The Dangers of 3D Printing

[Brian_Krassenstein]

Among the changes that come with major technological advances are potential misuses and dangers, both physical and property-wise. With the growth in 3D printing, there arise certain concerns. 3DPrint.com took a look at some of the major impacts on 3D printing, particularly those that might affect governments and law enforcement operations over the next several years. Taken into consideration are the production of undetectable weapons, 3D printed drugs via advanced delivery systems, and intellectual property (IP) concerns. Drawing from experiences such as those in the music industry, which faces IP pirating, we can look ahead into some issues confronting 3D printing. Read about them here: http://3dprint.com/81526/3d-print-dangers/

[sweaving]

Ok, this comment will probably stir things up a little! but I disagree about 3D printing giving people the opertunaty to print weapons! The equipment to manufacture weapons has been publicly availably for hundreds of years! what has stopped people from making weapons in their own homes you may ask??? the lack of knowlage of the weapons design. The real future danger is not the 3D printer....its the open ness of the design files for the weapons. This is where control and oversight is required!

if you banned 3D printers today, people can still go out buy a lathe or a mill, and make a weapon. because the design files publicly are available.

let me know your thoughts! Be gentile its my 1st post..lol.



Steve

[curious aardvark]

The difference is that No technical engineering skill is required to make a gun via 3d printing.
And the equipment to make a plastic gun from someone elses designs cost as little as $250 for a kit and $400 for a ready built machine.

THAT'S the difference. 3d printing puts the ability to make complex objects in the hands of people who lack the skill and education to make them any other way.
And the printers are now cheap enough for anyone to have one.

So people who wouldn't have considered making their own zip gun. Might happily print a 3d gun for a couple of dollars and a few hours print time.
No skiill required.

The whole lathe and engineering argument is spurious as you are not comparing like with like.

Okay printing metal gun components will cost you a lot more in initial investment. But once you've installed a metal printer you can print full spec firearms - again with no technical knowlege needed other than how to run the printer and put the components together properly.

It's actually not as big an issue as people supposer. In the usa - where guns already outnumber people - why bother printing what you can already buy in a general store.

In the uk printing a gun is somewhat pointless as you need a firearms licence to buy ammunition. So you'd have to obtain the ammunition liiegally - at which point you'd probably buy an illegal gun.

It will be an issue - but not as big an issue as most people think.

Also I'm pretty sure that all the known repositories of plastic gun files are most likely being monitored by gchq. And anyone in the uk who downloads such files will probably get a swift visit from some fairly unpleasant gentlemen.

Someone else can test this theory - I'm not going to :-)

[sweaving]

CNC lathes and mills don't take that much skill...as with 3D printing all you need these days is a model. upload to the control of the machine pick a few tool paths and you are away!!! modern CNC has very little difference to that of 3D Printing..i know this as I am an engineer who uses high end machines on a daily basis, and who has a cheap CNC lath/mill in his garage that didn't cost that much more than my UM2! the enabler is 3D model availablily. the skill is in the design of the item to be made..

[Wolfie]

THAT'S the difference. 3d printing puts the ability to make complex objects in the hands of people who lack the skill and education to make them any other way.
And the printers are now cheap enough for anyone to have one.

So people who wouldn't have considered making their own zip gun. Might happily print a 3d gun for a couple of dollars and a few hours print time.
No skiill required.

So by that same argument, the automobile should be banned as well, no? Its now cheap enough for common folks to own one. And they can be used to smuggle and transport illegal items like weapons, drugs, and undocumented/illegal humans. Where is the outrage there! And what about motorboats? They should be banned too, because they are smuggling mexicans and cubans as well as drugs in massive amounts from offshore drops.

And, yes it takes a bit more than pushing the print button to make a gun. You should know that. Just downloading a thing off thingverse doesn't mean you can simply press print and get a perfect working copy even if its just a soap dish. Now amplify that issue with the fact a typical gun has a chamber pressure exceeding 20,000 psi and apply that thought to 3D printed parts and you can see rather quickly that a printed gun isn't simply a copy of an existing design. It can't be, not in plastic. And as you noted a true metal printing printer costs many thousands of dollars. An AR lower receiver is only hundreds if that (used and aftermarket are pretty cheap).

The same is said for CNC milling machines. Most of them are pretty much like 3D printers. Upload some gcode, load a block of metal and watch it grind it into a gun. Yea, no. There is more to it than that but not much. And these tools produce REAL solid metal gun parts, not layers, extrusions and other weakly made constructs.

In fact, there is a device called Ghost Gunner that is a self contained CNC mill designed to produce finished gun parts. It costs way less than my Taz 5 did and its bench ready and takes LESS skill than a 3D printer or a commercial CNC machine. And, they are sold out. That alone ought to tell you something about the demand.

Guns are not evil. Some people with them are. And some people without them are too. The gun does not make someone evil. We should spend less time trying to control an inanimate object and more time rooting out the evil people who will use any weapon at hand (including biological, chemicial, nuclear or technological) to achieve their goal.

[cadpro78]

CNC lathes and mills don't take that much skill...as with 3D printing all you need these days is a model. upload to the control of the machine pick a few tool paths and you are away!!! modern CNC has very little difference to that of 3D Printing..i know this as I am an engineer who uses high end machines on a daily basis, and who has a cheap CNC lath/mill in his garage that didn't cost that much more than my UM2! the enabler is 3D model availablily. the skill is in the design of the item to be made..

So true, the average 'joe' , (Sorry all the Joes out there), can use a 3D printing probably ABS to get a durable product that can shoot bullets. I don't condone this at all...but I don't want to say to all the designers and creators out there on thingiverse or the internet, that 3D printing must go. Like it didn't even exist 10-20-30 years ago.

[modal]

I find it hard to argue that 3D printer is currently or in the foreseeable future easier to use than a mill or lathe. Same codes, same offsets, same feeds and speeds, same CAD/CAM considerations but now you have to add all kinds of plastic or metal adherence, thickness, and compression factors. If you can 3D print, you can make a barrel on a lathe or a firing mechanism on a mill. To prove it, education level of an average Chrysler Corp. worker turning out engines, 7th grade. Once that STL or cad file is available, it's all over. You import that into Bobcad or your favorite CAD/CAM program (and just like kisslicer or Cura) and it spits out an optimized CNC program. You download it to your machine, move tool to the indicated tool start, and hit the go button. Machine some air. When you are sure the machine isn't about to eat itself or your clamps, you clamp down a piece of steel or aluminum as indicated in your BobCad or CAD/CAM program, and you hit the go button again, it machines the steel, machines the part. It's as easy or easier than Cura or Slicr3D, fewer variables, fewer headaches, and after a little sand paper and edge breaker time, you've smoothed up the part and you're done. This lesson brought to you by a PhD in science and an automated manufacturing teacher with almost 40 years experience! Enjoy.

[DBFIU]

CNC lathes and mills don't take that much skill...as with 3D printing all you need these days is a model. upload to the control of the machine pick a few tool paths and you are away!!! modern CNC has very little difference to that of 3D Printing..i know this as I am an engineer who uses high end machines on a daily basis, and who has a cheap CNC lath/mill in his garage that didn't cost that much more than my UM2! the enabler is 3D model availablily. the skill is in the design of the item to be made..

Hi, I disagree. CNC operation requires skill and experience. To operate a basic 3D printer, even if it takes a few tries to make a gun, is something that anybody with an IQ above 95 can do.

Can you get a CNC machine at home depot? No
Can you get a 3D printer at home depot? Yes
Can you get all the designs of a milled or lathed gun on the internet? Probably, but it wont be easy and you would need to be an experienced machinist to get it to work.
Can you get all the designs of a 3D printed gun online? Yes, easily.
How much does a cheap CNC/mill machine cost? Thousands
How much does a cheap 3d printer cost? 300-400

Assuming all variables above are met by the CNC machine as compared to the 3D printer for gun making ability ONLY, what if I ask you this. How much time would it take to make a gun then, on a CNC machine or a mill, many hours of time and work before you get anything usable.

For the perpetrator to go out of his way, to buy a mill, a lathe, dial gauges, bore gauges, calipers, micrometers, feeler gauges, square blocks etc... to make a gun, then I can promise you that I am correct, it just isnt worh it? Do you know how I know this? Show me what % of people that commit gun crimes make their own guns using mills and lathes. Point made.

Right now it is so easy to acquire a gun illegally, that even the super easy and cheap way to make a gun, 3D printing, is still not tempting for the perpetrator. If guns ever become more difficult to find, then criminals will find easier ways to get them, and I can gaurantee you that 3D printing will come way before milling and lathing your own gun.

[DBFIU]

I find it hard to argue that 3D printer is currently or in the foreseeable future easier to use than a mill or lathe. Same codes, same offsets, same feeds and speeds, same CAD/CAM considerations but now you have to add all kinds of plastic or metal adherence, thickness, and compression factors. If you can 3D print, you can make a barrel on a lathe or a firing mechanism on a mill. To prove it, education level of an average Chrysler Corp. worker turning out engines, 7th grade. Once that STL or cad file is available, it's all over. You import that into Bobcad or your favorite CAD/CAM program (and just like kisslicer or Cura) and it spits out an optimized CNC program. You download it to your machine, move tool to the indicated tool start, and hit the go button. Machine some air. When you are sure the machine isn't about to eat itself or your clamps, you clamp down a piece of steel or aluminum as indicated in your BobCad or CAD/CAM program, and you hit the go button again, it machines the steel, machines the part. It's as easy or easier than Cura or Slicr3D, fewer variables, fewer headaches, and after a little sand paper and edge breaker time, you've smoothed up the part and you're done. This lesson brought to you by a PhD in science and an automated manufacturing teacher with almost 40 years experience! Enjoy.

See thats the problem. Someone with 40 years of experience and a PhD can easily tout about how easy it is to mill gun parts out of metal. Your average criminal doesnt see it that way, he has no idea how to work a lathe or mill, or what CAD/CAM is or what side of the end mill goes in the chuck. You guys make it seem like its easy as cake, for the average joe, it is not.

3D printing is not easy, but it is easier then having to through the industrial process you are describing. Why? Most people do not have the knowledge of a 40 year veteran or engineer. Be realistic. It's not that easy.

[Bobby Lin]

Interesting article! You're definitely right that we have some legal issues to worry about for the future of 3D printing. I personally think the technology will become ubiquitous, similar to regular printing, and that governments will require certain licenses or regulations to print certain objects from 3D printers. But, still, focusing on the good of 3D printing is important.

You might like this article, as well: https://mylocal3dprinting.com/blog/3...hs-vs-reality/ It explores the internet-based myths you have to watch out for with 3D printing.