KS-23M Conversion Kit Editable CAD File Release

14 days technically counts as "a few", right?

Sorry it took so long to get to this one, but hopefully the addition of a new patron benefit is enough to make up for it: editable CAD files of our 3D printed projects!

To explain in a bit more detail...

We make use of 3D printing for a variety of things, including upgrade and replacement parts for existing platforms, and entirely bespoke projects. When a 3D printed component or project is relevant to a video we make, we try to release the .STL files for said project on our Thingiverse page, timed with the release of the video.

Of course, being the tinkerers and serial makers that we are, we work on tons of 3D printing projects in the background, many of which never see the light of day, or at least never make it into a video. Some just aren't suited to our style of videos, while others might have never worked to our satisfaction, or are older projects that we did publicly release, and just don't have the bandwidth or desire to keep supporting.

Instead of letting those projects vanish into the digital ether, we figure that a far better solution is to give them to folks that share our mindset when it comes to open-source content: you all!

To be clear, we aren't going to be doing this with all of our 3D printed projects, but will be focusing on our older work, prototypes, or content too incomplete to release to the general public.

So, what do we mean by "editable" CAD files?

.STL files are the generally accepted format for transmitting 3D printable objects. But as anyone who is familiar with 3D printing or CAD modelling knows, .STLs are a pain in the ass to modify, as they are a mesh-type format. .STEP files, on the other hand, are readily editable in most serious CAD programs (including our preferred software, Fusion 360), and can even be fed directly into a number of modern 3D printing slicer programs.

This allows the CAD-oriented (or curious) among you to take these projects and run with them.

Some caveats:

When it comes to releasing these kinds of easily modifiable files, there is going to be some trust involved. In the interest of keeping our content open source, we will be sharing our projects under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license, meaning that you are allowed to modify and share our files, but much like our .STL releases:

• You must give credit to the original creator (that's Explosive Enterprises), and must share the content under the same Attribution-NonCommercial license.

• You cannot use the content for commercial purposes, meaning that you cannot sell it, or use it for monetary gain.

We understand that people like to get paid for their work, but we ask that you respect our desire to keep these projects open-source and community driven, rather than profit driven.

On to the good stuff:

Our first release is going to be for Bushwookie's KS-23 kit (the same one that we recently released .STL files for), intended to convert springer tri-shot M870 and M3 shotguns into a "close enough" representation of the Russian KS-23M shotgun.

Here's a rundown of the files we have attached:

1. Wire Stock Grip.STEP: This is a version of the pistol grip intended to accept a wire stock made from a 0.5in metal rod, with a welded butt plate. This file would probably also be good for modifying into various other grips and stocks.

2. Complete-pump 870.step: The file for a pump intended to fit on the M870-style tri-shots. This could easily be modified to fit other models by adjusting the positions and sizes of the mounting screw holes. This version also has some small quality-of-life improvements over the M3 version.

3. Complete-pump M3.step: Same as the M870 pump, but a bit less fancy in terms of design. Mostly included for reference.

4. Stock-centering-hole-fixture.stl: A jig intended to help line up the 0.5in metal tube with the u-channel buttplate of the stock when making the tack welds to attach the two. We really wanted the stock to be all-metal for durability, but honestly, a well-made 3D printed buttplate that doesnt require welding would probably work just fine here too.

5. crude-wire-stock-for-KS-23M.pdf: A rough print for the dimensions of the various parts of the wire stock. The tube should be 0.5in OD to fit properly into the included "Wire Stock Grip" files. This print was really just made as a quick reference for us internally, so is missing a few details, but should still be pretty easy to figure out.

The pump files. The brown pump (top) is the M3 version, and the grey pump (bottom) is the M870 version.

The grip file, with a hole to accommodate a 0.5" tube to act as a stock.

Please feel free to post links to your modified files, we'd love to see what you folks come up with, and heck, might even print them ourselves! "Community 3D prints" might make for an interesting video series, come to think of it...

-Timebomb