3D printed mold guns

[Madmax500000]

Was wondering if any has used a 3D printed gun for a mold gun. And if so where did they get the 3D files from. I’m thinking this might be a cheaper option then the mold gun that are available online. 

[Lobo]

First you must have a 3D printer with sufficient capacity to produce the parts you require. For common handguns that will require working dimensions of about 12" X 6" X 3" or so. Figure on spending $10,000 plus.

Then you will need the media with which to produce your parts. That can be done in polymers or metal, or a mixture of both. In sufficient quantities to work with you can expect to pay about $20 to $40 per piece produced (and that assumes bulk purchasing, probably $1000 or more per order).

Then you will need the 3D files to drive your machine. Those can be produced using an optical-laser scanner by a skilled technician with proper laboratory equipment. To do so you will also need the original handgun to be copied. I doubt that handgun manufacturers will be agreeable to providing free 3D files for all of their products, so put a price tag on all of that. (Actually as recently as the 1970's many gun makers offered factory dummies to established holster makers at little or no cost, but those days are long gone).

Interesting topic, but not one that has a simple or inexpensive solution readily available. Start-up expense will be pretty high, and as soon as you think you have everything you need some handgun manufacturer will announce a new model, and you'll be back to square one again, having to open up your wallet in order to meet perceived demand.

Prior to my retirement I had about 80 dummy guns in the shop. I also had about 70 actual firearms in the gun safe. No matter what I had there would always be a demand for something else! Developing the ability to read market demand, and invest accordingly, is part of the business of holster making.

During the 1990's there was a flood of Soviet-bloc pistols (Makarov, CZ, Polish, you name it) coming into the US at bargain prices. Demand for holsters blossomed, but there were no dummies available. Fortunately, the actual pistols could be purchased for very low prices (frequently less than $100 each).

A decade later many of the European police agencies were changing handguns, and HK P7-PSP, Sig P6 (P225), Star BM, and a dozen others came into the US market by the thousands. Once again, holster demand spiked.

I bought dozens of pistols. I made hundreds of holsters, usually for a year or two. Then the guns sat in the gun safe for months, or years, between orders.

Meanwhile, US makers were jumping on the "plastic fantastic" market in droves. New handgun models were announced at least once per month. Holster orders spiked with each new model announced, but "dummy guns" were never available for most, and even when dummies were made those were always a year or so behind the demand.

Again, an interesting topic. Also a topic that will interest many folks new to the business (or considering holster making as a business). All I can say is that you have to spend money to make money, you have to be careful what you spend your money on so that you can recover your investment in a timely manner, and ALL THOSE GUNS IN THE SAFE HAVE TURNED INTO A GOLD MINE FOR MY RETIREMENT!

Best regards.

[chrisash]

Model makers often use the actual item to make silicon molds of items they want to replicate and then use the molds to make the exact copy in a hard medium 

 

[dikman]

Chris, biggest problem with that is you still need the original to make the mold. Making a gun-size mold and then casting with a suitable material won't be cheap either.

A hobby 3D printer should be able to print a suitable gun in separate pieces and then glue and pin them together. In my (limited) experience the standard PLA material should work as it is surprisingly tough. The main issue, as Lobo pointed out, is getting the 3D files from somewhere. And they need to be fairly accurate.

[chrisash]

I think the resin material is far cheaper than 3D printer making and presumably if you make a holster then the customer has the gun, the gun could be covered in film bag and vacuumed into tight fit prior to mold so no silicon touches the gun at any time and only takes about 30-60 min

Once you have the mold you can sell copies to all to get the cost back, maybe even making more money on this than making the holster

Edited June 21, 2018 by chrisash

[JLSleather]

Absolutely IS doable.  But not worth it to me personally.  If I'm making ONE of a model, then just use the gun.  If I"m making 50 of some model, then the "dummy" gun is about $1 per holster (and I still have the dummy after).  Meanwhile, I could be making another holster or two DURING the time I'd be molding a gun -- so just not worth my time AND SPACE.  My buddy built a new 36 x 130' shop .. but he didn't build it for me.  More equipment, more materials, requires more room. And then the holster work (and belts, and wallets, and handbags, etc ...) is crowded and needs to adjust ... 

[dikman]

Chris, it may be cheaper where you are, but not where I live. I've dabbled in molding and casting for small models, using various molding silicons (including high temp for casting lead) and casting resins and I can assure you that in the quantities needed to cast for a revolver it's going to be expensive for me to do. Time is not the issue, but I doubt if I could recover my costs. It would certainly be quicker than 3D printing, however!

[chrisash]

No problem it was just a option to put forward, 

We don't have your problem over hear as nobody allowed to have handguns, so nobody makes holsters

[dikman]

That's ok, it was an idea I had already considered before, as the basic concept is quite sound.

We here in Oz haven't gone to the extreme that the UK did in banning handguns - yet. It was considered but fortunately only resulted in severe restrictions on ownership. Of course, banning handguns immediately stopped criminals from using them too, didn't it? No need to reply, I think we all know the answer to that one!

Due to the aforementioned restrictions 3D printing would be an ideal way for me to get suitable patterns for molding, unfortunately getting the 3D files is proving to be an almost insurmountable obstacle.

[immiketoo]

Aside from the aforementioned cost issues, the real problem is finding someone who can print the file properly AND making certain the file is correct.  Someone did a 3D gun for me and when I got it, the barrel was oval indicating the cloud file had been stretched on one axis.  Without the gun or a proper mold, there is NO way to ensure that your 3D prop is correct.  I'd hate to make a holster only to find out the gun didn't fit because of an altered file.

[dikman]

Ideally it needs to be 3D scanned to create the file, unfortunately that puts it beyond almost every hobbyist and I doubt if any company that has the equipment is likely to be bothered doing it.

[chrisash]

Dikman

I notice you have a Singer 331 K$, I was looking at this machine actually the K5 but wondered how you reduced the speed to a leather working  level, otherwise it looks a handy machine

[chrisash]

OK found out the 331K6 and for smaller items the K4 are the leather machines so 5 is no good, but still needs reducing from 2200 rev

[dikman]

Chris, the only way to get good, controllable slow speed on an industrial machine is to fit a servo motor! I spent much time messing around with speed reducers, pulley sizes etc. on my first machine (51W59) trying to tame the clutch motor. When I finally bit the bullet and bought a servo I didn't hesitate with my other machines and just bought servos straight away. I also mess around with pulley reducers with the servo as it does help as well, but the servo is the only way to go (imo).

The 331K4 I have is basically a straight stitch garment machine, the only reason I have it is that it was free, just needed a bit of work to get it going.