Earlier this month the world’s first 3D printed gun was successfully fired in Austin, Texas. The gun was created by Defense Distributor, detailing an industrial 3D printer used to make the gun which came with a price tag of R70 000. Pretty steep to produce a firearm which according to engineer Michael Guslick and another who goes byt he name of “Joe” can be done on a much tighter budget.
The version of the “The Liberator” was created using a “consumer-grade” Lulzbot AO-101 printer which retails for R16 000, still expensive, but a fraction of the original price. Not only was the printer relatively cheaper, but so too were the materials: they used only R236 for the materials and had all the pieces of the gun printed within 48 hours. According to “Joe”:
People think this takes an $8,000 machine and that it blows up on the first shot. I want to dispel that. This does work, and I want that to be known.
The gun functions as “The Liberator” did but the making of the gun proved to be more difficult than anticipated. Guslick and “Joe” tested the gun last week. Their first attempt caused the barrel to snap. But the engineers confessed that the first barrel was printed on a Stratasys 3D printer. The second printed barrel was printed on the Lulzbot and fired nine times.
Guslicks view of “The Liberator”:
The Liberator is actually a very finicky gun at this point. We had many more times that it went ‘click’ rather than ‘bang.’
The engineers have developed a cheaper way to manufacture plastic firearms, possibly making them even more accessible.
