3D Printers Have 'Fingerprints', a Discovery That Could Help Trace 3D-Printed Guns: Study (sciencedaily.com) 139
Like fingerprints, no 3D printer is exactly the same. That's the takeaway from a new University at Buffalo-led study that describes what's believed to be the first accurate method for tracing a 3D-printed object to the machine it came from. From the study: The advancement, which the research team calls "PrinTracker," could ultimately help law enforcement and intelligence agencies track the origin of 3D-printed guns, counterfeit products and other goods. "3D printing has many wonderful uses, but it's also a counterfeiter's dream. Even more concerning, it has the potential to make firearms more readily available to people who are not allowed to possess them," says the study's lead author Wenyao Xu, PhD, associate professor of computer science and engineering in UB's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
[...] To understand the method, it's helpful to know how 3D printers work. Like a common inkjet printer, 3D printers move back-and-forth while "printing" an object. Instead of ink, a nozzle discharges a filament, such as plastic, in layers until a three-dimensional object forms. Each layer of a 3D-printed object contains tiny wrinkles -- usually measured in submillimeters -- called in-fill patterns. These patterns are supposed to be uniform. However, the printer's model type, filament, nozzle size and other factors cause slight imperfections in the patterns. The result is an object that does not match its design plan.
[...] To understand the method, it's helpful to know how 3D printers work. Like a common inkjet printer, 3D printers move back-and-forth while "printing" an object. Instead of ink, a nozzle discharges a filament, such as plastic, in layers until a three-dimensional object forms. Each layer of a 3D-printed object contains tiny wrinkles -- usually measured in submillimeters -- called in-fill patterns. These patterns are supposed to be uniform. However, the printer's model type, filament, nozzle size and other factors cause slight imperfections in the patterns. The result is an object that does not match its design plan.
Easy work-around (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Easy work-around (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:1)
you can buy a serviceable gun for less than $150 in USA. or used less than $50. why anyone would bother with 3D printed flimsy crap is beyond me.
yes there are 3D "printing" systems that can make a substantial gun, you'll pay more than a few houses in price for 'em.... they're 3D printing turbines and stuff with those but that's not hobbyist territory
Re:Easy work-around (Score:5, Interesting)
Because you don't understand the underlying issue at hand.
This is the best write-up I've seen as to the reasoning: https://www.wired.com/story/de... [wired.com]
Re: (Score:2)
you still can't sue a gun "manufacturer"/printer though... so who cares if it is a known brand...
Re: (Score:2)
You can sue any gun manufacturer that produces faulty guns. A gun that actually hits the target it is pointed at is not faulty; that is the definition of functioning properly.
Re: (Score:2)
Because you don't understand the underlying issue at hand.
This is the best write-up I've seen as to the reasoning: https://www.wired.com/story/de... [wired.com]
And now you understand even less.
Anyone can build their own unregistered fire arm right now. They don't even have to put a serial number on it, if they have no intention of selling it.
As to building a lowcost cheap gun, anyone who has a pair of hands and some basic plumbing equipment can do it any time they like.
Are you going to require a license to have a pipe wrench, to buy a length of pipe, a nail ?
Re: (Score:2)
even funnier that article talking about "guns into code".... a drawing of gun plans does that too.
Re: (Score:2)
Yep, gun grabbers in general think they are clever for coming up with the idea "we wouldn't have gun crime if there were no guns"
Once they get that i'm special feeling, there's no pointing out to them we would have to repeal most of civilization to make that happen
Re: (Score:2)
I did, nothing new there. no new issues are introduced with 3D printed guns and nothing the Federal Government is doing wrong now wasn't also done decades ago.
Re: (Score:2)
Again, you are missing the point. It's not that 3d printed guns introduce a never before seen issue, they greatly lower the bar on a long standing one. Yes, it's long been legally and technically possible to build a functioning firearm at home... now it is extra easy, and suddenly very apparent to those who didn't know it up until recently... and it is those very same "OMG! this can't/shouldn't be legal!" folks who are the ones demanding new legislation to 'correct' things which were not previously wrong...
Re: (Score:2)
an inadequate and very flimsy firearm can be 3D printed at great expense at home on a printer costing thousands of dollars. pretty high bar there since almost all criminals that won't buy a cheap gun have the printer price even further out of reach. it is faster, cheaper and safer to make one out of metal. don't even need to rifle a barrel, just make a slug shotgun.
Re: (Score:2)
The article you quote only references 3D printing in passing, on it's way to a larger debate regarding federal gun legislation.
I would, however, be interested in seeing crime statistics on these 80% guns versus simple "I bought it stolen from a guy out of his trunk" . I'm fairly certain most people going the 80% route are hobbyists,and aren't running around shooting people.
Re: (Score:2)
Good article, thanks. I've added it to my list of reference articles so that I hopefully remember to refer people to it who think that the "3D printed gun" debate has anything to do with 3D printing.
Re: (Score:2)
Except anyone with a couple hundred bucks and a few months to learn can currently buy the tools to make a halfway decent gun from a block of metal.
Re: (Score:2)
Thanks for confirming you didn't read the article.
Re: (Score:2)
nothing enlightening there, people could make guns before, they can still make guns. They can chose to sell or use them illegally. people can make shitty guns with 3D printing, or nice ones that cost less money without 3D printing. for added fun they can sound suppress those guns, legally (pay the tax stamp) or illegally (don't pay and/or sell the thing illegally).
no new issues in play.
Re: (Score:2)
Also to you.. thank you for confirming you didn't read or understand the article.
Re: (Score:2)
This is a wholly artificial panic. Tells you some people have something rather bad to hide and hence they are hyping this.
Re: (Score:2)
And we all know tomorrow's consumer tools will never get as good as yesterday's industrial tools...at half the price. Never.
That's kindof the point. It's easier to fight and win this battle now while 3D printers still suck at printing guns. It would be much harder to win this battle after 3D printers advanced to the point of being able to print high quality guns.
Re: (Score:3)
I still fail to see why anyone would want a 3D printed barrel (unless it came out of one of those machines the aerospace company uses that made strong metal parts)
rifling a barrel isn't hard, you can buy the broach or button online legally. just like you can make a gun legally in these United States.
A 3D printed receiver I could see being useful...
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Because it makes the gun grabbers have kittens, making them look even stupider.
Re: (Score:2)
The entire f-ing point of the well organised militia bit was to keep the public in line with the military, in some meaningful way, to prevent a takeover.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the ship sailed A LO~ONG time ago on that one, I mean, unless you can 3D print up some tank busti
Re: (Score:2)
If private individuals were allowed to own state-of-the-art warships and artillery - like they were in 1776 - you'd see a lot more parity in firepower.
This stopped being feasible the minute we started having weapons that contained multiple man-years in them. A gun can be made by a single individual in less than a year. i.e. less than one manhour-year. On cost alone, a million dollar weapon takes 10-20 manhour-years of middle class salary. We now have weapons that cost hundreds of millions of dollars to develop and tens of millions to produce and thousands of dollars per hour to even operate. These type of weapons are only possible when you pool the l
Re: (Score:2)
Nope, they help demonstrate the issues with federal gun control laws: https://www.wired.com/story/de... [wired.com]
Re: (Score:2)
That wired article is ridiculously flawed. One of the more glaring errors is when it states that an AR-15 lower "encases the rifle's action." That is a completely false statement. The lower holds the trigger assembly. The buttstock is attached to the lower. The upper encases the bolt and the barrel is mounted onto the upper. Most people are most worried about what is in the upper because everything that actually contacts the bullet or casing (therefore able to leave marks) is in the upper.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
The 'threat' of printed guns is being trotted out entirely for political purposes. It's not a real, credible threat or risk to anyone.
Basically the gun-control folks are trying to come up with a new bogeyman to further their agenda.
OR its a ploy by the big machining lobby to eventually ban personal ownership of CNC machines to further solidify their market position.
See; first they trump up the possibility of every tom, dick and harry (who are most likely white supremacists living in an anti-government comp
Re: (Score:2)
The 'threat' of printed guns is being trotted out entirely for political purposes. It's not a real, credible threat or risk to anyone.
Not yet. But the printers keep getting better and cheaper, and you have to assume that we are headed towards something like a Star Trek replicator where it just makes arbitrary stuff for you.
Same thing happened with 2D printers. Once colour printing became affordable there was a possibility of printing things like money. Photoshop has code that detects money and stops you editing/printing it, for example. Laser printers put hidden yellow dots on the page so it can be traced.
I'm not saying those are good thi
Re: (Score:2)
Well hell, if that's your argument, we should ban personal deflector shields.
Re: (Score:2)
Rifling a barrel is hard, if you're a terrorist and you care more about covering the money trail than surviving the attack.
Milling is fairly easy, and yet the machines are big, make a lot of noise, and can be difficult to purchase in person using cash without looking suspicious.
Also, what makes you think they even care if it is rifled?
Buying stuff online creates a paper trail; that's fine for people who are just interested in their Freeze Peach, but it is a bigger issue for terrorists.
Too many assumptions c
Re: (Score:2)
Given that the "successful" terrorists are sponsored by some government or another, exactly how does the civilian market for weapons actually affect their ability to obtain weapons?
Re: (Score:2)
"broad unsupported claim" followed by "whudabut."
You don't even seem to understand the concept that places exist, on planet earth, and that the places are not all in the same place. So a government having weapons, does not automatically teleport those weapons under the beds of their foreign agents, to use untraced. Instead they have to transport them around, without knowing if they've been tracked or not. So even hostile governments don't normally do it that way. Instead they send money, which is used to at
Re:Easy work-around (Score:4, Informative)
You have obviously never been to a gun show. With a pocket full of cash, you can easily get everything that isn't a legal gun without any paperwork at all. Uppers, lower parts kits, sights, furniture, etc. is all easily available.
Re: (Score:2)
You wouldn't know if I had been to a gun show or not from what I said, you're just spewing.
Facts don't change depending one your policy opinions.
The whudubut you point at doesn't even have the implications you think it does. For one thing, what if most gun shows are monitored by the government and foreigners who attend are likely under surveillance? It isn't hard to imagine reasonably possible circumstances that would mitigate the threat you identified, but not the one under discussion here. But regardless,
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, "what if." What if a meteorite hit you on the head and kills you? Life is too short to be worried about "what if."
Park several blocks away and walk there. On the way back, take public transportation to a random mall. Go into the bathroom and change clothes. If you are that paranoid, there are things that you can do.
Also, how is the government supposed to know that you are
Re: (Score:1)
Milling is fairly easy,
True.
and yet the machines are big,
A quick look online tells me a mill capable of producing firearm parts would weigh about 150 pounds, and not be much bigger than a common kitchen stove, dishwasher, or perhaps refrigerator. Even if I'm off a bit on the size and weight there's plenty of very capable mills small and light enough that someone with a pickup truck and 3 or 4 guys can move with little difficulty.
make a lot of noise,
Not really. I've seen them in operation and they don't make much more noise than other typical household appliances. Cheap dishw
Re: (Score:2)
Finally, the one thing you CAN do is find out what brand of gun was likely the firing weapon. Different brands of guns use different numbers of lands and grooves, with different chirality, and different twists. If you can match those, you can (maybe) ID a brand... but not a specific gun.
Isn't that what I said? I'm pretty sure that's what I said. You'll get at best a make and model, not a specific firearm, but even that much information can say a lot if there's some other information to go with it.
Re: (Score:2)
If you want to make a useful gun (i.e. capable of hitting a target you aim at), you want a rifled barrel. Otherwise the bullet will tumble and go off in random directions.
If your goal is to cause death and panic in a large crowd then I can imagine such loss of accuracy is tolerable. This would be especially true if it means lowering the chances of being caught. Another reason one might not be concerned about accuracy is if the target is so close that there is no possibility of missing. If you are having a gunfight in an elevator then the lack of rifling on the barrel of your pistol is not going to matter.
And the mill you want to use probably weighs 1-2 tons, runs on 3-phase power, and costs thousands of dollars used. Maybe a skilled gunsmith can use a 150 pound machine tool to make a useful firearm, but I wouldn't be able to.
That might be true if your concern is mass production. For someone
Re: (Score:2)
>A 3D printed receiver I could see being useful...
Exactly. And that's the point. A fully 3D printed gun is just a media novelty to get people talking.
The key however, is that the lower receiver, just a frame that holds together some of the key bits that do the actual work, and gets a serial number, is the *only* piece of a modern, modular gun, that is legally considered a gun. Everything else can be bought at any physical or online store with no more regulation than for cabinet hinges.
3D print the low
Re: (Score:3)
Clean the inside of the nozzle with a metal brush after each print. The micro-scratches it creates should throw it off enough that you can't ID it.
The filament is getting melted as it passes through the nozzle. Liquid is being deposited, ideally at just the right temperature to fuse with the surrounding material yet also to solidify quickly. But alignment of one layer to the next and the precise fusion with the lower materials (according to TFS) are still traceable from printer to printer. However, those details are easily altered. They are the combination of the printer's physical characteristics, and the setup used. They will differ for different ty
Re: (Score:2)
"Melted," sortof, but maybe really only softened.
Re: (Score:2)
Clean the inside of the nozzle with a metal brush after each print. The micro-scratches it creates should throw it off enough that you can't ID it.
OK, now what about the scratches and differences on the gear that shoves the filament into the nozzle? Also, if you're scratching it up enough to change the imprint, you're going through a lot of nozzles! You could also just change nozzles more often.
It might not help as much as you think, because this is a "fingerprint" in the sense that anything else that is 1-in-10 is a "fingerprint." As in, nothing at all like the uniqueness of an actual fingerprint! Or for example, most ink printers print a difficult-t
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: Easy work-around (Score:1)
Close but not the nozzle. All 3d printers have some tolerance they are built in kod with, so its this small but of variation in the mechanical system that introduces some minute degree of wobble layed down plastic. I can see how given enough analysis you may see a trend in prints from a single printer but heres the catch: adjusting the printer will change future prints and prevent identifying the prints.
Re: (Score:2)
Oh noes (Score:4, Insightful)
Even more concerning, it has the potential to make firearms more readily available to people who are not allowed to possess them
So does the plumbing section at Home Depot. Faster and cheaper than 3D printing as well. 3D printed guns are really only proof of concept to demonstrate how stupid gun control laws are. Anyone actually needing one can make a zip gun that has an order of magnitude lower probability of blowing up from a scrap pile.
Re: (Score:1)
Re:Oh noes (Score:4, Insightful)
Try to concealed carry it though.
No 3D plastic printed gun that won't blow up in your face is smaller or more suitable to CC than is a brick. Because ... plastic. Hardware store parts include things like ... actual metal. A reliable, lethal one can be home-brewed and still remain much smaller and easier to conceal. Or, the criminally minded person who clearly doesn't mind breaking laws anyway could just you know, buy a gun. Legally or otherwise, as both are readily available to criminals who are willing to lie or otherwise do illegal things.
Re: (Score:2)
The only thing you missed is that plastic is not detected by metal detectors and some x-ray machines.
Likewise a tiny zipgun could make it past a security checkpoint just the same, but plastic lowers your detection threshold.
Re: (Score:2)
You can buy every component of a highly modular AR-15 except for the "central frame" with no regulation - they are not legally considered guns. All you need to 3D print that frame, the lower receiver, and you can have any weapon the AR-15 is designed to become, without breaking any laws, or creating any paper trail. Or you could just buy yourself an 80% complete kit and finish it yourself, it's still not legally considered a gun.
https://www.wired.com/story/de... [wired.com]
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
As if a known criminal dealing in black market guns is going to run NICS checks on his customers!
As long as your universe includes only law abiding purchasers and law abiding sellers, then universal background checks are universal. As soon as you are willing to admit that criminals are people who knowingly violate the law, then universal background checks can be seen for what they really are: a hindrance to the legal purchase of a legal firearm. They have zero effect on the illegal sales of firearms.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, but not all criminals are the same.
Um, okay. Let's go with this and see where it takes us.
Some may not realize they're not allowed to own a gun. They get tagged with some felony, ten or twenty years go by, the neighborhood they live in goes bad, so they decide to buy a gun. The background check catches this case.
How would there be any ambiguity on this? Did the person happen to forget the 12 months minimum they spent in prison?
I have an idea on how to clear this up, anyone declared unfit to own a firearm should be held in a prison or other confinement. This is what is going to have to happen at some point if the threats of 3D printed firearms come true. Anyone with enough resources to obtain a big screen TV will be able to obtain a machine capable of produc
Project Exile (Score:2)
This response reminds me of the experimental program for illegal gun possession that was tried some decades ago -- Project Exile. You get caught with an illegal gun, you bought yourself a mandatory 5 year felony sentence -- regardless of how "innocent" you were of other crimes.
It seems to address all the right behavior for all the right reasons. I looked it up on Wiki and it seems that Rochester NY is the sole jurisdiction where it is still in practiced.
I remember reading in the distant past that it was not
Re: (Score:2)
Too bad that the program didn't fly, makes perfect sense to address illegal firearms possession. Anyone know why it faded out?
I remember hearing about this program too, but in Virginia instead of New York. What ended the program, again as I recall, was three things.
First was that this was a federal program to prosecute criminals for felon in possession and similar federal crimes and so the local governments saw this as federal over reach on local matters. Even though the program was successful the local government was seeing their authority to police their jurisdiction as they wished being diluted. The early success was celebra
Re: (Score:2)
Thanks for the 411.
1) It doesn't surprise me that the tribal fiefdom mentality contributed to it.
2) I remember back in the day when I lived in MA that they had a "shall issue" FID card system for long guns and a "may issue" discretionary system for pistols that was up to the whim of the local sheriff (sigh).
3) Or they carry a BB gun or painted over red tip air-soft gun for intimidation then the family cries over the coffin and whine to the cameras when they get shot by police while being "unarmed"!
Which bri
Re: (Score:1)
their advocacy against background checks and advocacy for firearms in the hands of mentally ill
Speaking of the mentally ill, what do you get - personally, I mean - out of being such an easily debunked liar? Who is it, really, that you think you're somehow persuading? Low information fools? That's your audience? Or do you just like to hear your own trolling?
Re: (Score:2)
Looks easier than a revolver
https://www.thefirearmblog.com... [thefirearmblog.com]
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Two pieces of pipe and a nail and you can create a shotgun that can cut anyone in half.
Cost $10. Time to construct an hour or so.
Re: (Score:2)
Two pieces of pipe and a nail and you can create a shotgun that can cut anyone in half.
Or blow a hole through "bullet proof" glass.
Most windows at banks and drug stores will be rated to hold up to handguns and small rifles. A 12 gauge slug carries a lot of energy in a small enough area to punch a hole in such glass. There's enough YouTube videos on this to prove it to yourself. Depending on the armored car or such they might be rated to take a .50 BMG and therefore shrug off a shot from a 12 gauge.
There is better evidence for 3D printed guns (Score:3)
It should be easy to identify the blood on what's left of the gun after being shot.
Easy fix : MUSIC, play it loud and play it Proud ! (Score:1)
set up your speakers
next to your 3D printer
and
play a different song
for every print you make.
I read somewhere
that the best 3D printed GUNS
where printed while playing
Chopin - Piano Sonata No. 3
Volume needs to be loud enough
to cause tiny ripples on a glass of water
also,
yes you need a glass of water
to verify the presence of ripples on the water surface.
Re: (Score:2)
I hear it's also good for detecting the presence of dinosaurs.
Re: (Score:2)
Very true, and that might work for big 3d printer manufacturers who are willing to play ball with governments in making linking of printout to printer easier... however the degree of open source nature involved makes that tricky, as anyone who decides they are going to 3d print things they could get in trouble for is probably going to know to use a clean firmware.
Re: (Score:2)
Your comment of fixing things into the (2D) printer firmware as an anti-forgery measure made me think of something, people 3D printing 2D printers.
A printer, 2D or 3D, are things people have made on their own. These are not trivial devices, assuming they produce quality results, but it's not rocket surgery either. People are getting a bit fed up with the BS pulled by printer manufacturers on locking people into buying expensive ink from them later. Well, make your own printer then. With 3D printing gett
Re: (Score:2)
That works too. The point is that the tighter they squeeze the more slip between their fingers. With "they" defined as the government, manufacturers, or the combination of the two.
I admit I didn't put too much thought into it, only that this seemed like a somewhat obvious solution to the problem. The 3D printers might have a "fingerprint" that is gathered from the big manufacturers to trace people that might print a gun or some other device that someone would want to trace back to the origin at some poin
Not Conclusively (Score:2)
Aside from that, unlike a test-firing of a metal firearm, a 3D printer can be adjusted by law enforcement to print in a particular fashion.
Re: (Score:2)
Sorry, blood sugar issues.
Re: (Score:2)
You're also having some encoding problems, Ivan.
Microdots... (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
They weren't microdots, which are silver-halide film technology from WWII/cold war. They were Omron dots, a.k.a. EURion Constellation (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EURion_constellation) dots. But yes, 3-D printers could lay down patterns in a similar manner, and makers might well be urged to do so very soon now.
Great, that will work really well with all the build it yourself printers that run on open source software. I suppose lazy not particularly bright criminals will stick with the old tried and true method of stealing/ buying a gun and getting rid of it when done with it.
30 Seconds in an Acetone chamber.... (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
So, gun control and such things work out very well in fictional universes.
Shall we discuss how well they work in OUR UNIVERSE?
Re: (Score:2)
I , personally, have never met a Klingon or Romulan in Australia.
So, why does this supprise anyone? (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Nonsense (Score:2)
They described a lot of different aspect that give a particular 3D printer some sort of unique fingerprint.. so what's to stop someone from doing the deed, then discarding one of the parts and replacing it, like I dunno.. the nozzel?
This research into method to identify the source printer of a particular 3D printed object seems pretty unintelligent. Did they even consider how easy it would be to mess with your device to make it's 'fingerprint' change?
I'd go as far to say, as a 3D printer gets used, it's si
Who cares? (Score:2)
Re:Who cares? (Score:5, Insightful)
Your problem is that you are using logic in what is clearly meant to be an emotional argument. "GUNZ" should trigger everybody to want more laws without even bothering to think rationally.
Re: (Score:2)
Wait, fighting kids and protecting terrorists and drugs (or ... something like this) isn't good enough anymore as an excuse to pass a law?
Re: (Score:2)
Your problem is that you are using logic in what is clearly meant to be an emotional argument. "GUNZ" should trigger everybody to want more laws without even bothering to think rationally.
Bingo, don't forget about funding people to make sure they are properly controlled.
Most of their "fingerprint" is based on infill (Score:2)
Even if you use proprietary that doesn't allow you to alter the infill, all you need to do to mess with their results is to rotate the object a small amount, it will alter how the infill pattern is laid down. If each file has a 1degree rotation the software would likely be unable to identify what printer did what bec
boogey man (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Please don't say Kommiefornia. You sound like my Dad. But you are right: The .50 Cal ban was just boogeyman worry.
So basically (Score:2)
ALL printers have a "fingerprint" (Score:2)
3D printed plastic guns are a total joke (Score:2)
On the other hand, I can can go to Home Depot, and for a few hundred dollars, I can buy all the tools and material I need to build a REAL usable gun, that lasts more that 3-4 shots, and actually has some accuracy. Literally all you need is a cheap drill press, drill bits, files, some steel, piece of pipe, springs, p
Re: (Score:2)
The metal printers and reinforced plastic capable printers, that can actually print all the "real" gun parts, yes including the tungsten rails and rifled barrels, run about $100,000-$200,000 today. So we are talking about $300,000 (one of ea
"Counterfeit products" ??? (Score:2)
could ultimately help law enforcement and intelligence agencies track the origin of ... counterfeit products and other goods
Where can I get one of these (presumably) affordable 3D printers capable of printing high-enough quality to be able to pass any attempt at counterfeiting as an original product!??!
Re: (Score:2)
could ultimately help law enforcement and intelligence agencies track the origin of ... counterfeit products and other goods
Where can I get one of these (presumably) affordable 3D printers capable of printing high-enough quality to be able to pass any attempt at counterfeiting as an original product!??!
Counterfeit Etsy products of course.
They are very short sighted (Score:2)
Same deal if they mandate some sort of microtag to be laced into the filament. People will just simply make their own.
I don't think our gov't overlords get it yet....they are abo
Is this like the typewriter ... (Score:2)