Alternate replacement parts/Venturing into 3D printing

[Gilligan]

I have had some trouble in the past with breaking annoying little parts that either you couldn't buy replacements for on their own, or they were incredibly overpriced. Two parts in particular are the magazine followers for a WE tech 1911 and the Hop up slider/clip for an A&K Masada. Due to rough handling/not taking proper care of these parts, they both broke beyond repair (for the 1911 follower this was not the first time, and I was sick of paying for a replacement that was just going to break again.)

So I took matters into my own hands, and armed with a pair of digital calipers and too much spare time, I drew models for replacements of both these items and had them 3D printed via Shapeways. It was intended as a shot in the dark and I didn't actually think it would work that well, but I guess I was wrong.

The follower (to my surprise considering some of the measurements were an educated guess at best), dropped in and fit the magazine perfectly. It slides freely, feeds perfectly, and seems to catch on the loading lip much better than the stock ones. I'm hoping that the material will prove much more durable than the stock followers, and that this will be a one time fix for this issue.




As for the Hop-up slider/clip, It required a little sanding on the ceiling of the slot, but other than that it fit great. I'm not super familiar with the PTS Masada's Hop-up, so I don't know if this would work on that as well.




Heres a link to both of these parts on Shapeways. I decided to "open source" them and not charge anything for them, so it you need a alternate replacement to either of these parts, here they are ;D
Follower: https://www.shapeways.com/model/1475654 ... terialId=6
Hop-up clip: https://www.shapeways.com/model/1513207 ... terialId=6

[Sir Stubby Eyre]

If you don't mind, what was the cost for the part. I have never had 3D printing done before, don't know how expensive it is.

[Orwell]

This is fantastic. I wonder if we could get a community project together to make more products like this.

What's the legality on that, I wonder? If the designs are patented, you could potentially run into trouble, no?

[Kommodant]

This is fantastic. I wonder if we could get a community project together to make more products like this.

What's the legality on that, I wonder? If the designs are patented, you could potentially run into trouble, no?

As long as you're not going into mass production and collecting profit, you're fine. Wouldn't hurt to check though

[Gilligan]

If you don't mind, what was the cost for the part. I have never had 3D printing done before, don't know how expensive it is.

You pay by the cubic centimeter, being that both of these parts pretty small, I had them shipped to my door for less then $10. You can see the actual cost of the item in the links in the OP. The bigger cost was time when was drawing them up on the computer, but that's also because I am a novice when it comes to 3D modeling.

What's the legality on that, I wonder? If the designs are patented, you could potentially run into trouble, no?

I doubt theres any sort of patent due to the simplicity and wide use of the concepts in many different brands and countries of origin. So I don't think theres an issue there, if there becomes one I will be surprised to say the least.

[Payback]

What 3d program did you use? I see they offer several design options, but i've never tried anything like that. So i'm lost


I have a follower for a kjw g23 mag i could make and a hopup guide for a classic army m14 that i need that can't be bought without a whole gearbox.


I have to say, this is a great idea. Glad you posted about it.

[Gilligan]

What 3d program did you use? I see they offer several design options, but i've never tried anything like that. So i'm lost


I have a follower for a kjw g23 mag i could make and a hopup guide for a classic army m14 that i need that can't be bought without a whole gearbox.


I have to say, this is a great idea. Glad you posted about it.

I used Google Sketchup, its free and relatively easy to learn. I had to do a bunch of googling on how to do little tricks to get the results I wanted, but once I did it worked out pretty well. One thing to note is you need to install a STL file converter (theres a plugin) because thats the file format that Shapeways takes. Good luck! Post about if/when it all comes together

[Jmonday]

Hell, there is a YouTube video of a guy taking a 3D printer and printing off a lower receiver off of an AR15. He also made 30rd magazines. Pretty insane, VICE interviewed him. I'll put the video in. The dudes a real genius.

This also could lead to Air-soft downloading..