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Has anyone 3D printed an entire chassis?
I was just wondering to lower the cost of the really cool chassis’. I know some are like $350, but they aren’t the really cool ones.
Maybe it won’t be so solid, just curious because you can get it really light. I am new to long range.
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5 Replies
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What you’d spend to a buy a 3d printer capable of printing something that would actually hold up, combined with the material cost would probably cover several moderately priced to higher end chassis systems.
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Good stocks, let alone chassis, need to be rigid to support the rifle weight against leverage from a floating forend, as well as resist deformation and compression from the clamping force near the action, the torque from shots, and lots of additional forces from attachments.
That is not a job for FFF/FDM type printers you will use as a consumer. That is a better job for an SLS type printers used in thr aerospace industry or subtractive manufacture.
You could 3D print a stock and then reduce requirements through epoxy bedding to build compression resistance and not have ways to attach accessories or apply leverage to the forend. This is the route of a lot of tupperware factory stocks.
Then then you run into issues with assembly vs your printer plate size. Big sold objects need big print areas, and joining adds weight and reduces strength.
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Even nylon is not acceptable for these applications, it creeps under tension. The tension of your action screws would be enough even without the heat of firing. It also isn’t that rigid. Glass or CF filled nylon filament isn’t even a good solution because the strands are so short.
PLA will heat deform on a sunny day so definitely not that.
You really need the metallic block to bold the action to for any advantage over the stock furniture.
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Unless it’s SLS metal, I wouldn’t bother. But in order to get one big enough to print a chassis, you’re spending big bucks. The metal powder isn’t cheap either. Unless you plan on making a bunch, it just isn’t worth it.
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Will need to be metal.
