3D printed gun all plastic

I 3D-Printed a Glock to See How Far Homemade Weapons Have Come

ST. AUGUSTINE, Florida — The fully-automatic “Scorpion” submachine gun can burn through a 30-round clip of 9mm ammo in a matter of seconds with one steady pull of the trigger. It looks, feels, and shoots just like a factory-made gun—except part of this one came off a 3D printer.

According to the Scorpion’s maker, the material used to 3D-print the frame (the heart of the gun, where the metal barrel and other parts all come together) is actually “on par or stronger” than the off-the-shelf equivalent. I’d never fired a full-auto weapon before—let alone one made partly of plastic—and when I took aim and squeezed the trigger, the Scorpion unleashed a wild spray of bullets that missed my target and thumped into a mound of dirt behind the firing range.

The Scorpion was one of many jaw-dropping weapons on display in late June at a Florida event dubbed the “Gun Maker’s Match,” the first-ever shooting competition exclusively for home-assembled firearms. Except for the machine gun, which requires a special federal license, these are a species of “ghost gun,” meaning there are no serial numbers and thus no easy way for authorities to track down the owner or manufacturer.

The shooting contest was put on by a non-profit called Guns For Everyone National, with help from the digital gun building collective Are We Cool Yet? or AWCY, which has been pushing the envelope of what’s possible with 3D-printed arms.

To meet these gunmakers and get a true sense of what 3D-printed guns are capable of these days, I decided to enter the shooting contest in Florida—and build my own ghost gun.

Although the technology has radically evolved in recent years, the best-known 3D-printed gun is still The Liberator, the first one ever created, in 2013. A single-shot, snub-nose pistol, The Liberator resembled a postmodern “Saturday night special,” something just as likely to blow your hand off as fire an actual bullet. These days, beyond the Scorpion, AWCY has created and released plans for a 3D-printed “battle rifle” and under-barrel flare guns that are just a few millimeters away from the military’s “RAMBO” model 3D-printed grenade launcher.

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The most common and controversial ghost guns cost a few hundred dollars online and come “80 percent” finished in a box with all the necessary tools. The sudden proliferation of these cheap, mail-order ghost guns has prompted alarm among law enforcement nationwide. Nearly 24,000 “privately made firearms” were recovered at crime scenes from 2016 to 2020, according to a recently leaked Department of Justice report, and the number of cases where felons and other “prohibited persons” were found with such guns doubled in a single year.

Ghost guns have also turned up in the hands of white supremacists and far-right extremists. A self-proclaimed Boogaloo Boi pleaded guilty last month to possession of 3D-printed machine gun parts and a homemade silencer. The DOJ report, issued June 22 and verified by The Trace, warned of individuals with “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist ideologies” sharing 3D-printed machine gun files.

To meet these gunmakers and get a true sense of what 3D-printed guns are capable of these days, I decided to enter the shooting contest in Florida—and build my own ghost gun.

Only ten states plus Washington, DC, have local laws that attempt to regulate ghost guns. They are virtually unregulated federally, but the Biden administration has proposed new rules that would require serial numbers on certain unfinished parts and restrict mail-order kits, which the president singled out in an April speech at the White House.

“The buyers aren’t required to pass a background check to buy the kit to make the gun,” President Joe Biden said. “Consequently, anyone from a criminal to a terrorist can buy this kit and, in as little as 30 minutes, put together a weapon.”

But building a 3D-printed gun from scratch, as I learned, takes a lot longer than half an hour. And while there’s evidence of extremists and criminals seeking to exploit the untraceability of ghost guns, there is also a nerdy group of designers and tinkerers who insist they are strictly abiding by gun laws and enjoying a “very loud” hobby.

Shopping for the Ghost Gun

Having never owned a 3D-printer or a gun, I started as a blank slate. Rob Pincus, a personal defense instructor and gun rights advocate, agreed to lend expertise and a 3D-printer. He warned the printing and building process would take at least two days, which he said contradicts the notion that it’s easy for people who want to misuse guns to simply 3D-print one.

“You have to want to do it this way,” Pincus said. “I don't know who the person is that falls into the weird zone where they don't want to buy a gun, they can't buy a gun, but they really want a gun and this is the path of least resistance, as opposed to finding somebody to buy a gun for them or buying a gun illegally out of somebody's trunk somewhere.”

My initial aim was to build AWCY’s Scorpion, which can be legally 3D-printed and assembled in semi-auto (one bullet per trigger squeeze) in most places. But Pincus dashed my Scorpion dreams.

For one thing, it takes multiple days of 3D-printing to make one, which was time I didn’t have before the match. There’s also a shortage of ghost gun parts on the internet—in part due to a recent buying spree amid the Biden’s administration efforts to tighten the laws.

Without metal parts, the Scorpion would not work. While 3D-printed plastic is strong enough to serve as the frame of the gun, it won’t hold up as a barrel or bolt. It would also be illegal, since federal law requires guns to have at least one metal component.

The author's 3D-printed Glock 19 9mm pistol with the words "Ghost Gun" on the grip. (Photo by Keegan Hamilton / VICE News)

“You need the metal parts,” Pincus told me. “Technically, could you build one out of all plastic? Yes. Is it going to be reliable and awesome? Probably not.”

I ultimately settled on the Glock 19, as its essential parts were readily available online. The barrel, slide, trigger assembly, and other metal bits cost around $320, shipped directly to the gun range in Florida hosting the match, along with a $23 spool of PLA+ filament. That plus a standard 3D-printer and a couple boxes of 9mm ammo was almost all I needed.

Printing the Gun

The Glock design, along with plans for hundreds of other guns, is accessible through a website called DEFCAD. It’s hosted by a company called Defense Distributed, led by Cody Wilson, inventor of the first 3D-printed gun. The files can be found elsewhere online, but Wilson’s site makes the repository easy to browse in a store-like user interface, and users must pay a $50 annual membership for access.

For years, the U.S. government tried to limit sharing of 3D-printed gun blueprints through the State Department’s powers over international arms exports. Wilson fought back on First Amendment grounds, and in April the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling that indefinitely lifted restrictions on publishing 3D-printed gun blueprints.

When I asked Wilson if U.S. authorities could ever hope to totally block the files from being shared online, he replied: “The government should invent a time machine and kill me seven years ago. It's far too late now. The equipment—the 3D printing, it's so cheap. You can make anything. You can design anything.”

For years, the U.S. government tried to limit sharing of 3D-printed gun blueprints through the State Department’s powers over international arms exports.

Wilson is a polarizing figure in the gun world. In 2018, he was arrested and accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl he met through SugarDaddyMeet.com. He pleaded guilty to injuring a child, a third-degree felony, and received seven years of probation. In addition to hosting 3D-gun files, Wilson also sells a machine called The Ghost Gunner, which helps convert unfinished parts into AR-15s and other guns.

“The files are literally everywhere in a perfect fluid explosion on the internet,” Wilson said. “It's not supposed to be legal, and yet we found a way to make it legal.”

To get the files from Wilson’s site, I had to verify my identity and sign up for a membership, bringing the total gun budget to just under $400, still cheaper than a brand-new Glock. But when my frame came off the printer (a 16-hour process), there were a few glaring differences. For one, mine did not have a serial number; instead it had the words “Ghost Gun” literally printed on the handle. It was also rough around the edges, not yet ready for the metal parts to be inserted.

It took another four hours and change to sand down the plastic using metal filing tools, a drill, and an electric Dremel grinder. Pincus patiently guided me as I stumbled through the process, which was harder than it seemed on the instructional videos I’d seen on YouTube. The finished product was white on the bottom (my “Ghost Gun”-emblazoned frame) and black on top, with a factory-made barrel and slide. Pincus assured me it was safe to test fire.

Shooting the Ghost Glock

On the shooting range, the plastic ghost Glock felt heavy in my hand. There are videos of 3D-printed guns splintering into pieces during test fires, and I was a little nervous as Pincus coached me on posture and grip. I squeezed the trigger and the first round pinged off a metal target 15 yards away. The gun worked, but not perfectly. All the grinding to make the metal parts fit together caused a jamming issue. More work with the Dremel tool helped, and after several more test fires, Pincus deemed the gun ready for competition.

The match in Florida drew around 50 entrants, almost exclusively white and male, with a couple dressed in full-camo. The mood was more carnival than militia gathering, with everyone gawking at each other’s guns and some online-only friends meeting face to face for the first time. There were multiple contest categories, ranging from kit guns to weapons entirely 3D-printed with homemade metal components. Contestants were judged on a combination of speed and accuracy, maneuvering through courses and shooting at stationary targets.

“This is really what we want to be the first of many celebrations of what I call a freedom hobby,” Pincus said, addressing the crowd. “For some of us, it's, ‘Hey, I want to make my own gun. I don’t want the government involved.’ For some of us, it's ‘I want a custom gun that has my logo or my name or my grip angle or whatever’... for other people, it's, ‘I want to create designs that never existed before and share them with all of Earth.’”

Leading the push to create wholly unique 3D-gun designs is Darren “Derwood” Booth, a chain-smoking West Virginian who told me he likes living in a rural area because he can step out his front door and test-fire new designs whenever he pleases. His latest work is called the King Cobra, which is virtually indistinguishable to the untrained eye from a factory-made assault weapon. A 9mm “pistol caliber carbine” like the Scorpion, the King Cobra is totally original and homemade, emblazoned with a skull and lightning-bolts symbol Derwood borrowed from Quentin Tarantino’s film “Death Proof.”

Rob Pincus (right) and Xander Guetzloe, a moderator of the group Are We Cool Yet?, address the crowd at the "Gun Maker's Match" shooting competition in Florida in June 2021. (Photo by Keegan Hamilton / VICE News)

Derwood posts his files online for anyone to download or modify, and says he does not profit from his work. “I haven’t ever made a dime off of it,” he told me. “I've invested thousands just in the hobby, but no, I haven't made a red cent.”

Derwood’s designs are showing up all over the world, including in countries where 3D-printing now threatens to undermine strict gun control laws. His work was the basis for another “pistol caliber carbine” called the FGC-9 (short for Fuck Gun Control 9mm), wielded last year by an anonymous masked man in a documentary about the rise of 3D-printed guns in Europe.

“I’m not so happy with that,” Derwood said. “Because, hey, they have laws over there. Obey your local laws. I’m not encouraging anybody to do anything illegal.”

Art That Can Kill

Some plastic gunsmiths argue their work is shielded not only by the right to bear arms but also the First Amendment’s right to freedom of expression, since their guns are works of art. The group AWCY, which organized the Florida shooting contest, handed out stickers with the silhouette of their 9mm Scorpion and the motto “Art is not meant to be contained.”

Xander Guetzloe, a moderator for AWCY, brought a Scorpion to the Florida match that he modified to make it look like the barrel spits fire from a dragon’s mouth.

“Art is in the eye of the beholder, right? This is just a way of expressing ourselves,” Guetzloe said. “It's freedom of expression in a much louder way.”

Guetzloe estimated that AWCY has about 500 members, with 200 actively working on gun design projects in the group’s online forum. The members, he said, include “lawyers, technical writers, plumbers, electricians, just a little bit of everybody,” each lending their own expertise.

AWCY’s aesthetic is vaguely hipster and intentionally low-brow, with guns modified to look extra phallic or with Nerf-style neon colors. They tease new 3D-gun file releases on a well-curated Instagram feed, often finding inspiration in classic weapons that have cult followings. Guetzloe, who has a day job in IT, worked on creating a 3D-printed CETME, a “battle rifle” that’s seen combat in conflicts around the world.

“Art is in the eye of the beholder, right? This is just a way of expressing ourselves,” Guetzloe said. “It's freedom of expression in a much louder way.”

When I pointed out that most art isn’t also a deadly weapon, Guetzloe replied, “It could be used for harm. But I feel like most people that are going to do that are going to go out and steal one. The amount of effort that you put into these, you're not going to do that just to go and do someone harm.”

Even after 22 hours of work, my gun didn’t work properly. At the competition, it jammed repeatedly, and I was unable to finish round one of the contest. Pincus suggested swapping on a Glock-brand slide and barrel, which he had on hand. The factory part plus a little bit of gun oil made all the difference.

I loaded a clip into the gun and racked the new slide, which smoothly locked into place. Taking aim at a target, I squeezed off a few rounds in a row. The spent shell casings popped out of the chamber and were instantly replaced by fresh bullets; my semi-automatic gun finally worked semi-automatically. To test what it could do, I unloaded the rest of the clip rapid-fire—boom-boom-boom-boom. There were no jams. It worked (almost) like a real Glock.

Law Enforcement Isn’t Thrilled With 3D Guns

Making a fully-functioning semi-auto handgun from plastic and a few metal parts, it turns out, is totally legal (at least in Florida), but there are other applications for 3D-printing beyond guns that are troubling for law enforcement. Federal gun laws are enforced by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), and it’s the explosives aspect of the agency’s mission that is increasingly overlapping with 3D-printing.

John “J.D.” Underwood, the special agent in charge of the ATF’s National Center for Explosives Training and Research, told me that 3D-printed land mines are already a possibility. He showed me a 3D-printed “bomblet,” which could be attached to a drone and dropped from the sky. Such devices, he said, have already been used against U.S. troops in the Middle East.

“Nobody or anything's stopping somebody from making this in the United States today,” Underwood said, holding up the miniature plastic bomb in his hand.

When I asked Guetzloe, the AWCY moderator, about the group’s 37mm launcher, he told me the sole purpose is for firing signal flares. But the under-barrel tube version looks very similar to the military equivalent, a 40mm grenade launcher adapted by the Army for 3D-printing in order to save taxpayers money by lowering production costs.

Underwood was impressed with the designs on display at the Florida shooting match, and he stressed that the ATF has no problem with law-abiding gunmakers using 3D-printers.

“As long as they're used for their intended purposes by people that legally can have firearms, I don't have an issue with that,” he said. “It's when people use those firearms for criminal purposes, that's when it becomes a problem.”

Last December, ATF agents raided the offices of Nevada-based Polymer80, the largest ghost gun company and seller of a popular “Buy Build Shoot” kit. No charges were filed and no employees were arrested, and the company continues to advertise pistol kits, though all the options are currently out of stock.

Polymer80 also faces civil lawsuits, most recently from two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies who sued the company for selling an “untraceable home-assembled” Glock kit that was later used by a gunman who seriously wounded them in a Compton shooting. The deputies allege the company “purposefully sold their products without markings to make it difficult for law enforcement to trace the firearm.”

“Untraceable ghost guns are now the emerging guns of choice across the nation.”

The gun control group Everytown Law is also suing Polymer80 and other ghost gun makers. One case, which also involves the city of Los Angeles, accuses the company of creating a public nuisance and violating California’s business code. According to the LAPD’s chief, 700 ghost guns seized in the city last year were made from Polymer80 parts, including more than 300 in South LA, where homicides have been on the rise.

“Untraceable ghost guns are now the emerging guns of choice across the nation,” LA City Attorney Mike Feuer said when announcing the lawsuit in February. “Nobody who could buy a serialized gun and pass a background check would ever need a ghost gun. Yet we allege Polymer80 has made it easy for anyone, including felons, to buy and build weapons that pose a major public safety threat.”

A Polymer80 spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.

The company’s website states there is “a strict policy against selling 80% lower receivers to persons known to us to be convicted felons or otherwise prohibited persons.”

It also says building a gun from a kit provides customers with “a fun learning experience and a greater sense of pride in their completed firearm. ”

Melting the Ghost Gun

I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was slightly proud (and more than a little terrified) of my ghost Glock. I somehow ended up taking third place in the 3D-printed pistol category. Just like me, some of my competitors seemed to spend more time behind a computer screen than at the firing range. I was told some shooting clubs prohibit ghost guns or 3D-printed guns, making it difficult to find a place for target practice. And reliability was clearly an issue, as many people—even the most advanced builders—suffered malfunctions and jams. The guns may look badass, but they don’t yet quite stack up evenly to the real thing.

But as 3D-printing technology improves, making a 100% DIY ghost gun will become easier and easier. Even if there's a ban on “80 percent” kits, anyone with access to a printer, a few hundred dollars, and some free time will still be able to crank out a semi-auto pistol, one with no paper trail to identify the owner. In the eyes of Pincus and others at the shooting match, this is actually a good thing.

“I know this is counterintuitive for a lot of people, but the more people who have guns, the more normal gun ownership is, the more responsible the community will be and also the more educated the community will be in judging responsibility,” Pincus said. “I don't think everybody should have a gun. I think everybody who wants to be a responsible gun owner should have that option.”

Since I live in California, one of the states that regulates ghost guns like other firearms, I would need to register my gun with local authorities. Such laws, however, have done little to contain ghost guns. Last week, the city of San Francisco sued three companies that sell do-it-yourself ghost gun kits, alleging they target buyers who are banned from owning guns and want to evade background checks.

“Ghost guns are a massive problem in San Francisco—they are becoming increasingly involved in murders, attempted murders, and assaults with firearms,” said San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin. “We know that the rise in gun violence is connected to the proliferation of, and easy access to, guns that are untraceable, guns that are easier to obtain by people who would be otherwise prohibited by law from getting them.”

I have no interest in owning a handgun—let alone one with “Ghost Gun” on the handle—so I decided to melt down the frame and return the gun to its original form: molten plastic.

Miguel Fernández-Flores contributed reporting.

All your questions about 3D guns answered

CNN —

Not long ago, it was the stuff of science fiction, but now US officials and lawmakers are grappling with a new reality – citizens having the ability to print firearms at home.

A gun rights group blocked downloads of 3D gun plans from its website Tuesday after a federal judge sided with states arguing that the postings could help criminals and terrorists manufacture such weapons.

3D printed gun

Courtesy Marisa Vasquez

3D gun plans website suspends downloads after court ruling

While Judge Robert Lasnik’s ruling didn’t order the plans taken down, it temporarily blocked a settlement reached in June between Defense Distributed, a Texas-based gun rights organization, and the federal government that made it legal to post 3D printable gun plans online.

“This is a nationwide ban. … It takes us back to a period of time before the federal government flipped on their policy regarding these 3D ghost guns,” Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said.

So what’s the controversy all about? Here some answers to your questions.

3D guns are firearms assembled from ABS plastic parts – the same material found in Legos – that can be made with a 3D printer. The Defense Distributed website would have allowed people to download plans for building a variety of 3D guns, including an AR-15-style rifle, a Beretta M9 handgun and other firearms.

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CNN explains: 3D printing

3D printing uses computer-created digital models to create real-world objects, from simple chess pieces to more complex objects such as functioning clocks. The printers follow the shape of the model by stacking layer upon layer of plastic or other material to make the objects.

“Even machinists with average skills are able to produce 3D printed firearms,” said Mitch Free, chairman & CEO of the 3D printing company ZYCI CNC Machining. He said 3D printing is more accessible than ever because of software improvements and some slight reductions in the cost of 3D scanners and fabrication tools.

You’ll need some money. The higher-end 3D printers needed to make such weapons cost thousands of dollars and may be too expensive for most people. Of course that doesn’t ease the concerns of those who think guns made from 3D printers are a bad idea.

Critics fear the DIY guns could create security concerns because they are untraceable and would largely be invisible to metal detectors. They also fear the technology makes it far too easy for terrorists and people who are too dangerous to pass criminal background checks to get their hands on guns.

Cody Wilson – the founder of Defense Distributed and the person who introduced the world to 3D-printed guns – and his supporters say the ability to build unregulated and untraceable guns will make it much harder, if not impossible, for governments to ban them. Wilson also sees this fight as a free speech issue. By suing the government for violating his First Amendment rights, he shifted the focus of the debate about 3D printed guns away from gun control to a discussion about access to data and information online.

A few days after Defense Distributed posted its instructions for making a “Liberator” plastic gun in 2013, the US State Department sent a three-page cease-and-desist letter to Wilson demanding that the group remove them from its website. It accused Wilson of potentially breaching International Traffic in Arms Regulations, which regulate the export of defense materials, services and technical data. In essence, officials said, someone in another country that the United States doesn’t sell weapons to could download the material and make guns.

In December 2013, a federal law requiring that all guns be detectable by metal screening machines was extended for another 10 years.

The law prohibits guns that don’t contain enough metal to trigger screening machines commonly found in airports, courthouses and other secure areas accessible to the public.

CNN

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Pompeo commits to reviewing 3D-printed gun policy

Plastic gun designs got around this restriction by adding a removable metal block, which isn’t required for the firearm to function.

In June, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, introduced a bill in the Senate that would amend the Undetectable Firearms Act to prohibit firearms that do not have a major component that can be detected at airport security screening.

In 2013, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives made public tests it has done on the Liberator model.

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Fears grow over 3D-printed guns (2013)

One gun made with a plastic called ABS-M30 fired a .380-caliber round without failing all eight times it was tested, ATF officials said, describing it as “a lethal weapon. ” Another pistol made from a plastic called VisiJet didn’t perform as well, with video showing it exploding into a dozen plastic shards when fired.

The issue will go back to court on August 10, when both sides will argue over whether a preliminary injunction is needed.

CNN’s Douglas Criss and Jason Hanna contributed to this report.

3D printed weapons take on a serious look with a metal-barreled pistol

News

Another horror story has appeared in the arsenal of 3D-printed gunsmiths in the form of a 3D-printed gun "Songbird", almost entirely suitable for manufacturing on a 3D printer.

An interesting feature of the new pistol is a separate barrel that can be customized to the desired caliber, and most importantly, modified with metal tabs. It's no secret that simple 3D printed weapons pose more of a threat to users than to anyone or anything else. FDM-printed models somehow suffer from reduced tensile strength due to the layered structure, and therefore a 3D-printed barrel can simply break right in your hands. nine0003

The metal liner allows not only to increase strength and, as a result, safety, but also to improve shooting accuracy, because nothing prevents a metal rifled barrel from being inserted into the 3D printed module. On the other hand, if you already use real weapon components, then it is easier and more reliable to make a whole metal gun without resorting to 3D printing. In other words, the project is of purely academic interest.

Nevertheless, even such ideas are met with disapproval from the vigilant public and law enforcement agencies. In the videos below, the maker under the nickname Guy in a Garage did not neglect the metal inserts to comply with the law - the inserts are needed so that the weapon can be detected by conventional metal detector frames. nine0003

The body of the gun is printed in ABS plastic, but the barrel in the first version is made of nylon. A version with a fully polymer rifled barrel withstood about 200 rounds of small-bore .22 rounds. For more powerful ammunition, a barrel with a smooth metal tab was made. Interestingly, the barrel with the liner withstood several rounds of .38 and .357 Magnum cartridges, but the ABS plastic frame still cracked, although the barrel itself was not damaged.

Original full nylon barrel:

upgrade up with a trunk made of ABS-plastic and a metal tab for fine-caliber cartridges:

APAGE with a metal tab under the caliber . 357 magnum: 9000 9000

and, of course, not, not forgotten in the Russian Federation, the unlicensed manufacture of firearms is punishable by law.

Retrieved Do you have any interesting news? Share your developments with us, and we will tell the whole world about them! We are waiting for your ideas at [email protected]. nine0045

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FDM 3D printer

1 Description

2 General process

3 Structural elements

3.1 Body

3.2 Extruder

3.3 Working platform

4 Preparing digital model

5 Seal

6 Application

Description

Fused Deposition Printing (FDM) printing technology has become widespread among individual users and small companies due to its wide capabilities, relative simplicity and good affordability. The popularity of this method deserves a more detailed description of the process and the printers used. In this section, we will look at the nuances of the design of printers and the application of technology in practice.

General process

Like all 3D printing methods, FDM belongs to additive manufacturing technologies. The term "additive" is an Anglicism from the word "additive", meaning "addition" or "by addition". The term is intended to separate technologies for the production of complex three-dimensional products that differ from the usual "subtractive" ("subtractive" - "due to separation") methods - milling, drilling, grinding, etc.

FDM can be considered one of the most technologically simple 3D printing methods. The process is based on the successive layering of a thin thread of molten plastic up to the creation of a solid three-dimensional object. A plastic thread wound on a spool is used as a consumable. Occasionally, individual bars of plastic are used. The standard thread diameter is 1.75mm or 3mm. nine0003
The printing process consists of a number of steps:

Create or import a digital 3D model

Processing of a digital model for printing with the addition of supporting structures

Location and orientation of the digital model on the desktop

Slicing - cutting a digital model into separate layers with data conversion into instructions for the printer, called G-code

Directly print

If necessary, physical or chemical treatment of the finished model

Structural elements

Enclosure

Ultimaker 3D printer with open wooden enclosure

Many elements are important in the design of an FDM 3D printer that are not always obvious to an inexperienced person. So, the material of the case matters in the event that it carries the load. Many FDM printers are available with wooden cases - this solution seems cheap and unsightly, but in fact it helps to absorb vibrations during printing, which has a positive effect on the quality of the manufactured models. On the other hand, a steel or aluminum frame ensures the durability and impact resistance of the device. nine0003
The open or closed design of the printer also matters. A well-ventilated working chamber is useful when printing with polylactide (aka PLA plastic), as this material vitrifies for a long time. If the printed layers do not have time to solidify and seize, they may spread, or deformation of the underlying layers under the pressure of the upper ones.

On the other hand, many popular materials (such as ABS and nylon) have a high degree of shrinkage. By "shrinkage" is meant the reduction in volume of the material as it cools. In the case of the same ABS plastic, excessively fast and uneven cooling of the applied layers can lead to their twisting, or deformation and cracking of the model as a whole. nine0003
PICASO Designer 3D printer with closed plastic case

In this case, the case with closed cladding comes in handy, allowing you to achieve slow, uniform cooling of the material.

Finally, the shape of the FDM printer can also be linked to the coordinate system used.

Thus, the most popular option is the Cartesian or, more accurately in most cases, rectangular coordinate system.

Recently delta coordinate systems are gaining popularity - such devices are called "delta robots" and offer certain benefits in terms of printing accuracy and ease of expanding the vertical size of the construction area. nine0003
Structural elements and rails are usually made of aluminum or steel. The extruder and platform are driven by belts or screws.

3DPrintBox printer extruder, partially disassembled. The pink plastic thread and the pulling mechanism are clearly visible - two gears with grooves in the teeth

Extruder

The next important element is the extruder, that is, the printer's print head. These devices may vary in design, but generally contain the same basic components: nine0003

Feeder for feeding the thread into the nozzle

Nozzle used to melt the filament and extrude the molten material

Heating element for heated nozzle

Fan

As a rule, the pulling mechanism consists of gears or screws driven by an electric motor.

Obviously, the electric motor drives the gears to feed the filament into the nozzle. In the nozzle, the thread is melted, followed by extrusion of a viscous material. nine0003
An extremely important point is the sharp temperature gradient between the bottom and top of the nozzle - for this purpose the fan is installed.

At the transition of the glass transition temperature, the plastic becomes soft, but not yet viscous, expanding in volume.

3DPrintBox extruder in assembled condition. The electric motor of the traction mechanism is visible (top), double fan (middle) and nozzle with attached electric heating element (bottom)

In this state, the friction of the material with the inner walls of the nozzle increases.

If the length (and, as a result, the area) of this section is too large, then the total coefficient of friction may become unbearable for the pulling mechanism.

Thus, the length of the nozzle section with unmelted filament and the length of the section with molten material do not really matter, but the length of the plastic section at the glass transition temperature should be as short as possible. nine0003
The most effective solution to this problem is the use of heat sinks and fans to cool the filament and the top of the nozzle.

In fairness, the residence time of the plastic in the molten state should also be minimized, since many thermoplastics lose their plasticity after prolonged exposure to high temperatures, and the resulting solids can clog the nozzle.

Diagram of the transition of a plastic filament from a solid to a viscous state. The length of the middle section should be as short as possible to prevent problems with material push through

Typically, this kind of problem does not occur in normal, stable extrusion because the nozzle length is too short.

Clogging of the nozzle can occur due to internal irregularities or errors in the manufacture of the thread: the resulting stagnation leads to the gradual formation of grains, which are then carried away by the flow of molten plastic and clog the outlet.

The most common nozzle materials are aluminum and brass. nine0003
Hole diameter may vary, but average is 0.3mm.

Smaller bores allow for higher resolution, while larger bores increase build speed and reduce the risk of nozzle clogging.

Work platform

The 3D Systems Cube 3D printer platform moves in the X and Z axes, and the extruder moves in the Y axis

The work platform serves as a surface for building models. nine0003
Depending on the coordinate system used, the platform can be movable or static.

Typically, in printers using the Cartesian coordinate system, the movement of the platform in the vertical plane is responsible for the vertical positioning of the extruder relative to the platform itself.

Some models also add movement of the platform along one of the axes in the horizontal plane, which allows you to slightly reduce the dimensions of the device, provided that the case is open. nine0003
An example of such printers is the popular 3D Systems Cube.

Delta robot work platform remains in place. Positioning of the extruder in three planes is carried out solely by the movement of three manipulators

Delta printers ("delta robots") use static platforms.

The positioning of the print head in all three dimensions is carried out exclusively by the movement of the extruder itself. nine0003
As a rule, the extruder is suspended on three manipulators, whose coordinated movement along vertical guides moves the die.

Asymmetrical movement controls the positioning of the extruder horizontally by changing the angle of the manipulators, and symmetrical movement - vertically.

Alternatively, a movable platform and a stationary extruder can be used, but these designs are not yet widely used.

Experimental Quantum Delta Printer uses "inverted" design with moving bed and stationary extruder

A distinctive feature of all Delta printers is the cylindrical shape of the build area. One of the advantages of such designs is the ease of building up the working area. So, to increase the height of the building, you only need to install guides and cables of increased length.

However, even static platforms cannot be called completely immobile. Before starting printing, platform calibration is required, that is, the elimination of a possible tilt. Calibration mechanisms can be either manual or automatic, depending on the printer model. nine0003
In the case of manual calibration, the user will be required to sequentially position the nozzle at different points on the platform.

To measure the distance, special templates are used, and in the cases of the most simple or home-made designs, simply sheets of office paper, whose thickness corresponds approximately to 100 microns.

More advanced devices like the MakerBot Replicator use special sensors to accurately measure distance. Tilt adjustment is made by rotating the spring-loaded screws on which the platform rests. nine0003
Calibration of the platform is often done with adjustment screws, although most printers help with this task by moving the extruder to different points of the platform in succession.

If the nozzle height is too low, extrusion will simply not occur.

If too large, the filament will not adhere to the surface and the printer will print "in the air", creating intricate filaments that have nothing to do with the given model. nine0003
The result of platform tilt can be a combination of these two effects. No matter how perfect the design of the printer, users are encouraged to trace the construction of the first few layers of the model.

Perforated printer worktable Up! Plus 2 provides good adhesion of plastic to the surface, but requires careful maintenance, as the holes are easily clogged

Depending on the design, the working platform can be equipped with a removable table. nine0003
This solution is often used in printers with closed housings that make it difficult to remove models from the platform or clean the surface.

In the case of perforated tables, this solution is simply necessary, since the surface is cleaned by soaking in solvents.

The disadvantage of removable tables is the possibility of play if the fasteners or clamps are sufficiently weak.

Heated aluminum platform with removable glass worktable for PICASO Designer 9 printer0045

When printing on certain materials such as ABS or nylon, the bed is equipped with a heating element. The purpose of the heating is to slow down the cooling of the lower layers in order to prevent their twisting caused by the shrinkage of the thermoplastic. You can read more about this phenomenon and methods of struggle in the section "How to avoid deformation of models during 3D printing".

The materials used to make work tables are very diverse. Among them, aluminum, steel, acrylic can be mentioned - the presence of heating, of course, narrows the choice of materials. Glass has recently become a popular choice due to its high resistance to deformation and the ease of achieving a perfectly flat surface during production. Some manufacturers even use volcanic glass because of the low thermal conductivity, which slows down the cooling of the initial layers of the model. nine0003
Preparing a digital model

ReplicatorG, a popular open source slicer

Creating digital 3D models is not part of the 3D printing process. To create models, conventional computer-aided design systems (“CAD” or “CAD” in English terminology) are used, including 3D editors such as SolidWorks, AutoCad and LightWave, among many.

The process of preparing a model for printing begins with importing a 3D model in .STL format into a special program called a slicer. Such programs perform the functions of graphical editors, allowing you to add reference elements necessary to support model attachments. Many slicers allow you to add support structures automatically without requiring any effort on the part of the user. In addition, slicers allow you to place models on the desktop and change their spatial orientation. nine0003
Advanced programs also allow you to change fine print settings - the thickness of the applied layer, nozzle temperature, take into account the consumable used.

The capabilities of slicers are closely related to the capabilities of the printers themselves. Some models have a "closed code" that requires the use of branded slicers. Some of the more popular open source slicers include Repetier-Host, ReplicatorG, and Skeinforge.

Building model support structures in Repetier-Host 9 slicer0045

After the digital model is placed on the virtual desktop, the necessary supports are created and the settings are made, slicing is performed directly - cutting the three-dimensional model into virtual layers with a thickness corresponding to the thickness of the applied plastic layers. Each such section will serve as a template for building a specific layer of the physical model. The end result is provided in the form of a G-code, a set of commands for a 3D printer that determines the movement of the extruder and platform during the printing process. G-code can be transferred directly from a computer using a direct connection, or written to a memory card or USB stick for offline printing, provided that the printer is equipped with the necessary interface and control module. nine0003
Printing

Some 3D printing enthusiasts create their own scrapers to remove finished models from the desktop

Printing can take quite a long time, often in hours. The duration depends on the speed of printing and the size of the models being produced. Print speed, in turn, depends on the complexity of the model, the perfection of positioning algorithms, layer thickness and nozzle diameter. Interrupting the printing process may result in the loss of the model. Although some printers allow you to temporarily stop the process to replace the consumable, a long pause will cause the upper layers to cool. When printing is resumed, subsequent layers may not "grab" with those already printed. nine0003
Thin scrapers are used to remove finished models from the table. At the same time, it is recommended to wait for at least partial cooling of the model in order to avoid damage to still soft layers or burns when touching still hot plastic. In addition, if you have enough patience, you can wait for complete cooling and shrinkage, which in most cases automatically leads to the separation of the model from the table.

Demonstration of support structures as part of the finished model

Depending on the working plastic, mechanical or chemical processing may be possible. Thus, models made of ABS plastic can be processed with acetone vapor, which leads to smoothing of roughness and printed artifacts, but can also lead to the loss of the most delicate features of the model. Basically, processing is reduced to the removal of supporting structures of hinged elements of the model. When printing on printers with a single extruder, the supports are made of the same material as the model itself, complicating the process somewhat. When using printers with two or more print heads, it is possible to build supports using water-soluble polyvinyl alcohol (PVA plastic). For more information on the plastics used in FDM 3D printing, see the FDM Consumables section. nine0003
Application

3D printed controller prototypes for the Xbox One game console

The relative cheapness of FDM printers and consumables makes this technology widely popular. First of all, such devices are used for rapid prototyping. Various plastics allow you to create functional models of various products. Thus, ABS plastic, which is popular in FDM printing, is widely used in the mass production of various household products, automotive parts, tools, toys, souvenirs, etc. The sufficiently high accuracy of 3D printing makes it possible to obtain functional prototypes that practically do not differ in workmanship from traditional cast products. nine0003
The MakerBot Mini 3D Printer was designed for home and educational use

This application of technology allows significant savings in the development of new designs. Microsoft used 3D printing to create about 200 prototypes of the Xbox One controller, while Dell placed an order for 5,000 M200 FDM printers from Poland's Zortrax for use in affiliates around the world. nine0003
Although the productivity of FDM 3D printing is quite low, the relative cheapness allows the use of FDM printers for the production of small batches of finished products - souvenirs, toys, etc.

Improvement in technology and a significant reduction in the cost of devices allows FDM printers to gradually take root in everyday life. The benefits of 3D printing at home are clear—even fairly simple devices are capable of producing household appliances or broken plastic parts as needed. The cost of home production already makes such an application profitable in comparison with the purchase of finished products. The only significant obstacle to the widespread adoption of 3D printers in everyday life can be considered the reluctance of most people to go into the details of three-dimensional digital design. This barrier is gradually being eroded with popular services such as Thingiverse, Shapeways and Cubify offering a variety of print-ready 3D designs. Many of the available digital models are provided free of charge. nine0003
The 3D printed Liberator pistol called into question the ability of government agencies to regulate firearms

The Liberator pistol made a lot of noise. The design of this weapon includes one single metal element - the striker, which can be used as an ordinary nail. All other design elements can be printed. The design of the pistol has been released to the public.

Finally, the development of FDM 3D printing allows the development of an entire industry of 3D design and print-to-order. 3D boutiques are already becoming commonplace in many countries. The further spread of FDM printing technology may lead to a restructuring of the global economy: as home production grows, the demand for finished products will fall in parallel with the growth in demand for consumables.
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