New 1911 - World's first 3D printed METAL gun

[netcoyote]

Seems like only a few months ago I posted a thread about a 3D printed gun which was a breakthrough of technology at the time. The 3D printing concept was sound, but for any practical firearm to be "printed" would require a leap of technology to replace the plastic printing with durable metals to take the pressures involved in a useable firearm. When there is so much potential for a new product and market it seems like good old American technology happens pretty fast.

I ran across this story this morning about the first 3D printed METAL 1911. Pretty interesting story.
http://blog.solidconcepts.com/industry-highlights/worlds-first-3d-printed-metal-gun/

[smg id=12209]

World's First 3D Printed Metal Gun

[ELKBURGER]

Cool.....any idea on price yet?

[Gutpile]

I can barely even wrap my simple brain around that.

[netcoyote]

Cool.....any idea on price yet?

Interesting question. I think most of this type of early 3D development work is done to prove the feasibility of what can be done rather than propose a product for market. 1911s are manufactured with standard machining processes and only recently improved by using CNC type machine tools. All conventional machining is still limited by the constraint of using cutting tools to remove metal. The 3D process does not have that constraint since it basically adds material to form a finished part.
A production 3D 1911 would benefit from a complete re-engineering of all the parts to take full advantage of the 3D processes. Would it then still be a 1911?
A true reproduction of the 1911 by 3D processes may not be economically justified when trying to compete with a fully machined 1911. You can bet somebody is trying to sort all this out to optimize the 1911 for a market.
This technology is still in an early stage. Optimized production processes to maximize for efficiency and to meet a price point to satisfy a market are probably a few years down the road yet.

[JJB11B]

so who wants to go in partners on a 3d metal printer?

[JJB11B]

Cool.....any idea on price yet?

Interesting question. I think most of this type of early 3D development work is done to prove the feasibility of what can be done rather than propose a product for market. 1911s are manufactured with standard machining processes and only recently improved by using CNC type machine tools. All conventional machining is still limited by the constraint of using cutting tools to remove metal. The 3D process does not have that constraint since it basically adds material to form a finished part.
A production 3D 1911 would benefit from a complete re-engineering of all the parts to take full advantage of the 3D processes. Would it then still be a 1911?
A true reproduction of the 1911 by 3D processes may not be economically justified when trying to compete with a fully machined 1911. You can bet somebody is trying to sort all this out to optimize the 1911 for a market.
This technology is still in an early stage. Optimized production processes to maximize for efficiency and to meet a price point to satisfy a market are probably a few years down the road yet.

I wonder if it needs a heat treatment to strengthen it adequetly, or if it has the proper rockwell fresh off the printer.