3D Printed stocks. When?

[Justabirdwatcher]

Surprised we haven't seen a manufacturer of 3D printed stocks by now. Makes me wonder why. Seems like an easy way to produce a lot of stocks in a wide variety of shapes and styles, for a wide range of action inlets. Maybe there is one out there, but I don't know who it would be. I'm sure some of the bigger stock manufacturers have at least looked at this. I have a friend who used to custom mold bow grips and now 3d prints them. It has changed his whole business model.

 

[crock239]

Last I checked most 3d printers don't have a build table large enough for rifle or shotgun stock dimensions...but it's been a while since I looked

 

[BAKPAKR]

During the design stage of the Rokstok, Unknown Munitions/Stockys printed a stock or two. Although I know they shot with it, I think printing was used more to test the design. The one I handled had broken and was taped together. The final version uses the more traditional CF construction.

 

[Justabirdwatcher]

Last I checked most 3d printers don't have a build table large enough for rifle or shotgun stock dimensions...but it's been a while since I looked

They are 3D printing houses now. No kidding.

 

[Justabirdwatcher]

During the design stage of the Rokstok, Unknown Munitions/Stockys printed a stock or two. Although I know they shot with it, I think printing was used more to test the design. The one I handled had broken and was taped together. The final version uses the more traditional CF construction.

I figured some have at least tested it. Would be foolish not to. The tech is moving so fast in this area. I expect that in 10 years, I'll be able to print my own stock on my workbench if I want.

 

[Deleted member 52937]

You certainly can but it's not the most cost effective for a hobbyist trying to develop a 1 off stock. I threw together a design to run through a company I use often for prototyping or custom fixturing. I made a really rough stock with an overall envelope of 34"x6.849"x1.845". I don't have any stocks around me right now, so I took a stab at it just for the purposes of this exercise and didn't want to spend more than a couple minutes on it.

For a basic Nylon printed stock through Xometry you're looking at around 1K. Not a terrible cost for a company looking at developing a mold but pretty steep for someone messing around with an idea. It's unlikely your first design would be perfect and although printing has come a long way it's still not near the quality of an injection molded part. I'm not sure at what dimensions it would break their software but I'm assuming it would be around a 40"x40"x40" volume which is the high end for build volumes on these industrial printers.

I believe it's so expensive because most of these companies charge time/material. A part this big would require a lot of both.

 

[Justabirdwatcher]

You certainly can but it's not the most cost effective for a hobbyist trying to develop a 1 off stock. I threw together a design to run through a company I use often for prototyping or custom fixturing. I made a really rough stock with an overall envelope of 34"x6.849"x1.845". I don't have any stocks around me right now, so I took a stab at it just for the purposes of this exercise and didn't want to spend more than a couple minutes on it.
View attachment 357040
For a basic Nylon printed stock through Xometry you're looking at around 1K. Not a terrible cost for a company looking at developing a mold but pretty steep for someone messing around with an idea. It's unlikely your first design would be perfect and although printing has come a long way it's still not near the quality of an injection molded part. I'm not sure at what dimensions it would break their software but I'm assuming it would be around a 40"x40"x40" volume which is the high end for build volumes on these industrial printers.

I believe it's so expensive because most of these companies charge time/material. A part this big would require a lot of both.

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Good stuff. This is only going to get cheaper by the week, so eventually I think we'll see 3D printed stocks on the major manufacturer's rifles, but probably on the smaller customs first. I would imagine that the 3D scanning technology will be or already is at the point where they can image an action and then translate that to inletting all on the computer. I'll have to ask my brother as he makes parts for the aerospace industry. I bet he would know. I've asked my friend who makes bow grips and look forward to his response.

 

[FairWeather]

This would be amazing for those of us who use left handed rifles. If a company could simply 3D print their stock for whatever handedness needed, I think it would open up some options. I’d love a full/mannlicher stock, even if it would have to be polymer.

 

[Deleted member 52937]

Good stuff. This is only going to get cheaper by the week, so eventually I think we'll see 3D printed stocks on the major manufacturer's rifles, but probably on the smaller customs first. I would imagine that the 3D scanning technology will be or already is at the point where they can image an action and then translate that to inletting all on the computer. I'll have to ask my brother as he makes parts for the aerospace industry. I bet he would know. I've asked my friend who makes bow grips and look forward to his response.

yes, that technology has been around for a while now. When I first started my career in engineering, the company I worked for invested in a 3d scanner that cost nearly 1/2 million dollars. Now you can get similar resolution machines for 1/10th of the price. They make pretty nice handheld ones for a very reasonable price. You can certainly scan and produce 3d models of the action and inlay them into your stock design pretty easily with today's technology.

 

[Justabirdwatcher]

yes, that technology has been around for a while now. When I first started my career in engineering, the company I worked for invested in a 3d scanner that cost nearly 1/2 million dollars. Now you can get similar resolution machines for 1/10th of the price. They make pretty nice handheld ones for a very reasonable price. You can certainly scan and produce 3d models of the action and inlay them into your stock design pretty easily with today's technology.

Sounds like a good business for someone who already has the scanner and a printer of suitable size, especially if they know firearms. Custom orders for hard to find stock configurations might be a niche in the market. I bet there are a lot of rifles out there in gun safes that would get used more often if they had an updated stock.

 

[Deleted member 52937]

Sounds like a good business for someone who already has the scanner and a printer of suitable size, especially if they know firearms. Custom orders for hard to find stock configurations might be a niche in the market. I bet there are a lot of rifles out there in gun safes that would get used more often if they had an updated stock.

I have multiple friends that design or have designed stocks at sometime in their career. A lot of the high end collapsible stocks have multiple parts so individual items are typically smaller then a 1 piece traditional stock. To get nicer quality parts for prototyping they'll break the design into parts that fit in the 15x11x15 HP fusion jet printer bed and screw the parts together where necessary. They're primarily looking for a functional prototype with decent quality. FJP and SLS would probably be the way to go, but I don't think they have machines with the build volume you'd need for a stock (yet).

Some good videos on the technology:

Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) 3D Printing Service | Protolabs

Multi Jet Fusion is an industrial 3D printing process that produces functional nylon prototypes and end-use parts in as fast as 1 day. Get an instant quote today.

www.protolabs.com

The extrusions printers (FDM - Fused deposition modeling) print PLA very well, but they can be tricky to dial in with more specialized nylons/etc. I have one at my house I use for prototyping but usually for small parts and I typically have to design them with printing limitations in mind. Not the case with FJP and SLS. Extrusion printing is not near as good as the technologies above when it comes to cosmetics and mechanical properties. They do make some large build plate extrusion printers that would fit a stock, but they are expensive. I think you'd get laughed at hard (definitely by me!) if you showed up in the woods with a FDM stock on your beautiful antique rifle.