General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSure, you *could* print a crappy gun with a 3D printer. (Warning, heartwarming video)
Or, instead, you could do something helpful.
"And we thought, well, why don't we *print* it out for her..."
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)Thanks for posting it.
lumberjack_jeff
(33,224 posts)LuvNewcastle
(16,856 posts)I think it's going to have a huge impact on how we all live. Will the little girl ever be able to use her arms without aid? She's a beautiful child.
GreenStormCloud
(12,072 posts)3-D printers can do both. And the capabilities of such printers is rising while the prices are falling.
Robb
(39,665 posts)The other helps a little girl use her arms.
GreenStormCloud
(12,072 posts)It is only your prejudice that says that printing a gun is evil. BTW - At current technology the most that can be printed are AR-15 lowers, 30 round magazines, and some miscellaneous parts. Complete guns can't be done yet.
Robb
(39,665 posts)Assholes aren't evil, they're just assholes.
TheFutureWillCome
(36 posts)cigarettes, and beer instead of giving all that money away to an organization to help disabled children, but most don't that doesn't mean they are all assholes.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)Robb
(39,665 posts)I wonder if I'll get this post hidden for speaking that truth. Bit of a conundrum for a jury, if you think about it.
Calling him an NRA member is of course accurate, but that has little to do with things. If I call an asshole an asshole, I'd likely get the post hidden for my trouble.
The NRA are true villains, tools of the right wing and anathema to everything liberals and progressives stand for. So calling a DUer an "NRA member" could be seen as an insult, accuracy notwithstanding.
But if it's not an insult -- if a jury chooses not to hide -- then surely GreenStormCloud deserves to be shown the door, being that which is so universally despised and embodying a culture wholly incompatible with DU's terms of service. Or if it *is* an accurate statement, the same situation presents itself.
As I say, quite a pickle.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)But, for some reason rightwing gundamentalists get more deference here than do rightwingers on abortion, marriage equality, labor etc.
MineralMan
(146,329 posts)It's been on DU for a couple of days. It's a throwaway single-shot, but the only metal in it is a nail. It's the modern-day zip gun.
So, you're incorrect, and more such designs will appear, I'm sure. That is the wrong use of this technology.
Erose999
(5,624 posts)bypassing any background check or whatever local ordinannces might restrict someone who isn't supposed to have a weapon from having one.
And unlike Mr. T, I will have no pity for these fools in the event that their plastic guns blow up in their faces causing them great bodily harm.
Canuckistanian
(42,290 posts)The world doesn't need more guns. There are quite enough, thank you.
GreenStormCloud
(12,072 posts)There are many millions of people who disagree with you.
Response to GreenStormCloud (Reply #13)
Post removed
GreenStormCloud
(12,072 posts)I have been here for a few years.
MineralMan
(146,329 posts)Truly.
Response to GreenStormCloud (Reply #13)
Post removed
baldguy
(36,649 posts)3D printed guns have no purpose other than to make deadly weapons more easily available to murderers, terrorists & criminals.
GreenStormCloud
(12,072 posts)I would choose both.
baldguy
(36,649 posts)No? Then you have no need for a plastic gun.
GreenStormCloud
(12,072 posts)I don't have to get your approval. All I have to do is want one and have the money to buy it. As it so happens, I don't want one, but if I did I would buy such a printer.
baldguy
(36,649 posts)GreenStormCloud
(12,072 posts)I don't have to ask Big Brother for permission. I get to want what I want and if I have the money to buy it, I can get it. And you don't get to stop me.
There are some exceptions for which the government has demonstrated an overriding need for government control. So far plastic gun parts are not among them. If I wanted to, I could print an AR-15 lower.
baldguy
(36,649 posts)And nobody is free if any random asshole can arbitrarily take their life away. Making it easier to do that is pure terrorism.
GreenStormCloud
(12,072 posts)It is that I am free to own a gun.
That you are so futilely upset by me owning several guns, and carrying one of them on me, is an added bonus.
What are you going to do about the ability of people to download plans for gun parts and make them at home with additive printers? Nothing? That's what I thought.
baldguy
(36,649 posts)Last edited Wed May 8, 2013, 09:33 AM - Edit history (1)
They force people to live in fear - and where there is fear there can be no freedom.
These guns should be illegal, just like IEDs and child porn. They're easy to make too. We still have laws against making them, because they exist only to cause harm to people. And we treat those who make them as pariahs.
Why? Because people who see this technology & can only think of ways to harm people with it are evil.
edit to add toon:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022813707
Uzair
(241 posts)Why not build a few pipe bombs while you're at it. Freedom! Right to choose!
morningfog
(18,115 posts)Orrex
(63,224 posts)What a beautiful little girl!
Ruby the Liberal
(26,219 posts)ellisonz
(27,711 posts)KatyaR
(3,445 posts)This makes the crap in the world seem a little less crappy. Thanks, Robb.
baldguy
(36,649 posts)Sirveri
(4,517 posts)No real need for a 3d printer there. Though for one shots, it's not a bad deal, still has a 20-30 hour lead time though. My school actually has that same printer... costs about 30k$.
Robb
(39,665 posts)...without stockpiling them.
Sirveri
(4,517 posts)3d printing is a very slow process. I've actually got a part off of a 3d printer that looks identical to the one in the video. 18 hours to print, then you need to submerge them in lye for a while to get the interface plastics off, then you have to clean and reassemble. Add that on to shipping if it's not inside your house (which at 30k it likely isn't).
uncle ray
(3,157 posts)i do it everyday, my job is prototyping orthopedic implants and instruments. there is a heck of a lot more to go wrong with standard machining as well. with a 3d printer, once the machine starts, you can turn the lights off and go home or do something else. to machine it the standard way would require multiple setups, extensive tooling, etc. with an experienced machinist working on it the whole time.
Sirveri
(4,517 posts)You can also shut the lights off and go home with CNC machining, and then it's made of 6061-T6 Aluminum most likely. Not like we're talking hastalloy or something really strange. Drill and cut the entire outer contour, leave 1/8-1/4" on the bottom and then hit the back side with the shell mill. Once the program is written it takes all of 20 minutes. The guy is already running solidworks, toss it into a CAM package like mastercam and grab the G-code, set your tools, and go.
Yeah, you want to do it manually for all those contours using a rotary table, it'll take a long time, I was talking CNC, which is pretty traditional at this point considering we've had it for almost 50 years now.
I could make as many parts, out of an arguably better material, faster, with a traditional CNC machine than a 3D printer can do it.