Hello all! I am an engineer with PANFAB (Greater Boston Pandemic Fabrication Team) and I want to share with you that we are using the Glowforge to laser cut the shield designs and the foam head pads for medical shields We started with the Prusa design and modded it based directly from hospital feedback pending IRB. Needless to say, I was VERY happy to have access to such a device to allow me to protoype without traveling!
Shield PETG was cut on the forge along with the EVA.
This iteration is an older one closer to the orig. Prusa mod (Not approved for use / top is too open for hospitals liking + shield must wrap around more if possible) but I will share the completed model once OKed.
Just north of Boston and working with Lowell Makes on similar projects. We’ve started fabricating the head pieces (solid w/out the Prusa holes) out of acrylic. Just something else to consider. I’m trying to get some acrylic donations right now from places like sign shops and framers because the pieces don’t need to be very big.
3DForCovid.com could use all the support we can get. We are producing shields, but not enough to meet demands. If you have the ability to make and ship halos or clear shield components, we will do the assembly, packaging, delivering etc.
We are working with state level governments to determine need and supplying them for distribution in their area, as they are most familiar with the need.
It’s a sad thing to hear, but there are a lot of companies now charging 5-10 times the regular cost for PPEs and even scamming hospitals.
We are a non-profit organization running off of maker donations and monetary donations. Any help you can give would be much appreciated
Thanks for the comments folks, Happy to share more once the hospital IRB is done. So many people are pumping things out for nice photos and asking for donations but without a hospital that will accept them. Our small part in this is to make sure makers are making stuff that will be used outside of an absolute last course of action. Thanks for the offers for assistance, it’s all pending review.
I think some of you misunderstand that I myself wanted to make a bunch of these (The initial request is for 150-200 so that is manageable) but actually I’m handing prototypes to a large Boston hospital for review as part of a IRB. I am designing and making the prototypes with a team of 3 people as part of a much larger team for PANFAB. Once the IRB is done and approves the design Bose, Formlabs and Fortify have offered to print things for PANFAB and so the designs would go no to them. I will share the files for you guys too of course once approved so the people can have a properly vetted design.
The designs that do not include head covers / extended side and splash top shield are incorrect for the hospital environment but as we are all saying: Something is better than nothing of course!
We are producing shields designed by our affiliate in the Bay Area, Maker Nexus, that have been approved by a number of hospitals including some very strict hospitals in California like Kaiser Permanente, that do cover the top of the head. These use more material but are available upon request by hospitals that need such. You are welcome to snag this design, as it takes a lot less printing time and covers more of the head. I’ll drop the link in a minute
Is it impossible to laser cut the headpieces in addition to the shields themselves? I’d love an all-in laser cut design. Don’t get me wrong–happy to cut what I can, but if there’s room for greater productivity outside of 3D prints and into laser cutters, I want in.
You might want to take a look at one I found today?
The headband is the laser cut part, the shield is just a couple scissor cuts and some punches. It should be able to be adapted to what material size you can get hold of.
We started with the Prusa design and modded it based directly from hospital feedback pending IRB. Needless to say, I was VERY happy to have access to such a device to allow me to protoype without traveling!
