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3D Printers...?


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I'm sitting here watching a Mark Novak "Anvil Gunsmithing" video.  He's working on a Dardick pistol, for which the "Tround" ammunition is about as rare as unicorn whistle teeth.  Well, he came up with an idea for using a 3D printer to create functional cases by "printing" cases that will accept modified .38 Special cases.  

 

Which got me to wondering if any of our folk have/use 3D printers, which might you recommend, and has anyone has come up with any useful products - as opposed to the toys and widgets that the IT guy at work used to decorate his desk.

 

Anyone?  :)

 

 

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I don't have one ..... but I know a fellow shooter who does.

 

 ........ and, courtesy of his generosity, I am the proud owner of a cartridge stand that holds 20 rounds of .45Colt (to take to the loading table) and a couple of 1911 front bushing spanners, one is shaped like a wallaby   :)

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5 minutes ago, Wallaby Jack, SASS #44062 said:

I don't have one ..... but I know a fellow shooter who does.

 

 ........ and, courtesy of his generosity, I am the proud owner of a cartridge stand that holds 20 rounds of .45Colt (to take to the loading table) and a couple of 1911 front bushing spanners, one is shaped like a wallaby   :)

 

Pictures??   Big Grin

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Wonder why he would have to modify it? I remember back when they were making the guns, they sold hollow plastic tround cases that you can stick a 38 Special in. That way you didn't have to buy proprietary ammunition. You could use your reloads.

 

https://thearmsguide.com/4268/weird-gun-wednesday-the-dardick-1500/

 

Cartridge:

Instead of using ordinary cylindrical brass cartridges, the Dardick worked with a proprietary round called the ‘tround’ (Get it? A triangular round), where the internal components—bullet, primer, and powder—were loaded into a triangular plastic cartridge (necessary for a proper fit inside the Dardick’s open cylinder walls). Chamber adapters were made to accommodate normal ammunition, too.

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I have no knowledge of 3D printers, but a friend has one and he has made 1911 grip panels with his, but I haven’t physically seen them.  He’s across the country from me. 

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I'm attracted to the 3D printer.  I see them from $100 on up. But I'm afraid that it'll be another hobby thing I'll start up and keep putting money into and then run out of projects or run out of interest.  Also, they require a program to run.  You'd have to become an expert at 3D CAD to develop the program. How much money and time would it take to be able to develop a 3D model?

 

 

 

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I use a Flash Forge 3D printer. Pretty much entry level. Cheap enough, it was given to me. There are literally 1,000’s of free print programs available on Thingyverse and other 3D sites. There are also 1,000’s of program builds that you have to pay for. If you can navigate windows you can design and build things using a 3D printer. Mine uses a filament but the Mayhem emblem on the one award plaque was built using liquid to print and it is very similar to metal. You can buy filament from places like Matter Hackers where they have literally 1,000s of filament types, colors, sizes, etc..

 

The green cylinder thing is a maze puzzle, interesting for about 3 minutes. The intricate cylinder toothpick holder took a ton of clean up to prep for paint and took lots of time to paint. The Bandidos medallion took about 1 hour and 19 minutes to print. You select the build you want and push a couple of buttons and the print starts and you walk away and come back in an hour or so and it will be finished. 
 

The print bed on this one is pretty small but I’ve been able to print some pretty cool stuff. Mrs. Lose gets tired of my 3 D printed stuff sitting around so most of it ends up out in the shop. If I need something that is pretty custom designed I go to my son in law, who is nearly 3 years older than me and he comes up with the program, since he retired 3D printing is a real obsession with him.

 

The bison skull was printed in three pieces, two horns and the skull and took a little over 15 hours to print. It was printed in the white and the horns were painted and glued on with Super glue. It took quite a bit of clean up also. The revolver cylinder that I use to hold primer tubes took about 8 hours to print. The cat box was about 7 hours and then the clean up and painting. 
 

You’ll notice the blue painters tape on the print bed. That is to help keep the printed item attached to the bed and also protect the bed. Before each build I uses fine sandpaper to rough up the surface to enhance adhesion. About every four or five builds I’ll replace the tape because as you can see it starts to pull up from the bed.

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1 hour ago, Yul Lose said:

Thingyverse

 

I just spent 15 minutes looking through some searches of interest and I found a multitude of items that could be just buy - like reloading trays, Lee dippers, funnels, etc, or something could be "repurposed" or I could just make without a 3D printer.  I haven't found anything that I have to have that really needs a 3D printer to make. 

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4 minutes ago, Warden Callaway said:

 

I just spent 15 minutes looking through some searches of interest and I found a multitude of items that could be just buy - like reloading trays, Lee dippers, funnels, etc, or something could be "repurposed" or I could just make without a 3D printer.  I haven't found anything that I have to have that really needs a 3D printer to make. 

Don’t buy one.

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Can you make a hollow object? Can you make a tube?

 

If you could make a cylindrical tube, then logic says you could make a triangular tube. And if you had a triangular tube with a hole of the right size down the middle, you could shove a 38 Special in the hole and have a tround.

 

I just can't understand why you would have to modify the 38. :huh:

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I had an Ender3 filament printer that was very handy for all sorts of things. When Ender came out with the Ender6 I bought one [upgrading] and sold the 3. I have made gun stands, loading blocks, spent primer funnels, etc. There are 2 types of 3D printers, those using filament and those using resin. Filament is a bit stronger with less detail, while resin is for more delicate and intricate stuff.

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A humorous story about this 3D printed bison skull. I had a visitor at the shop not long after it was printed and they saw the skull and commented that they thought buffalo had bigger heads than that and I told them it was from a miniature buffalo. Not long after that his wife asked me where the miniature buffalo were that the skull came from so that they could go see them. I broke the news to her that it was a 3D print and I smile every time I think about it.

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I don't have or want one, but we occasionally pay a shop with a METAL 3D printer to make prototypes for us. Nearly always cheaper than custom machining for one up. If we like it can move the program to autocad for production.

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My grandson used his Best Buy employee discount to buy one.  Filament was an option suggested for Christmas, I gave him a large Dremel kit. But for his Jan 12 b- day, I got him colored filaments.  I figured he’s likely using the cheapest monotone filaments so a little  color might be a welcome change.

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31 minutes ago, Warden Callaway said:

 

Well,  you put it that way, I may just buy one for no-purpose!  I've done things like that before.  :unsure:

Good!!! You might be surprised what someone of your creative nature might come up with to build on a 3D printer. I find that building something whether it be with my hands and tools in the shop or with the 3D printer is far more satisfying than just ordering something and having it delivered. Those grips that you’re building would have been a lot less satisfying if you’d just ordered them, just saying.:D.

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1 hour ago, Yul Lose said:

Good!!! You might be surprised what someone of your creative nature might come up with to build on a 3D printer. I find that building something whether it be with my hands and tools in the shop or with the 3D printer is far more satisfying than just ordering something and having it delivered. Those grips that you’re building would have been a lot less satisfying if you’d just ordered them, just saying.:D.

 

I have a hard time seeing the analogy.  Having a machine create an object in plastic that anyone else could do compared to taking once live material with warmth and character and making an effort to reshape it into a useful product using hand tools. 

 

Maybe because I worked as a design engineer using CAD, even a CAD instructor and later an application programmer converting CAD models into manufacturing NC data, I reminds me of work that I gladly left behind.

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6 hours ago, Alpo said:

Can you make a hollow object? Can you make a tube?

 

If you could make a cylindrical tube, then logic says you could make a triangular tube. And if you had a triangular tube with a hole of the right size down the middle, you could shove a 38 Special in the hole and have a tround.

 

I just can't understand why you would have to modify the 38. :huh:

 

Shux, I dunno.  Sometimes I think Mark "over-engineers" things, but hey... I don't know enough about 3D printers to more than guess.  As I recall, he "modified" the .38 cases by removing the rims.  Maybe the printer couldn't produce the cavity for the rim?  Mebbe he didn't want to ream it?  I dunno...

 

But heck - click on the link and watch the video ~ it's interesting on the whole, with or without the printer part.  :)

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