Homemade Zap Gun!

[Dannyalcatraz]

A man has apparently 3D printed his own working, man-portable rail-gun.

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/s/3d-printing-used-first-real-handheld-railgun-fires-134325053.html

First of all, from a technology perspective, this is cool. WAAAAAYYYYY cool.

Second, as others figure out how to do stuff like this- 'cause, let's face it, that is pretty much inevitable- it may have deep & long lasting implications for commerce, politics and personal safety.

We truly live in interesting times.

 

[Kramodlog]

[video=youtube;-_hVVnAlFXo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_hVVnAlFXo[/video]

 

[Umbran]

Meh. The guy could have created something just as dangerous *without* the 3d printing, with stuff readily available in hardware and electronics supply stores.

I have found "3D printing" to be major clickbait. For the most part, home 3D printing is "extrusion with carefully placing the nozzle". And they've been extruding Cheetos for like 60 years. Would this have been news if they'd said, "Man extrudes railgun"?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I think it would have, just because "extrudes" conjures many...images.





Hehe..."Extrudes".

"Nozzle! Nozzle!".

 

[Kramodlog]

Would this have been news if they'd said, "Man extrudes railgun"?

Like totally. Like who here can say a railgun came out of their poop shoot?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Also, it seems as if there are 2 similar but different technologies currently being called "3D printing" by the public, the media...and even engineers.

http://www.cnn.com/videos/tech/2014/10/30/pkg-future-of-travel-jet-engine-leap-plane.cnn

Whereas one is- as you say- an extrusion process, it seems as if there is also an accretion process.

 

[Janx]

Meh. The guy could have created something just as dangerous *without* the 3d printing, with stuff readily available in hardware and electronics supply stores.

I have found "3D printing" to be major clickbait. For the most part, home 3D printing is "extrusion with carefully placing the nozzle". And they've been extruding Cheetos for like 60 years. Would this have been news if they'd said, "Man extrudes railgun"?

Given that thing required a lot of non-printed parts and he could have just made the chassis out of wood, "3d-printed" is hardly the main or significant aspect to his accomplishment.

He made a railgun. Cool.

 

[Ryujin]

Also, it seems as if there are 2 similar but different technologies currently being called "3D printing" by the public, the media...and even engineers.

http://www.cnn.com/videos/tech/2014/10/30/pkg-future-of-travel-jet-engine-leap-plane.cnn

Whereas one is- as you say- an extrusion process, it seems as if there is also an accretion process.

Several, in fact. There's fused deposition with plastics, fused deposition with glue (used to do things like deposit aluminum powder that is then flow filled with steel, brass, etc.), LASER sintering, LASER fusing of liquid media, .......

I'd be more impressed if someone made a fully functioning and reliable semi-auto using a combination of some form of 3D printing and desktop CNC.