Hey all, hope this is the right spot to post this. I've had a PSA upper and lower sitting around partially built for about a year, recently I started checking the EE for the remaining parts and found enough good deals to piece a pistol together. The last part remaining was the pistol buffer cheek rest , I really like the Phase 5 buffer tube that I have but wanted something better than the foam pad it comes with. I don't feel like spending $65-100 for a used SIG brace or $50 for an injection molded arm brace without trying them first.

I decided to print a modular cheek rest / arm brace to test. I uploaded the file for the buffer tube and will upload the slide in blade once I've had the chance to improve the design: You can get it here on GrabCAD





With the current design you can affix a tourniquet with elastic bands, and use a 1" wide velcro strap to affix a 10 or 20 round PMAG. Oh and you can strap your arm to it since it's an assistive device.

Is this in any way as durable as buying an injection molded blade or thordsen cheek rest?  Absolutely not.
Should you use this as a shoulder stock? Absolutely not
Is it cheap?   Total Cost: $1.75 worth of PLA filament

Figured I would share in case anyone has an AR-pistol with a naked buffer tube.

If you have a non phase-5 pistol buffer and a caliper hanging around feel free to post dimensions so I can adjust the design to fit more pistol buffers.

That is pretty neat

I dont want to be in the same room as that thing.  At least with the shock wave you can argue well the company said it was legal.  You made that shit and it looks to much like a stock.

Does it really look much different from the commercially available options?

No, but the other options were approved by the BATFE. Yours is not and therefore may or may not be legal in the eyes of the BATFE.

Guess I'm shipping one to the ATF then

I don't know that that would even be necessary. Yours is extremely similar to the shockwave or whatever it's called, and clearly not a stock.

Awesome thread, OP.

The more I think about it, the more I want to ship this and a few other 3D printed modifications i've made in the past to the ATF and see what they have to say about it. Getting a positive letter about the design and distribution of 3D printed ergonomic enhancements would be a great boost to this kind of activity.

Honestly it seems like a great concept. AR folks seem to like modular gizmos.

I would file for a patent or do whatever you have to do to protect your design here before you do anything else.

The creator of the ShockWave brace requested that I remove the file, I took the files down from GrabCAD and will be re-designing it to not resemble either the SIG or Shockwave brace and will submit to ATF for approval.

Shockwave Request for posterity:

"My name is Marty Ewer. I am the inventor of the Shockwave Blade pistol stabilizer. It would seem you have heard of it. I am also currently fighting a design patent infringement lawsuit in federal court against SB Tactical--makers of the SB15. I have my own patent pending for the Blade. Given the costs associated with bringing a product like the Blade to market and now the estimated $500,000 it will take to defend the product against Alex Bosco and Grant Shaw in court, I was quite dismayed to learn of the files you've posted to the public Internet. I would like to respectfully ask you to take down the files for your stabilzer that you have posted here on grabcad."

Kind of disappointing that Shockwave decided to take the route of eliminating competition instead of seeing any merit in collaboration.

You weren't selling anything right? Fuck that guy.

If he didn't say how your design infringed on his patent then I'm not sure how you need to do anything.

I had to consult with my attorneys about it, so I took it down in the meantime just to be on the safe side. Consensus from the attorneys was that I'm in the clear so I put the files back up. So far in the US there haven't been any successful lawsuits against people providing files for 3D printing, but it is still in the grey area if I'm somehow profiting from it; Which in this case I'm not.

I'm still going to submit a sample to the ATF and see what they come back with, It would be great to get a letter that states designing and 3D printing assistive devices are legal as long as the intended use of the device does not violate the NFA.

I might also revive my Ruger 10/22 AFG  that I had prototyped a while back (Barrel band is on backwards in the picture):

BOSCO's brace has been around far longer than the shockwave.  I don't see why he should sue them for concepts he copied.

I actually think it's the other was around and SB tactical is suing shockwave.

Does this site have a forum for 3D printed items yet? If not that wluld be great. I see this area only getter bigger and bigger down the road with firearms as the materials getter strong and more resilient. Good job OP!