Can I buy dinner and drinks to teach me about 3d printing Glock lowers?

[Zet70]

I have an old Glock 21 gen 2 id like to make a railed lower for so I can mount in a MCK frame just to make it usable again.

I figure a printer frame is best bet.

No idea where to start. Who's got the know how?!

Appreciate it!

[raxar]

Just get another g21 kit if you want to do that, no sense ditching a gen-2 lower just to use the parts on a frame you printed.

[Zet70]

Not going to ditch it. Just use parts and keep the frame in the safe. At least the old girl will get some use.

[JaySmith]

3d printed frames are far from perfect, they take hours, multiple tries to get the ideal settings, and file finishing to make hte fit right. THis isn't something you pick up and do any more than you would metalworking, woodworking, or gunsmithing. 3d printing takes a lot of time and effort to get right. It's not as the left would you have you think. And 3d printers are expensive, especially good ones.

[Gunsnwater]

Defense distributed has what you're looking for.

https://defcad.com/library/9d3b3e22-...-9ab8b4d84194/

[esh21167]

3d printed frames are far from perfect, they take hours, multiple tries to get the ideal settings, and file finishing to make hte fit right. THis isn't something you pick up and do any more than you would metalworking, woodworking, or gunsmithing. 3d printing takes a lot of time and effort to get right. It's not as the left would you have you think. And 3d printers are expensive, especially good ones.

Spot on. The general public thinks 3D printing can do just about anything with little work. Same for CNC machining.

Number One: You need a valid model of what you want to produce. That can take hours for a even a skilled designer, with adequate software, depending on the part complexity.

[knight0334]

It took my son 3 tries to get a "correct" Glock receiver to form. Each time it printed for over a day. He had some deformities because of temperature, speed, and print angle settings. His best results were by printing it upside-down(side down/magwell up).

Then you need to trim all the flashing(lack of a better word) off of it, including inside. You also need to clear out the holes and such, some of which like the mag release need a file to properly fit the release button.

The last time he made one he said "I should probably get impregnated media" for durability. I asked him what that means, he said "It has fiberglass or something in it to make it stronger".

The one he made me it took me a couple days to trim, fit, etc. Needle nose pliers to pull flashing out of small places, the xacto knives making the finer cuts.

They certainly aren't "Print & Go".

[NathanB]

It’s all printer dependent. I can crank out a stellar frame in 8 hours or less in my Bambu labs x1c. My ender would have taken closer to 30 hours and needed some massaging. You won’t be as durable as a Glock frame either. The jury is still out on the carbon fiber filaments. But again. Printer dependent not all can print that.

[esh21167]

Trinkets and do-dads seem to be print and go.

Anything that has specific tolerances can and will likely need some work. The amount of tweaking I've had to do for PLA makes me wonder how bad it will be with the more expensive filament.

True. Anything that is just a look at this item and does NOT have to fit well with another part is fine. I see tons of printed parts coming out of high schools, and even CTC's. They are cheap giveaways with no real application to generate a 'wow' factor.

Our CTC's one mechatronics instructor did print a reasonably good fitting male and female thread combination, but had to keep the STL file tolerances quite tight, and the print parameters very tight as well. Both increase printing time greatly.

It*s all printer dependent. I can crank out a stellar frame in 8 hours or less in my Bambu labs x1c. My ender would have taken closer to 30 hours and needed some massaging. You won*t be as durable as a Glock frame either. The jury is still out on the carbon fiber filaments. But again. Printer dependent not all can print that.

Also true. Printers that cost a few hundred bucks are not for such applications. Christmas ornaments and small lightweight brackets. (As I previously mentioned.)

I know of a medical device manufacturer that has a titanium sintering 3D printer that can do very good work. FDA has approved use of their printed spinal implants.

Of course, it was nearly $1 million about 4 years ago. And a 1/2 gallon size container of media was about $500. Probably still $500k today. 12 x 12 x 12 build envelope IIRC.

[esh21167]

Trinkets and do-dads seem to be print and go.

Anything that has specific tolerances can and will likely need some work. The amount of tweaking I've had to do for PLA makes me wonder how bad it will be with the more expensive filament.

True. Anything that is just a look at this item and does NOT have to fit well with another part is fine. I see tons of printed parts coming out of high schools, and even CTC's. They are cheap giveaways with no real application to generate a 'wow' factor.

Our CTC's one mechatronics instructor did print a reasonably good fitting male and female thread combination, but had to keep the STL file tolerances quite tight, and the print parameters very tight as well. Both increase printing time greatly.

It’s all printer dependent. I can crank out a stellar frame in 8 hours or less in my Bambu labs x1c. My ender would have taken closer to 30 hours and needed some massaging. You won’t be as durable as a Glock frame either. The jury is still out on the carbon fiber filaments. But again. Printer dependent not all can print that.

Also true. Printers that cost a few hundred bucks are not for such applications. Christmas ornaments and small lightweight brackets. (As I previously mentioned.)

I know of a medical device manufacturer that has a titanium sintering 3D printer that can do very good work. FDA has approved use of their printed spinal implants.

Of course, it was nearly $1 million about 4 years ago. And a 1/2 gallon size container of media was about $500. Probably still $500k today. 12 x 12 x 12 build envelope IIRC.