14 DAY TRIAL // Just when you thought people had quilted down about 3D-printed guns, it's happening again. This time around though, the circumstances are a bit different. Solid Concepts, a company from Austin, Texas, is announcing that it has created the world's first 3D-printed metal gun.
Unlike the plastic versions before, this is a functioning, serious weapon, modeled in fact after the classic M1911. Solid Concepts has fired some 50 shots with it and it has performed admirably so far.
But before you start worrying that soon everyone will start wearing guns they printed in their garage, there are some things you need to know.
3D printing with metal is not as easy as with plastic. Solid Concepts use a machine worth hundreds of thousands of dollars that needs to be operated by an expert.
The machine uses Selective Laser Sintering, an additive manufacturing technique that is able to create objects from metal powder using a powerful laser, as the name suggests.
The entire gun was created with this technique, though some components were polished out after the process.
"The gun is composed of 30+ 3D Printed components with 17-4 Stainless Steel and Inconel 625 materials. We completed it with a Selective Laser Sintered (SLS) 3D Printed hand grip, because we're kind of crazy about 3D Printing," Solid Concepts explained.
"Laser sintering is one of the most accurate manufacturing processes available, and more than accurate enough to build the 3D Metal Printed interchangeable and interfacing parts within our 1911 series gun. The gun proves laser sintering can meet tight tolerances," it added.
The expertise and equipment needed to build the gun means that people aren't going to start making guns in their homes anytime soon, though, at the same time, it's not hard to imagine that 3D printers will evolve to the point where this is possible.
But Solid Concepts was out to prove a point, namely that 3D printing technology is capable of the precision and quality needed to build a gun. The company has Federal Firearms License, so it can legally build guns. In fact, it boasts that it can accommodate anyone wanting custom gun parts.
