this post was submitted on 26 Jun 2026
233 points (98.7% liked)

3DPrinting

23020 readers
22 users here now

3DPrinting is a place where makers of all skill levels and walks of life can learn about and discuss 3D printing and development of 3D printed parts and devices.

The r/functionalprint community is now located at: or !functionalprint@fedia.io

There are CAD communities available at: !cad@lemmy.world or !freecad@lemmy.ml

Rules

If you need an easy way to host pictures, https://catbox.moe/ may be an option. Be ethical about what you post and donate if you are able or use this a lot. It is just an individual hosting content, not a company. The image embedding syntax for Lemmy is ![](URL)

Moderation policy: Light, mostly invisible

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] lung@lemmy.world 14 points 2 days ago (4 children)

Pretty sure you could make a gun too, which is the point of this 3D printer thing

And like what about other CNC machines?

I like that California is on the frontier of many tech laws, but this and the age thing are particularly dumb lately

[–] TIEPilot@lemmy.world 9 points 2 days ago (5 children)

I made an AR15 with a hobby drill press from Lowes at work. Give me a hunk of metal, a micrometer and a file and I can make you a gun.

Or worse.

[–] tomiant@piefed.social 1 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

And that is illegal, as it should be. The efficacy of a law has nothing to do with whether it's moral.

It's like saying "we don't have the manpower to police murder effectively, so we are gonna legalize murder". It's a fundamental misunderstanding of what the law is fucking for.

[–] TIEPilot@lemmy.world 1 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago)

No its not illegal:

https://www.atf.gov/firearms/privately-made-firearms

You can't make a machine gun or other items on the NFA list though.

A homemade AR15 is completely legal to be made at the federal level.

The rest of your comment is off base.

[–] PattyMcB@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I'm pretty sure that's already illegal in CA

[–] TIEPilot@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I think at this point it easier to list what isn't illegal in California.

[–] tomiant@piefed.social 1 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Are the laws sound and moral? That's the only important metric, it doesn't matter how many laws you have. It's not like you go, oh shit, we have to keep it under a hundred thousand so now we can't make new laws around AI data centers because that's just too many!

[–] TIEPilot@lemmy.world 1 points 20 hours ago

lol you again, who decides whats "moral"?

And WTF are you bringing data centers into a post about 3D printing and California's draconian laws?

[–] grue@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

Neat, I would've assumed you'd need a mill or a lathe, not just a drill press. Kinda want to know how to do it myself, since I own the former but not either of the latter.

[–] TIEPilot@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

It won't be accurate or be a long baller w/o a lathe to make a rifled barrel. Not that you couldn't mke a barrel with hand tools, it just would be very difficult.

And like others have said, only the lower receiver is the controlled item. You goto Brownels and can buy 98% of an AR w/o a background check.

[–] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

The upper reciever is the load bearing part on an Armalite, but it's also not the regulated part. The lower receiver is, and all you need for that is a box that holds the trigger components in vaguely the right place, a hole that lines up the magazine, a hole to stick the buffer tube into at the back, and some way to nail the upper receiver to it.

You could carve an AR lower out of wood if you were dedicated enough.

[–] grue@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Guess I ought to go find a set of machining schematics.

[–] PancakesCantKillMe@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Shovel AK is a thing too. There are stencils out there for it.

[–] TIEPilot@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

Gah how can I forget about the shovel AK????

[–] mctoasterson@reddthat.com 6 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Nobody tell California about a nail combined with certain diameters of pipe, because guess what, those can become guns too.

[–] TIEPilot@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

zip guns, lets bring in slam fired shotguns.

Never doubt the ingenuity of man killing other men.

[–] tomiant@piefed.social 0 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Thank god we have laws prohibiting and enforcing it then.

[–] TIEPilot@lemmy.world 1 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago)

No we don't, check the ppost with this link

https://www.atf.gov/firearms/privately-made-firearms

I can make guns all day long and you can't do anything about it.

[–] PattyMcB@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

If I'm not mistaken, this DOES cover ALL manufacturing devices, and if it doesn't, it will in the future

[–] Oneiros@eviltoast.org -1 points 2 days ago

Yeah I’ve lived in CA for about 10 years now and have loved it, but the new laws they are passing are making it extremely likely that I’ll be moving soon. Especially with tje fact that we are either getting either Becerra who’s in Big AI and Big Oils pocket.