I don't know anything about engineering, I'm actually majoring in economics but I'm just thinking about the implications of people having 3d printing in their homes.

Would it be conceivable for one of these relatively affordable home 3d printers to work with high performance plastics and make an AK-47 for example?

> Would it be conceivable for one of these relatively affordable home 3d printers to work with high performance plastics and make an AK-47 for example?

Yes. It probably would be more efficient though, to take an existing weapon, and convert it to fully automatic, than to create it from scratch.

I'm skeptical. There are more suitable guns to build a plastic receiver for.
[www.surplusrifle.com]

Good luck printing a barrel without laser sintering.

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 05/07/2010 04:31PM by JohnnyCooper.

Don't worry I am just working on a reprappable bullet proof vest. I shall post it up on thingiverse when its complete.

I am having trouble though extruding kevlar....can anyone help?

JohnnyCooper Wrote:
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> I'm skeptical. There are more suitable guns to
> build a plastic receiver for.
> [www.surplusrifle.com]
> s1/index.asp
>
> Good luck printing a barrel without laser
> sintering.

The question was, "Is it concievable..." I believe I remain firm as "Yes" to this question. I share your skepticism about questions implied by this question.... but,... consider the answer to this question: "If a very group of 100 very smart people took 100 RepRaps, lots of high quality plastic, high energy chemicals and explosives, and spent full time working on the problem of making a weapon having destructive and usability along the lines of an AK47 --- would it be a matter of time before they produce a usable device, or would they ultimately fail in their efforts?" Note that nothing in this prevents them from using the RepRap devices to create greater generation machines with greater capabilities...

It's a much different question to ask whether it is likely to happen anytime soon, to which I would say, "No, not likely".

Yes it's possible and I designed one for the thingiverse contest. I didn't finish it in time and it requires a makerbot with higher resolution in order to make some of the parts, but it is indeed possible to make most of the structure from a plastic makerbot can't print yet. This includes the bullets too. I'd recommend making the barrel out of metal, this is not necessary however. Though the bullets do require a piece of metal for one of the components.

The device has some caveats that limit it's practicality and use as a weapon. It might make a good HEAP gun though(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaust_Education_and_Avoidance_Pod). Though it should have a firing rate comparable to a minigun(which has me worried).

It's also scary enough for me to not post it on thingiverse unless a zombie apocalypse occurs. I'm not sure the world's ready for something like this yet.

martinprice2004 make the vest from ceramic, the device I designed might be capable of piercing kevlar type bullet proof vest. Ceramic is also easier to obtain than kevlar.

I don't know anything about engineering, I'm actually majoring in economics but I'm just thinking about the implications of people having 3d printing in their homes.

Would it be conceivable for one of these relatively affordable home 3d printers to work with high performance plastics and make an AK-47 for example?

Yes it is conceivable that we can RepRap weapons, either using the current state of the art or by extending the RepRap tooling and materials science base.

However, it goes against our ... community guidelines ... to host weapons designs or engage in weapons research.
[reprap.org]

This is not the first time this subject has come up, and I see that it is running along rails like usual. ... "we'd need better materials and processes" ... "it is easier with traditional machine tools" ... and so on and so forth. I have not yet seen the link to that webpage somewhere that explains how to make a semiautomatic out of easily-sourced pipe but I imagine I'd just have to be patient.

The internet hosts dozens of forums on making and using guns and so on, some by enthusiasts and some by survivalists and some by people who really are worried that the government is going to take all their nice guns away. Which means I'm going to be a highhanded censor and lock this thread. Because this thread is turning into weapons research.

If you'd care to argue about my (and RepRap's) behavior or start a policy debate you're welcome to do so in the Library Administration, Announcements, and Policy forum.
[dev.forums.reprap.org]

And if you'd like me to teach you or your children how to make a molotov cocktail, garrote, shiv, blackpowder "blunderbuss", or car bomb, please drop me an email to request my billing rates. I'm willing to sell out my ethics, but I'm not cheap.

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Sample (prices are suggested)

2000 USD to help you make a blackpowder blunderbuss/pipebomb if you'd like to kill your neighbor because you think he's a Spetnatz/ATF/UN agent. (pick 2)
10000 USD if you just want to kill him because he's got a bigger television or his chihuahua keeps pissing on your azaleas.
50000 USD if you're a 4th grader and you and your class want to design and fabricate a bunch of ceramic derringer pistols with ergonomic grips, triggers, and safeties to fit a ten-year-old child's hand.

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This is a much more interesting group design project:
[reprap.org]
[forums.reprap.org]

Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 05/07/2010 10:40PM by SebastienBailard.

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-Sebastien, RepRap.org library gnome.

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Remember, you're all RepRap developers (once you've joined the super-secret developer mailing list), and the wiki, RepRap.org, [reprap.org] is for everyone and everything!

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