On 01/31/2013 01:08 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:42:15 -0700, Jim Thompson
wrote:

I'd guess that NY State will ban 3D printers...
http://tinyurl.com/azk5no7
...Jim Thompson

"No technology can be considered successful until it is abused."
(Me, approx 1975)

I guess 3D printing can now be considered successful.

Home gun fabrication is nothing new. Anyone with a knowledge of lost
wax casting, powder metallurgy, or foundry techniques can cast weapon
parts. Same with anyone that has access to numerical control machines
or a small hydraulic stamping press. Cast metals are not easily heat
treated, so there will be limitations on what can be made. For
example, I would not try to fire live ammunition in a cast aluminum
barrel or chamber. If the government really wanted to prevent
do-it-thyself gun making, they would need to also close down all the
machine shops, foundrys, sheet metal stamping shops, etc.

I'm not terribly worried about people cloning conventional firearms.
The design of these weapons has been fairly well optimized over the
years. Building these from inferior materials or using marginal
fabrication techniques is just not going to work. What worries me is
that 3D printing now allows anyone to make creative adaptations, such
as Gyrojet clones, pocket rockets, small rail guns, guided
projectiles, and other non-conventional weapons that don't require
high strength meterials. The only reason such alternative weapons
have not become popular is that currently cheap and available
ammunition makes them economically unattractive.

Please fasten your seat belts. The road ahead is going to be a rough
ride.


I doubt that it'll be much different. It's the basic goodwill and
instinct for self-preservation that most of us share that keeps us as
safe as we are now. Why would homemade railguns change that?

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal Consultant
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics

160 North State Road #203
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510

hobbs at electrooptical dot net
http://electrooptical.net