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Porsche Is 3D Printing Hard-To-Find Parts For The 959 And Other Classics (jalopnik.com)
Porsche Classic, Porsche's classic cars division, has turned to 3D printing obscure parts that people might need on occasion. From a report: They already have about 52,000 parts available, but for the truly arcane ones, it's cheaper to 3D print them than make the specialized tools to create them over again. In addition to that 959 lever, Porsche is also 3D printing eight other parts. They are made from steel and alloy and the plastics are made using an selective laser sintering printer, which Porsche describes as: "A process where the material is heated to just below melting point and the remaining energy is applied through a laser to fuse the plastic powder at a selected point." So there you have it! The next time something is busted on your 959 or 356, don't cry and abandon the car, stalled on the side of the road. Call up Porsche. They'll science something for you.
....Never mind if we ever get to a point where you can 3D print your own AK-47 that can fire 30k rounds without the receiver breaking or the barrel exploding in your face like the original can or ... hand grenades? ... RPG's?
You could make small arms with conventional machine-shop tools. Why is this always an issue when people talk about 3d printing??? No-one is saying, "if you let people buy a hobby lathe, they could start turning out hand grenades and rifle barrels."