6 ms·

Guns like this one are actually stupid simple - The complexity and actual power come from the gun powder contained in the bullet. To fire the bullet you just ha

by DSMan195276 11y ago

Guns like this one are actually stupid simple - The complexity and actual power come from the gun powder contained in the bullet. To fire the bullet you just have to hit the back of the casing in the right way with enough force. All the gun like this one needs is some type of firing pin to strike the casing of the bullet - And reading the article it seems that part isn't actually 3D printed. A revolver is slightly more complicated then a single shot, but really it's just a single-shot with multiple 'barrel inserts', in a way. A vacuum cleaner design is unlikely to be a thing within the foreseeable future - The complexity is actually much higher then the gun here because you need a motor, which probably can't be 3D printed and wouldn't be as easy for someone to get a hold of.

avn2109 11y ago
>> "...gun powder contained in the bullet..." Don't mean to be a pedant, but this bothers firearms people to no end, and we're on a technical site. A "bullet" is just a projectile - a dumb chunk of material. The "cartridge" contains the bullet, propellant (likely gunpowder in this context), and some other stuff. So the gunpowder is emphatically not contained in the bullet; rather, both the bullet and the gunpowder are contained in another thing, called the cartridge. [0] [0] http://www.gunsandammo.com/gun-culture/9-misused-gun-terms/ http://www.gunsandammo.com/gun-culture/9-misused-gun-terms/
- sandworm101 11y ago
  Dude. He was talking about "gun powder", which I gather is created by grinding up old guns in some sort of mill. Ripping into the technical jargon isn't worth the effort.
  - mirimir 11y ago
    :) Propellant.
  - pluma 11y ago
    Technically gun powder is accurate for black powder. But I doubt he was talking about Napoleonic firearms.
- mturmon 11y ago
  My impression is that this pedantry -- see also terminology disputes about rifles, assault rifles, long guns, magazines, clips, etc. -- is often gun enthusiasts finding a pretext for mocking anyone outside the group who expresses an opinion. In many cases, as in this one, the meaning was perfectly clear and raising the terminology issue is just a distraction.
  - HappyTypist 11y ago
    Not entirely. It's like someone calling RAM a "hard drive" - while we could infer what they mean perfectly, I think there's benefit in using correct terminology.
  - olympus 11y ago
    This issue is easy to blow off as "you know what I mean" but it's an important signal that someone has formed an opinion without being fully educated on the topic. Climate scientists would prefer to debate global warming with people who have actually read a few papers and know the actual implications of global warming (as opposed to uneducated people on either side of the argument that say that it either doesn't matter or that it will be the end of humanity). Doctors would prefer to debate vaccinations with people who have read up and learned that the chance of a negative reaction to a vaccine is very tiny compared to the chance of people dying from a disease in an unvaccinated society (see polio) as opposed to listening to people who swear that their child got paralyzed because of a flu shot (maybe they did, but they don't make a convincing argument). And gun owners would prefer to debate gun control with people who actually understand guns as opposed to people who have only seen their children firing 900 rounds/min death machines in video games. Using the proper terminology is an easy way to say, "I've done enough homework to understand how guns work in a general sense and have at least considered that I should know about something before I make a decision on it."
    - jellicle 11y ago
      Way to illustrate the comment you are responding to.
lisivka 11y ago
You can 3D-print pneumatic motors for things like mixers or blenders.
onion2k 11y ago
Making a gun might be easy, but making a gun that's robust enough not to fall apart when force of the bullet firing is dissipated through it is quite hard, especially considering 3D printed materials are inherently quite weak for shearing forces.
stormcrowsx 11y ago
You must not have seen Matthias Wandell make a vacuum cleaner using wood. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBxFNUWD2GQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBxFNUWD2GQ. Motors are everywhere if you look for them. I pulled one recently out of a garbage disposal that stopped working but the motor was still fine (some seals gave out and slicer was damaged as well).

avn2109 11y ago

>> "...gun powder contained in the bullet..." Don't mean to be a pedant, but this bothers firearms people to no end, and we're on a technical site. A "bullet" is just a projectile - a dumb chunk of material. The "cartridge" contains the bullet, propellant (likely gunpowder in this context), and some other stuff. So the gunpowder is emphatically not contained in the bullet; rather, both the bullet and the gunpowder are contained in another thing, called the cartridge. [0] [0] http://www.gunsandammo.com/gun-culture/9-misused-gun-terms/ http://www.gunsandammo.com/gun-culture/9-misused-gun-terms/

sandworm101 11y ago
Dude. He was talking about "gun powder", which I gather is created by grinding up old guns in some sort of mill. Ripping into the technical jargon isn't worth the effort.
- mirimir 11y ago
  :) Propellant.
- pluma 11y ago
  Technically gun powder is accurate for black powder. But I doubt he was talking about Napoleonic firearms.
mturmon 11y ago
My impression is that this pedantry -- see also terminology disputes about rifles, assault rifles, long guns, magazines, clips, etc. -- is often gun enthusiasts finding a pretext for mocking anyone outside the group who expresses an opinion. In many cases, as in this one, the meaning was perfectly clear and raising the terminology issue is just a distraction.
- HappyTypist 11y ago
  Not entirely. It's like someone calling RAM a "hard drive" - while we could infer what they mean perfectly, I think there's benefit in using correct terminology.
- olympus 11y ago
  This issue is easy to blow off as "you know what I mean" but it's an important signal that someone has formed an opinion without being fully educated on the topic. Climate scientists would prefer to debate global warming with people who have actually read a few papers and know the actual implications of global warming (as opposed to uneducated people on either side of the argument that say that it either doesn't matter or that it will be the end of humanity). Doctors would prefer to debate vaccinations with people who have read up and learned that the chance of a negative reaction to a vaccine is very tiny compared to the chance of people dying from a disease in an unvaccinated society (see polio) as opposed to listening to people who swear that their child got paralyzed because of a flu shot (maybe they did, but they don't make a convincing argument). And gun owners would prefer to debate gun control with people who actually understand guns as opposed to people who have only seen their children firing 900 rounds/min death machines in video games. Using the proper terminology is an easy way to say, "I've done enough homework to understand how guns work in a general sense and have at least considered that I should know about something before I make a decision on it."
  - jellicle 11y ago
    Way to illustrate the comment you are responding to.

lisivka 11y ago

You can 3D-print pneumatic motors for things like mixers or blenders.

onion2k 11y ago

Making a gun might be easy, but making a gun that's robust enough not to fall apart when force of the bullet firing is dissipated through it is quite hard, especially considering 3D printed materials are inherently quite weak for shearing forces.

stormcrowsx 11y ago

You must not have seen Matthias Wandell make a vacuum cleaner using wood. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBxFNUWD2GQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBxFNUWD2GQ. Motors are everywhere if you look for them. I pulled one recently out of a garbage disposal that stopped working but the motor was still fine (some seals gave out and slicer was damaged as well).