3D printer to make a mould

[abunaitoo]

Has anyone done something like this yet????
Seems that if a 3D printers can make a pistol, it should be strong enough to make a boolet mould.

[theperfessor]

Probably could make a mold once everything (shrinkage, etc.) is figured out. At the present time it would NOT be cost competitive with current mold making practices, and there are a lot of weak features that are inherent in 3D metal printing.

[Echd]

Current 3d printers use a plastic material to make their products. Also, most of the plastics are fairly weak, and definitely not designed for high heat. 3d printers are really cool and have a lot of uses, but you're going to want a CNC machine to make molds, not a 3d printer.

There are some 3d printers that use metal, but they're not really the same thing as what most people think of with a 3d printer. They are also obscenely expensive.

The 3d printed gun you described was only good for a couple shots of super low intensity cartridges and still had to use a nail to form the firing pin.

You may one day be able to use a more advanced 3d printer than we have now to make a mold... but you'd be time and money ahead to use a cnc machine instead, as the prices continue to fall on those as well. One day I think 3d printing and basic machining will be so basic that everyone so inclined will have one in their garage.

[dilly]

Echd, I don't believe you have read about this.

https://blog.solidconcepts.com/industry-highlights/worlds-first-3d-printed-metal-gun/

1000 rounds of 45 is at least an adequate proof of concept. This is more than a plastic zip gun.

You are right about CNC though. That may someday be untrue, but for the foreseeable future that will be the way to go.

[Echd]

Actually, that was the one I was referring to about the "obscenely expensive" printers, as opposed to the plastic using ones at home depot. Solid concepts is a company with 400+ employees and manufacturing facilities all over the place. It's like trying to compare model rocketry to the space program.

[dilly]

Sorry, I just assumed because you said it was only good for a couple shots that you were talking about something else. However to the best of my knowledge that kind of technology could probably make a decent bullet mold with a little R&D.

Obscenely expensive is the perfect way to describe that 3D printer.

I think the hope going through the OP's head is that someday that kind of equipment will come down in price enough to be commonly found in well equipped machine shops or even home shops with time. It's a fair question as the plastic ones sure have come down in price.

Makes me think of the replicators from Star Trek.

[bangerjim]

Molds are cheap. Compaired to the cost of a METAL-capable printer!

Mabe after we have a colony on Mars??

Until then, I wil rely 110% on my machined molds.

banger-j