Defense Distributed founder Cody Wilson, who made international
headlines in 2013 with his Liberator gun, has offered $US 15,000 to anybody who
will give him a MarkForged 3D printer.
Wired reports that
Wilson placed an order for a Mark One machine – these premiered at SolidWorks World in
San Diego in 2014 – roughly a year ago year though was told last Friday that he could not be sent one
under MarkForged’s terms of service.
MarkForged
told Wired in a statement that
the company sought to “limit experimentation with ordnance to the United States
Government and its authorized contractors” through its terms of service. It has said it will refund Wilson’s
order, plus interest.
Wilson responded to the lack of a carbon fibre 3D printer by
offering $US 15,000 to, “Anyone who’s got access to one, any reseller, any
individual or business or entity that can deliver it to me.
“I’m going to get this printer. I’m going to make a gun with
it. And I’m going to make sure everyone knows it was made with a MarkForged
printer.”
(See his YouTube video here.)
Wilson gained international attention with his “Liberator”
single-shot 3D printed gun in 2013. He uploaded files which were then downloaded
a reported 10,000 times before he was made to take these down by authorities.
Last
year the ABC reported that a version of the Liberator were being sold in
Australia through The Agora Market, an online marketplace for illegal goods.
Guns created out of materials such as ABS plastic through 3D
printing – for example a Liberator made by the NSW Police as a demonstration – have proven brittle, easily
broken during use, and thus dangerous to the user.
Carbon fibre reinforced material, for example that produced
by a Mark One printer, might presumably be appealing to somebody wanting to
create a gun due to the increased strength of parts.
According to MarkForged, nylon (it uses this rather than ABS
or PLA) reinforced with a continuous strand of carbon fibre in one of their
machines is 20 times stiffer than a regular ABS part, and has a higher strength/Weight ratio
than 6061-T6 aluminium.
To read a Manufacturers’
Monthly interview with MarkForged founder Greg Mark from last month, click here.
Image: http://www.ramarmory.com