What would you print with a 3D printer?

[JamesAirsofterAgent]

If you had a 3D printer what would you print?

I'd print airsoft, airfix etc....

 

[BrightCandle]

I need a wider range of material choices really. What I want is a replacement hop unit for my Tar 21. Its all plastic, doesn't hold its setting and isn't very consistent. But I feel a very high quality finish is necessary to make such a thing and its beyond the technology as it stands. More than likely you aren't going to be able to print any internal parts, just mostly external ones that don't need to be strong (like foregrips or pistol grips, maybe a stock) but also limited by size. I tried printing a magazine with fibre driven windows for basic ammo count but the tolerances just aren't sufficient to do it well.

So I have tried to do this a bit with airsoft parts already, and I am still considering it, but the quality so far hasn't been to a standard where I feel I can really use it.

 

[geoffreym]

I need a wider range of material choices really. What I want is a replacement hop unit for my Tar 21. Its all plastic, doesn't hold its setting and isn't very consistent. But I feel a very high quality finish is necessary to make such a thing and its beyond the technology as it stands. More than likely you aren't going to be able to print any internal parts, just mostly external ones that don't need to be strong (like foregrips or pistol grips, maybe a stock) but also limited by size. I tried printing a magazine with fibre driven windows for basic ammo count but the tolerances just aren't sufficient to do it well.

So I have tried to do this a bit with airsoft parts already, and I am still considering it, but the quality so far hasn't been to a standard where I feel I can really use it.

the higher quality printers (higher definition, smaller plate size) should be able to utilise the harder polymers and be strong enough to use (as well as accurate enough), personally I'd probably commision for a CNC hop chamber, i think someone on this forum did something similar.

as to what I'd create, Gears of War armour, and a plastic lancer cover for an M4 (or something), probably take a year or 2, but look really cool.

 

[Jambo88]

I would try printing my head a few hundred times and make a army of me

 

[JamesAirsofterAgent]

I need a wider range of material choices really. What I want is a replacement hop unit for my Tar 21. Its all plastic, doesn't hold its setting and isn't very consistent. But I feel a very high quality finish is necessary to make such a thing and its beyond the technology as it stands. More than likely you aren't going to be able to print any internal parts, just mostly external ones that don't need to be strong (like foregrips or pistol grips, maybe a stock) but also limited by size. I tried printing a magazine with fibre driven windows for basic ammo count but the tolerances just aren't sufficient to do it well.

So I have tried to do this a bit with airsoft parts already, and I am still considering it, but the quality so far hasn't been to a standard where I feel I can really use it.

Do you have a 3d printer? Sounds like you do lol.Ampere toy with the right stuff you can print fire arms...

 

[TheGrover]

the higher quality printers (higher definition, smaller plate size) should be able to utilise the harder polymers and be strong enough to use (as well as accurate enough), personally I'd probably commision for a CNC hop chamber, i think someone on this forum did something similar.

as to what I'd create, Gears of War armour, and a plastic lancer cover for an M4 (or something), probably take a year or 2, but look really cool.

I managed to get a hop component CNC machined (by a hobbyist on a CNC forum) for my ICS L85 to replace the crappy plastic arm, but a whole hop unit would be a fair bit more complex, with multiple pieces.

it would make a good CAD project, take apart an old one, break out the micrometer and get modelling

 

[Samurai]

The household FDM 3d printers are not very good for airsoft. You can print some external parts and then sand and paint it to look fine. It's a lot of work. So it's not like you download an airsoft gun, print it and skirmish it.

It's also not a very good choice if you want to print something that can be bought. By the time you design it, print it, refine it, sand it, paint it, it's not really worth it.

It's good for prototyping and creating your own designs. I have printed a gas block for my G3 without the sights so I can use lower scope mounts. I printed a mount to put a red dot on the scope too. I printed ranger plates for the G3 mags. I'm printing a face mask now. I tried to print a frontset but that didn't work, it warped. So it's fun but you can't really print things that would worth the price of the printer.

SLA printers on the other hand would work fine to create parts suitable for airsoft. You don't need to buy one, there are print shops with SLA printers.

 

[TacMaster]

If you have the moola for an SLS machine (Selective Laser Sintering) then you could really create some useful products for airsoft.

SLS is basically the inverse form of 3D printing; instead of the plastic being applied in a shape, a computer controlled CO2 laser melts nylon powder. It's guided by a CAD program that splits a 3D model up into layers between 0.5-1.0mm thick, then the laser sinters each layer of the model onto a work platform (covered with a coating of nylon powder) every pass. After the 1st layer is sintered, a roller spreads more nylon powder over the work platform and the next layer is created. It's got a very long cycle time for larger products and can be quite expensive.

The best part is that some SLS machines can be used for sintering metal powders- so there would be no issue sintering an aluminium hop chamber replacement with amazing accuracy achievable with a CAD program

 

[Lozart]

If you want to get stuff 3D printed without all the tedious faffing about of buying a decent 3D printer, try www.shapeways.com

Cheaper than buying your own printer and probably better quality than anything you could do yourself with a cheap printer anyway.

 

[xXAfterBiteXx]

Hi all, sorry for reviving an old thread but I did some 3d printing for airsoft on my Reprap Mono Mendel. I printed about 20 risers which worked well and we're sturdy. They were printed using ABS and a 0.5mm nozzle (which isn't the best haha, I'll be upgrading to a 0.3 or smaller soon).

The parts turned out well, the only issues I had was the surface finish (could be fixed with a file but that's just plain tedious), I had to tap all holes by hand as the printer is only capable of making rough large diameter threads and clearing away support material is a pain.

I also printed a glock 17 extended mag catch which my friend tested and said it says a good fit and functioned as intended, obviously it would be a better fit with a smaller nozzle. And a mock suppressor with perforations (honestly, it amplified the noise rather than muffling it) for my G&G Xtreme 45 which screwed onto a plug which push fit into the end of the barrel.

I do plan on adding additional extruder, one for PLA support material, one 0.3mm nozzle for printing and the 0.5mm for rapid infill. I will also be making a chamber to trap the heat from the bed to stop warping and a liquid cooled metal hot end to stop it from overheating...

I also plan on getting a lathe which I will convert to cnc control for finishing up the parts with a good finish. Then a little once over with acetone should give a good, smooth finish.

I'll try add some photos later if I can find the parts

-Will

 

[Lozart]

I also plan on getting a lathe which I will convert to cnc control for finishing up the parts with a good finish.

Really? Good luck with that!

 

[xXAfterBiteXx]

Really? Good luck with that!

Cheers haha, the printer upgrades are easy to do as I just need to buy extruder drives and hot ends then just replace the melzi with an arduino mega and ramps board Which I already have, it's just the calibration that'll be a pain! As for the lathe, it'll use the same electronics as the reprap, probably just with different firmware. The only issue is money as with anything haha, decent lathes arent cheap!

 

[Lozart]

Yeah but you'll need drives, servos, all the control gear.....

Speaking as an Industrial Automation Systems Integrator - good luck with that (we're £700/man day if you get stuck )

 

[xXAfterBiteXx]

Yeah but you'll need drives, servos, all the control gear.....

Systems Integrator - good luck with that (we're £700/man day if you get stuck )

The arduino receives g-codes from the control pc and forwards it to the ramps which converts it to directional data for the pololu stepper drivers which intern controls a set of NEMA 17 stepper motors. I'm an engineer by trade and a geek by night I work with a range of CNC machinery ranging from 5 axis machining centres, lathes, grinding machines and such manufacturing industrial turbomachinery The tool changes will be manual (for now) but an optional pause can be added to the program for that