More Economical Customization

Mernickle Holsters can have up to 600 orders in production at any given time and receives anywhere from 50 to 60 orders for custom holsters every week.

“When we started 3D printing models I found that I could get online and quickly find that exact digital model, which would take maybe six hours tops to 3D print,” says Powers.

3D printing gun models at Mernickle has been underway for just about four months and has already realized significant cost and time savings from no longer buying metal models or waiting for them to arrive. “I can have a gun model done in a day, whereas before, it would take maybe three weeks for it to get packaged and shipped to us.”

Plus, the quality of the 3D printed models is comparable.

“I haven’t had any issues with the 3D printed models breaking or melting,” says Powers. The models are printed in ABS resin. “I can’t say that there’s really much of a difference between the metal and plastic gun models other than the fact that I can get a more accurate gun type for what it is that we’re trying to mold a holster to.”

3D Printing More than Models

What began as a way to cut the costs of gun models is slowly growing into more opportunities at Mernickle Holsters. Recently, the company 3D printed and painted exact replicas of a 19Eleven pistol that were mounted on plaques and awarded as trophies for a competition.

Another new offering made possible by 3D printing is the company’s custom leather embossing. Originally, Mernickle Holsters has a small stock of stamps used for embossing frequently requested designs onto holsters, but custom embossing meant having stamps created at about $150 to $200 each. But now, Powers creates them in her CAD software and prints out the stamps, which can be customized to company logos or practically any type of design.

Mernickle Holsters has always sold other leather goods, such as belts, but can customize those now, too. They’ve used their 3D printer to make models for custom handcuff holders and other items.

“I’ve been doing research on different 3D printed things that we could offer, like cowboy figurines, and I’m hoping to get into 3D printing guns with moveable parts that people can practice with for competitions,” says Powers. She is weighing buying an FDM printer she believes may produce practice guns and props with moving parts better than resin technology.

“The filament ones we’ve been looking at have a better ability to print gun models like revolvers, where the barrel will spin and you can open the gate,” she says. “The resin seems to get a little too stiff after it’s been hardened.”

Searching for Gun Models Online

Powers searches for gun models and gun STL files online often and buys them from various model designers. She hasn’t run into any consequences that she’s aware of since her purchases are for non-workable digital design files.

Last month, US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand introduced the 3D Printed Gun Safety Act, which would ban the online distribution of blueprints for the 3D printing of firearms. The wording of the bill isn’t specific to workable guns and it’s unclear if it would affect the gun model trade if passed.

But just in case, Powers has been learning computer-aided design (CAD) using Blender and Fusion 360 so she can build the gun models herself if they are not available online. “Then, I don’t have to pay somebody else for an STL file, I can just go in and do it myself, which will save a lot more money,” she says.

By rapidly adopting CAD design and 3D printing Mernickle Holsters’ custom products are more customized than ever.

“It’s made a huge difference for people to be able to have their own personalized item,” adds Powers.