I have gone through 9 versions of a design to simply cut a face mask from a T-Shirt. While the T-Shirt material is 69% effective (ref link below), it is better than nothing and easy to wear. The T-shirt has a natural curl which you can use to your advantage and wear it to curl towards your face. I have attached files for your use.
I have the machine set to 500 speed / 45-50 power. (Tip: Rotate the T-Shirt material 90 degrees so that you are cutting the mask along the vertical thread weave, the T-Shirt material stretches less this direction from ear to ear.)
Be safe and stay healthy!
Update 1: I have included a 10th version (added at the bottom). Version 10 includes slightly shorter ear loops to help with the stretching of the fabric and provide a snuffer fit.
Update 2: Besides cutting up the 100% Cotton T-shirts, I have recently cut a number of masks from Cotton Blend (Spandex Jersey 12 oz Fabric) and it seems to work very well.
Thanks for sharing your design. I recently tried a different design created for use with T shirt material and had a heck of a time keeping the material from folding in on itself from the assist fan blowing on it…even though I used magnets. I went through two perfectly bad T shirts and got only one complete mask. This design looks like it might be better designed to avoid that problem.
I used a WIDE roll of blue masking tape across the entire top edge of the material to hold down the edge from air blowing underneath. You do not need a lot of energy (power) to score the fabric so that it can easily be separated. (You do not need to cut all the way through the fabric.)
I took this design( Thank you btw ) And used the face mask out of an air filter design.
Cut 2 cloth masks an an air filter one put the air filter in between the 2 cloth cut outs an sewed them together to make a n100 or n95 filter at the very least. the cloth on both sides not only blocks the fibers from the cut it also makes it reversible .
pictures to follow
Nice. I’m curious to your idea and how easy you can breath through the air filter. While I have been experimenting, I found when I add layers or filters it added resistance through the mask. The air will take the path of least resistance around the mask if there is too much resistance through the material(s). Looking forward to see what you do.
Absolutely so far it hasn’t been bad with a complete seal you are correct it will take the path of least resistance to the sides but once I get everything worked out I will definitely let you know and post photos
Everything works like a charm… It will provide about 98 % protection an breaths very easy. I seen a trick on a video where Doctors are lining the inside with double sided tape to get a 100% seal which if done correctly should be 100% or at least that’s what they said. The only difference was they were using the vacuum hepa filters instead of the house filters. but hope this helps some in the thought process. I’ll post the whole thing once i complete the masks I’m waiting on elastic…
Thank you! I have a few friends who’ve made us a couple of masks but one is too small and the other is oddly shaped and doesn’t fit my face well. Going to try this one!
Now the real question - would I sacrifice one of my Rush t-shirts to make this?!? Hmmm…
Nice to hear, looking forward to seeing the results. I have a feeling we all are going to be sporting mask tans all summer long. (Opposite of the raccoon eyes for us that are use to spring skiing.)
Has any tried using Blue Jean material with this design. I have tons of jeans too small for my daughter, I could start cutting today. Also what do we use to tie it together? Could we use those ear savers with this design?
It seems like with this to reduce the amount of airflow around the mask, you could pair small rubber bands around the ear holes in the mask with the ear savers and it would be a little more taught?
Simply right click on any of the mask images (depending on the version/size you like) and save the .svg file to your computer. The image is the file that will run on the Glowforge.
They work great btw just made some that use just the house air filter inside the Olson mask design. The air flow is good, no complications at all. You can even double the filter that you put inside the mask an it works just as well. Posted some pictures of the mask we made an wear with the inserts inside
