Making ear savers

I’ve made over 300 ear savers so far and have handed them out to hospitals, dr offices, and police and fire personnel. Problem is getting the material and being able to afford it. Does anybody have a place to order 1/8” acrylic? Glowforge is sold out. Also is plexiglass the same as acrylic? Thanks

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Great, and welcome to the forums.
Yes, plexiglass is just a brand name for acrylic. Don’t get Lexan though, it is not the same and cuts terribly. It does not have to be exactly 1/8" either. The stuff you pick up at the home improvement stores works excellent, but the smell is worse because it is extruded, not cast. The same thing chemically and is safe just smells worse and is not suitable for engraving, which your not doing with it anyway.

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That’s good information. Thank you

I prefer eStreet Plastics, and they have a size that seems tailored to the GF for their clear acrylic.

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I ordered some from BF Plastics yesterday, and got a response 5 minutes later from their customer service about a replacement for something that was out of stock, followed by a shipping confirmation this morning. They’re FAST!

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My wife and I are on track to print 8,000. Keep going the demand is high.

I called a local plastics supplier and relayed what I needed, why I needed it, and he even cut the sheets to fit my GF.

Carry on!

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Where are you donating yours to? I made a bunch and donated some of them, but I’m not seeing a big call for them in our community (which is not to say there isn’t a need, just that I haven’t seen it).

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I’ll make this its own post as well but this is a great substitute for acrylic:

It is more comfortable than 1/8 acrylic as it is conformal and I can do a full sheet without the scores in under 6 minutes.

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Hospitals, post office, nursing homes, extended stay facilities. Facebook was a major source. Stony Brook Hospital NY contacted us via ETSY shop. I have them listed as free and I use that platform to make contact with those in need.
So far zero requests through glowforge.

I did take glowforge’s name off of the clips. I found it odd they wanted their name on the product when someone else provided the time and expense to create and deliver.

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how does it feel for durability? that’s been one of my main concerns about the thinner materials, that the clip loop pieces may be more likely to break.

same here. and i ordered yesterday, it shipped yesterday, and it’s scheduled to arrive tomorrow.

i just put in another big order for my company, who’s going to start printing a few thousand for our hospital clients on our Universal. hoping to hear back from them if there are issues w/missing stock. but i also put in my notes, “i don’t really care which of the 1/8 discontinued granite sheets, so if you’re short on whatever i ordered, sub any of the others to get to my total.”

Only long term testing will tell for sure, but in my subjective tests, it looks to be okay because if the mask is too tight, the wings will flex and let go instead of breaking.

So that people could find their way back to the coordination site to order more. It’s super easy for a source to get lost in these crazy times. Having it on the clips makes sure they don’t run out. You can put your own information instead if you want to; it said that in the original post as I recall.

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In theory that makes sense. I offered to make an unlimited number and still nothing from glowforge.
It took my wife a couple of social media posts to make this explode.

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I haven’t signed up to cut for GF as I’ve been doing the s clips and have a preference for those. The clips with lots of little bits look uncomfortable to me, as well as prone to tangling in hair. Since many people have said they just use paper clips, I’m not convinced that having an adjustable size is key (especially when the adjustment area is small) for most people.

I’ve gotten good feedback on the s clips, but I’m not sure if anyone would say that they hated them. :slight_smile:

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Glowforge can’t match you up until they have people to match you with. Do the rest of us a favor and include a link to the program on your social media posts to help get it moving, so we can start helping. I’ve been posting too, but I’m in a very rural/remote area, so I probably won’t have takers until the Glowforge program gets up to speed.

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I just go to the hospitals, nursing homes, dr offices, fire and police departments and hand them over to them

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I’m not waiting around to be hooked up. I’m going directly to the hospitals, dr offices, nursing homes, and fire and police depts and hand them over. They have been really excited about getting them. You can also call them and see where to mail them.

I’ve shipped from California to NY…
I’m sorry, but glowforge wants to direct thousands of people to their website while using your product, machine, and money…

I’m rural too… Stony Brook Hospital in NY has asked for 3500 and we’re working on providing those oof you’re interested.

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i haven’t even posted publicly yet, just asked people i know online and i’ve shipped maybe 2k around the country. i can get between 180 and 210 in a small one rate USPS box (depending on which style I’m cutting at the moment).

we now have orders from our hospital clients coming in at my company, so i’ll be pushing toward them with what comes out next.

reach out to people. post on social media. they can ask you directly or you can post the GF link for people to ask at.

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