Does Size Really Matter?

Our society is obsessed with all things big. Many people want a larger truck or bigger gun. Children want bigger toys. Competition drives people to make things larger. The arms race between the Soviet Union and the United States culminated in the largest nuclear bomb ever detonated: The Tsar Bomb. Competition can also drive things to go small. A great example of this is the miniaturization of computers. Every year engineers find ways to squeeze more and more circuits onto a chip.

They are used in everything from our cars to toys that children play with. Even in the world of toys, things are competitive. Children like to mimic what their parents do. Many toys are made to look like adult things. Back in the eighties, the Easy Bake Oven was more than a toy oven as it could bake a small cake. Most doll houses at least have working doors.

Now imagine a fully functional doll house where the water ran, the stove got hot, the refrigerator was cold, tiny books with pages that turned, the radio received stations, and the television set worked. Nowa doll house like this would entice the boys to play with as well. Boys have some toys that do function as their big world counter parts, such as remote control vehicles. Adults also like to play too. Many times they’ll have even bigger playthings.

Some adult playthings are smaller versions of things but they’re called souvenirs and collectibles instead of toys. Souvenirs are mentioned in the bible. At the Greek Temple of Artemis, silver smiths made smaller statue versions of the Goddess Artemis, which visitors took home just as people do today. Guns and bullets area good example of something that people can shrink to a much smaller size.

The size of a gun does reach a functional limit, not because they can’t go any smaller but because human hands just can’t pull the trigger anymore. A projectile size can go down to the level of an atom and still be functional. The power of a projectile is dependent on its velocity and weight. By increasing the speed of the projectile a person increases the projectile’s destructive power or how far it will penetrate into a substance. A smaller bullet can have the same force as a larger bullet.

Particle accelerators are similar to guns and shoot projectiles, but at speeds near the speed of light. A lot of resistance is needed to decelerate particles but sometimes they have so much force they will cut right through an object and keep going. In 1978 Russian scientist Anatoli Petrovich Bugorski stuck his head into a particle accelerator and the proton beam ripped through his head near the speed of light. The safety mechanisms should not have allowed that.

The particles burned a tiny hole through the front of his head emerging through the back. He survived the ordeal with his mental faculties intact and completed

his Ph. D., although the right side of his face was paralyzed and he suffered partial hearing loss. There are problems with using a particle accelerator as a firearm. They are so large, and some are miles long. There is no way a person is going fit one on their belt. Scaling down small electromagnetic weapons has many engineering challenges, such as a power source. The US Department of Defense is working on large, high speed projectile weapons using electromagnetic energy.

They are similar to particle accelerators in that they both use electromagnetic energy to push a projectile instead of explosive gas. One example of this is a coil gun. The advantages of using such weapons are the potential projectile speeds of over five thousand miles per hour. It also reduces the entire overall size of the projectile, which would be ideal for tiny projectiles and doesn’t require a shell containing explosives. Hand held version of this only exist in the minds of science fiction writers and fans.

This only leaves us the standard firearms that can be shrunk. Conventional guns can be squeezed to a much smaller size that can be used as a collectible. There is a whole other world within the firearms production that is devoted to small firearms.

One such part of this world are various miniature arms makers and collectors, such as the Miniature Arms Society (miniaturearms.com), Miniature Arms Collectors and Makers Society, Ltd. (waynedriskillminiatures.com), and various makers listed at the Miniature Engineering Craftsmanship Museum (craftsmanshipmuseum. com/Miniarms.htm). These groups are made of a wide array of individuals. Some make guns full time while others do it for a hobby.

One such individual is Michel Lefaivre, who does it for the pleasure of doing it. Michel lives in Paris, France and he has been retired for over ten years. Michel only does gun making as a hobby but is a master gunsmith nonetheless. He won the silver medal from the NRA for a pair of pistols in 2005 among many other awards. He spends hundreds to thousands of hours creating each masterpiece, using a variety of tools such as clock maker tools, dental tools, and others he has made himself.

All his miniature guns are the scale reproduction of the full-scale models, including all their tiniest details. They are fully functional and can fire. The smallest bullets he has made are 2.7mm caliber cartridges, but the primers are blanks and the powder was missing for safety reasons only.

He usually makes 1/3 or 2/5 scale models and believes that it is not too realistic to go below 1/3 scale for proper machining, mechanical functioning, clear engravings, stock or grip checkerings while still being visible with the naked eye to see all the tiny details that make the gun looking nice. While he has never personally taken any gun or bullet to the microscopic level, there are some artists that have and it is the sort of work for watchmakers or their equal.

He says any gun made in miniature has its own specific difficulties. For example, a bolt action rifle, like a Mauser K98 is much more complex than a flintlock rifle or pistol. Art, finish, and external presentation takes more time than for flintlocks, whilst semi-automatic pistols or rifles require much more mechanical operations, like milling, lathing, drilling, and boring have stringent, precision tolerances.

Manufacturing drawings are more complex with all scale dimensions, if you want the mini to function correctly. At many instances, parts have to be rejected and made again until fully at tolerances. Michel has not yet used a three dimensional printer or miniature remote control tools in the creation of his masterpieces, working instead with conventional tooling and machining such as precision milling machine, lathe, drillers, and usually making his own cutting tools, mills, cutters, drills.

All his miniatures are unique and not a series. He gets his tools in several specialized precision

mechanical tool shops and suppliers in Paris where he lives. To date, his favorite miniature firearms include a 1/3 scale blunderbuss flintlock gun given to Napoleon, a 2/5 scale pair of flintlock dueling pistols from the Manufacture of Versailles, a 2/5 scale Navy Luger from the WWI German Imperial Navy, and a 1/3-scale WWII German Mauser K98 carbine. He chose to make them because he feels they are mythical, well known, beautiful weapons that were difficult and complicated to make.

All these mini guns had their own difficulties to make, mainly because of the small scale. To be fully functional, they include difficult machining operations, requiring special handmade cutting tools or rifling jigs. As an example, for the 1/3 scale 98K Mauser the bolt receiver was the most difficult part to make as it included the internal helicoidal machining for locking the bolt action. Checkering the walnut stocks at scale is also very difficult, requires trials on blank pieces and special training as well.

Before starting a project, he tries to discover and anticipate which part will be the most difficult to make. He establishes all the manufacturing drawings with cross sections for each of the parts, including dimensions at the scale with mechanical tolerances for perfect functioning. Computers are probably the best known example of miniaturization. One single chip today has over a billion transistors. Jet engines that are no bigger than your thumb also exist, so the only limit to gun size is the tools to make them.

One of the tools today that is used to make guns is the 3D printer. There has been a lot of hype around using a three dimensional printer to print a gun but their usefulness in making miniatures has limits too. Like normal printers and TVs, pixel quality is probably the limiting factor in the miniaturization of objects with 3D printers.

Now the complexity of the object, which a person could print, is dependent upon the materials used. 3D printers are great at creating objects made from the same material all the way through but there is a big difference in printing a wrench and printing a fully functional television set. Currently, 3D printers don’t have the ability to do that, although there has been progress. It has become possible to make microscopic batteries with a 3D printer.

There are quite a few materials that go into a battery, such as an electrolyte (the thing that holds the charge), a positive and negative terminal, and the parts that electricity/electrons pass through. Not all 3D printers are created equal. Some are designed to create microscopic objects. There are even 3D printers that can make things at the nanoscale, which is much smaller than the width of a human hair.

Scientists can even create cages for bacteria, so the technology is there to create a myriad of microscopic things. Another tool that could be helpful is remote controlled robots. People have used remote control vehicles for decades. They allow the user to control the motions of a vehicle through manipulation of the remote. Doctors have used remote control machines to do surgery from the brain to the feet and everything in between.

NASA has sent robot rovers all over the solar system and beyond while controlling their movements from Earth. The technical know-how to use remote control machines in the creation of parts, the assembly of small firearms, and their accessories is feasible, but the desire to create them and have fun is questionable. Every year millions of people are drawn to car races. In ancient Rome, thousands of spectators enjoyed watching gladiators battle it out. Competition is the heart and soul of all sports.

Every year, Robot Battles (robotbattles.com) and other organizations put on multiple competitions where robots either battle it out or race. Now imagine such a competition between microscopic tanks that could take place every year. It might not attract as many people as car racing but it could be fun and exciting. The tools to make miniaturized guns will only increase as the years pass. With the right tools, and the right artisan, such could be a reality for all. AG