3D Printed smokeless powder

[Cris T]

I am too old and no longer can take on projects. But If I could. I would develop 3D printed smokeless powder. There are so many possible applications. This is just an idea for you folks that have the means and education to work on this project.
This video shows just one of the possible applications:

[Havok7416]

I don't understand how this would work. You can't 3D print gunpowder...

[MUSTANG]

Until someone does.

It is an interesting concept; perhaps someone will achieve it some day. It seems that doing so will be far more costly in both time and materials should it be achieved.

[K43]

If powder can be extruded, adding a chemical binder or light reactive binder should be doable. Powder has been extruded and cut for over a century. We just need to solidify it quickly in the printer.

[jdgabbard]

3d Printing, with the exclusion of SLS, is just extruding. Nothing to really "3d Print". You just need to extrude it and cut it at the same length, then dry it. Formulating it is a bigger hurdle, given a lot of the ingredients are somewhat restricted. If you want different size kernels, you just adjust the diameter of the die, or the length of cut. There is nothing to 3d Print in my opinion.

[jaguarxk120]

Get a copy of Phil Sharp's book "Handloading",
read the section on the manufacture of smokeless
gun powder.
I think you will think really hard before starting to
"3D Print" gun powder!!!

[mmorecycler]

Ya, running gunpowder-laced filament at 250C degrees thru your hotend, would win you a darwin award... You might have to then 3d print new fingers.
I 3d print with a bambu lab P1S, I would never even think of doing this.

[357Mag]

Chris -

Howdy!

3D printing known as “ additive manufacturing “ is typically accomplished in a dedicated
Machine, that deposits materiel in thin “ layers “. Add more layers as directed by a digital file of the object….. hence the moniker “ additive manufacturing”.

3D printing sometimes requires some sort of carrier materiel, that allows deposit of the actual
“ additive “ materiel that is desired to be present in the item’s final form
For combustible gun powder, any “ carrier “ materiel present as part of a gunpowder “ slurry “ would need to either be volatile enough to evaporate off on its own… or be otherwise “ cooked “ off.
All that would be desired to have present in the end product, is completely combustible gunpowder
( to the max extent possible ).

It remains to be seen if this can be done. It sounds similar to “ careless “ ammo technology,
In some respects. Make powder rods, tubes, cubes ? After all… there are good reasons why small arms gunpowders have the established “ kernel “ shapes and sizes that they do.


With regards,
357Mag

[popper]

Ridiculous idea.

[Shawlerbrook]

I’m speechless.

[ofitg]

Ya, running gunpowder-laced filament at 250C degrees thru your hotend, would win you a darwin award... You might have to then 3d print new fingers.
I 3d print with a bambu lab P1S, I would never even think of doing this.

Amen.... 250C is about 100C degrees hotter than the autoignition temperature of nitrocellulose powders.

[K43]

It struck me he was looking at making caseless ammunition by a different method. If using a carrier there doesn't need to be high heat involved. This idea is not impossible nor totally impractical, it just needs the right minds to work the project.

[printedboolits]

Ya, running gunpowder-laced filament at 250C degrees thru your hotend, would win you a darwin award... You might have to then 3d print new fingers.
I 3d print with a bambu lab P1S, I would never even think of doing this.

I wouldn't think this would have to be pointed out, as it seems like it would be obvious, but plenty of things are 3D printed without heating. Go do some looking for cement printers, or foam, or pancake batter.

I'd be willing to bet that the majority of smokeless powders today are extruded.

I don't think the OP is calling for anything all that far fetched. Powder can be formulated to work without relying on kernel shapes and sizes to perform to spec.

I personally think you'd be better served by printing molds to use a form of injection molding instead - but it's not that crazy. If you had a good formula that could be extruded with a printer - you could do cool things like print caseless ammo bases with the primer embedded.

[mmorecycler]

I wouldn't think this would have to be pointed out, as it seems like it would be obvious, but plenty of things are 3D printed without heating. Go do some looking for cement printers, or foam, or pancake batter.

I'd be willing to bet that the majority of smokeless powders today are extruded.

I don't think the OP is calling for anything all that far fetched. Powder can be formulated to work without relying on kernel shapes and sizes to perform to spec.

I personally think you'd be better served by printing molds to use a form of injection molding instead - but it's not that crazy. If you had a good formula that could be extruded with a printer - you could do cool things like print caseless ammo bases with the primer embedded.

True but, the misnomer of saying it will be 3d printed, when every desktop 3d printer is using heat. They are in fact 3d printing houses not far from where I live. 3D printers require heat to even start extruding. You would have to have a manufacturer make a 3d printer that doesn't use heat, good luck finding one that would manufacture a printer for an unknown market. The numbers just wouldn't be there to justify the R@D required to make such a product, so this whole thread is moot.

[printedboolits]

True but, the misnomer of saying it will be 3d printed, when every desktop 3d printer is using heat. They are in fact 3d printing houses not far from where I live. 3D printers require heat to even start extruding. You would have to have a manufacturer make a 3d printer that doesn't use heat, good luck finding one that would manufacture a printer for an unknown market. The numbers just wouldn't be there to justify the R@D required to make such a product, so this whole thread is moot.

You must be new to 3D printing. R&D costs to switch an existing print head from plastic to a liquid or semi liquid material would be basically nothing. Open source projects already exist for that kind of thing. People adapt or make their own print heads all the time - it's incredibly common.

That's one of the coolest things about 3D printing. R&D costs are a bit of time in CAD, and printing yourself some new tools. You don't need a big company backing you. Heck, 10 or 15 years back the majority of desktop 3D printers were all DIY projects, most of them open source.

[printedboolits]

Heck, if you don't want to do it yourself - there are ceramic/clay extruders out there that would probably do the job. You can get printers setup for them, or just bolt the extruder to an existing machine. Set a few firmware variables and you'd be off to the races.

https://www.3dwasp.shop/en/prodotto/...wasp-extruder/