but with the new printer and experiance under my belt I might consider some small batches. PM me if anything interests you. My design skills are still basic, so custom design work is probably still beyond my ability. Fusion 360 is just hard to learn, but I am slowly progressing.

 

[Mike Bieker]

Check out what I printed!!! Just Google Derringer and you will find the file for download for $11.00. Chambered Barrel are available on ebay $24.00. I have spring kits for the hammer, trigger, and breach lock for $9.99.