james m Posted July 11, 2011 Report Share Posted July 11, 2011 Now you can have that 21 Thompson you've always wanted. How?? Just go here and print one. Absolutely amazing!! Jim http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZboxMsSz5Aw...be_gdata_player Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClevelandShooter Posted July 11, 2011 Report Share Posted July 11, 2011 Same thought I had. Jay Leno has one He uses to make obsolete parts. Real slick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james m Posted July 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2011 My question: Is this real?? Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Henley Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 My question: Is this real?? Jim Only if you suspend the laws of physics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giantpanda4 Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 Yes, it is a real process that makes plastic replicas. But remember it is only a plastic replica. Also they did a lot of editing on the data they scanned to create the model. I have had some made, and my kid used a similar technology to make several 1911 brass catchers. When they perfect the steel part one... I'll buy it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
full auto 45 Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 Yes, it is real. We just got one at our shop. It is not all the way set up yet. We had someone doing them for us for a while. It is just now really out to the general public. Very freakin' cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUTTERRATT Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 Is it just me or does the handle on the replica cresent wrench look a litte bowed ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjb1 Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 You can get metal parts in a similar way (Direct Metal Laser Sintering). Here is a Youtube video about the process: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88BPmL8cGAo...feature=related Joel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyfivecal Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 the military has what they call a "mobile parts hospital", using a laser and powdered metal, they can create or repair parts in the field using CAD files with the correct dimensions, currently they still need to finish machine or grind the parts, as they say they are within .015 " tolerance of true size. one day the additive approach to machining will replace the method of removing steel to achieve the diesired part. laser sintering with metal is as mentioned, a very similar concept to the thread topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSMGguy Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 Easily the most amazing thing I've ever seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimFromFL Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 Hmmm, could it make ammo too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sculptor Posted July 13, 2011 Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 (edited) Here is a laser sintering printing process that produces the finished object in any metal you may wish for. I have had sculpture cast using bronze and it is amazing. Dick Sorry I missed the above post. But having had sculpture produced with this process I find it amazing and very much less expensive. Here is the piece I had produced with sintering. The piece was cast into a rubber mold and then sintered. Dick Edited July 13, 2011 by Sculptor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james m Posted July 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 Here is a laser sintering printing process that produces the finished object in any metal you may wish for. I have had sculpture cast using bronze and it is amazing. Dick Sorry I missed the above post. But having had sculpture produced with this process I find it amazing and very much less expensive. Here is the piece I had produced with sintering. The piece was cast into a rubber mold and then sintered. Dick Since you're had 1st hand experience Sculptor in your opinion could a part be made this way that twould be strong and durable enough to use in a firearm? Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sculptor Posted July 13, 2011 Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 Jim. The bronze pieces that were made for me were old technology and they were very strong. I think the laser sintering would be very strong since the powder is welded at the micron level. Dick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjb1 Posted July 13, 2011 Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 A colleague of mine was in on the development of one of the laser sintering techniques (research sponsored by Los Alamos National Lab). Several years ago he was making parts from tungsten in very complex shapes to demonstrate the capability of the process. If you can make things from tungsten, you can make them from most any metal. It was a purely additive process and did not require the tub of metal powder as the above processes do. You could see all of the part gradually appear as the laser sintering proceeded. It was hypnotic to see a video of a part just "grow" slowly from a flat surface. This technique may have eventually wound up in the "mobile parts hospital" for the military. Joel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james m Posted July 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 (edited) Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I'm getting the distinct impression that a Thompson SMG could be made using this process and out of a viable metal. In other words when finished you could assemble it into a working gun and it would be accurate down to the smallest detail? I wonder if the BATF would consider this "manufacturing?" This could get interesting since it's a printing process and the 1st Amendment guarantees us the right to "Freedom of the press". Jim Edited July 13, 2011 by james m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest title ii Posted July 14, 2011 Report Share Posted July 14, 2011 (edited) Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I'm getting the distinct impression that a Thompson SMG could be made using this process and out of a viable metal. In other words when finished you could assemble it into a working gun and it would be accurate down to the smallest detail? I wonder if the BATF would consider this "manufacturing?" This could get interesting since it's a printing process and the 1st Amendment guarantees us the right to "Freedom of the press". Jim :agree: I was thinking the exact same thing! Wouldn't it technically be open season to "printing" new machine guns sine the FOPA of 86 addressed the word "manufacturing for civilian consumption after May 19, 1986" and thus would not apply to "printed machine guns"?... Any lawyer or judge types care to comment for any insights on how something like this would play out in a court of law? Would case law prevail in swaying the judge/jury to find the defendant guilty since the prosecutor would use "manufactured" machine guns as a comparison since the printed versions would be basically a functional printed copy version? Or would they find the defendant innocent on a technicality due to the wording of current statutes and let him register it in accordance with the 1934 law? Printed Machine Gun vs United States of America Edited July 14, 2011 by title ii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyfivecal Posted July 14, 2011 Report Share Posted July 14, 2011 Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I'm getting the distinct impression that a Thompson SMG could be made using this process and out of a viable metal. In other words when finished you could assemble it into a working gun and it would be accurate down to the smallest detail? I wonder if the BATF would consider this "manufacturing?" This could get interesting since it's a printing process and the 1st Amendment guarantees us the right to "Freedom of the press". Jim Jim- legal issues aside , while you could laser sinter metal TSMG parts, i can think of 2 issues that would make the concept problematic. first, laser sintering would not generate a part accurate to the smallest detail, it would require machining to achieve the close tolerances necessary for a Thompson to function, the receiver for example. and second, i'm not sure the finished part would stand up to the dynamic forces involved in firing the gun, the receiver could be prone to stress fatigue from the bolt cycling. there are many issues yet to be resolved with metal laser sintering, heat bloom for example. on intricate portions of the work piece, as the laser transits from one geometric dimension to another, the laser can spend more time in that area ( think the interior corners of a TSMG receiver ), the result being a different hardness than on the flat open areas, an overheated area, just where it would be prone to cracking. don't get me wrong, the technology is amazing, the hand held laser coordinate measuring device shown in the youtube video is a marvel in itself, imagine how handy that would be to make accurate measurements, although there is a bit of slight of hand in the video, the laser can only measure what it "see's", so a working crescent wrench, one that moves, would require more information than what a simple red laser scan would detect. stereo lithography, what the base concept for "printing" is called, has been around for about 20 years, my Dad was a pattern maker, and rapid prototyping was coming on line just as he retired, that where i first heard of it. the military also benefits in that laser sintering can also repair a part, rather than make a new one, cracks cen be repaired, a missing tooth on a gear can be replaced, as stated above, the metal is bonded at the molecular level so the new tooth becomes part of the gear.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adlake Posted July 14, 2011 Report Share Posted July 14, 2011 Hello all I'm thinking Kahr arms should have this, perhaps we will have drums that work a little better out of the box.-Adlake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james m Posted July 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2011 (edited) From what I'm gleaning out of the above replies; we are perhaps 1 evolutionary step away from being able to "print" a usable Thompson SMG. I do think based upon what I've learned that if you started with stripped down individual components it would be possible to assemble the printed results into a functional Thompson but probably not one in shootable condition. It would be interesting if someone who has access to this technology took a non full auto. weapon to avoid potential trouble such as a Colt 45 pistol for example and attempted this. I for one would like to see the end result. Jim Edited July 14, 2011 by james m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emmagee1917 Posted July 14, 2011 Report Share Posted July 14, 2011 Hummm....this isn't too far off from the scene in " The Fifth Element " where she gets "re-knitted " from a few sample cells / DNA . Just on the tube a couple of nights ago. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roland, Headless Thompson Gunner Posted July 15, 2011 Report Share Posted July 15, 2011 This is amazing, intriguing and scary. Just think where this technology will be in 2, 3, 5 years. Do you doubt that the Chinese are scanning everything we produce? Forget about reverse engineering, why bother. Oh I know, its just plastic, for now, but 10 years ago if I told you I could sell you a device that could pinpoint your location anywhere on the earth for less than $100 and its on sale at Costco you'd say yeah right. How long before they can reproduce a cheeseburger, taste and all, a la Star Trek? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merry Ploughboy Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 Currently the University of Netherlands has the technology to produce genetically engineered beef (GEB). The GEB does not have the texture of bovine produced beef, and the GEB is currently cost prohibititve. In some respects, similar to making diesel fuel from bio-mass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUTTERRATT Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 I wonder if you made a 21 Thompson and put real springs in it if the first round would detonate, And if it did just how big would the KABOOM be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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