Oh. I assumed that the photocathodes where strung together as a wire mesh or something.

Make steel plates with a lathe

Maybe I'm not understanding photocathodes construction then. My bad.

imagine not making bulletproof chainmail

ok

well yeah they are but you need to cut them into shape before you put them in the mesh

I'll watch some vids about them.

I like to make my micro-channel plates on a sheet metal brake

if you can cut even gen 2 photocathode-grade meshes with a manual lathe, what the absolute fuck are you doing not swimming in dosh

Ok, so we're going with "the only gun manufacturing tools that count as gear are photocathodes machines?" We should make these into a list of rules.

rules are not gear

so no rules

gear is gear

thats all you need to know

Oh cool thanks for the advice.

You're welcome

Crye time

Have any of you guys messed around with printing gear/gun parts? I have a printer and i really want to try printing a lower on it. I just need to put the stock print head back on so I can print a better cooling nozzle for the upgraded print head.

That lower is going to be complete garbage

even if ar lowers don't go through all that much stress

Tactical knee holes.

Just use your stupid machine to make magazines

Sure, try it

They only have to work for the first 30 rounds

and you can just use piano wire

Depends. If you use the right material and treat it right (ie, anneal it, vapor bath, etc depending on the material) it can be fairly strong. I would start with pla but once I get the hang of it, I would try nylon or something, maybe with carbon fiber filling. A few pieces of aluminum can probably reinforce any areas that you can't get to be structurally reliable with those methods.

@Red Korvo I don't have kneepads for them yet

@Red Korvo printed lowers are shit and are a stopgap

What's the long term solution? Home CNC machines?

suicide

Nice.

like what is your purpose
because sure running a machine shop from your house is the best option for almost-sufficient but it's expensive and impractical

Make unregistered lowers at or or near PSA levels of reliability with minimal tooling. Lower impact and drop resistance is acceptable, but wear and tear, especially from the friction and heat of regular operation, shouldn't be any higher. Using aluminum sheet metal and bushings in certain areas should take care of that.

making lowers on home grade cnc machines is not time practical

and if they really want to effectively clamp down on home firearms manufacture theyll switch to a euro style regulatory scheme that restricts pressure bearing components

and making bcgs and barrels on home equipment is approaching impossible

because thats very precisely heat treated steel

so youd need machines that can accurately cut steel, and an accurate annealing furnace

so your talking minimum of a couple million in tooling tbh

I thought so too... until I saw our Russian friend making a half decent barrel at home with a few hundred dollars in parts.