Help us print 3D products for those helping others.
There is a shortage of protective gear for doctors and nurses globally, so we are attempting to do our part and help coordinate the manufacture of anything that may help these superstars continue their tireless work and stay safe.
With the advent of 3D printing, you can help bring rapid and local supply of products to your local healthcare teams.
The Footprint Hub team is looking to help source original design files that meet the product safety standards required for your local medical facility. We are able to prepare your files for the printing process into local printers and help coordinate delivery from your business or home to those that need it in your local area the most.
Become part of the global crowd 3D-print initiative here.
Fill in your basic location information and product requirement and numbers. We aim to put you in touch with local suppliers that are able to use print designs to produce what you need.
Find out more here
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Do you own a 3D printer or know someone (or business) in your area that does? Footprint Hub can supply the product designs you need and put you in touch to help those that currently need help most.
Find out more here
Find out more here
3D-PRINTED PROTECTIVE VISOR
Our fiends at 3D verkstan, Sweden have designed a frame for holding standard sized plastic sheets. This option is relatively quick to print and easy to assemble. We are extremely grateful for their approach and support they show to the global community in this time of challenge. We plan to help them keep this going globally as long as the need requires.
Here are the QUICK LINKS for print-files and settings to make it easier if you already have a 3D-printer and would like to help. We can help you coordinate the steps from print to supply into your local healthcare service here.
The visor frame and visor have been tested and liked by staff all over the world but there are a lot of different regulations regarding medical supplies, you must ensure to follow authority guidelines that applies within your region.
The footprint hub and its partners are unable to certify the appropriateness of this solution for your specific regional and regulatory situations, that lies with each medical service. We are however able to discuss the technicalities with them directly for you. Please refer any contacts you may have here.
The visor frame and visor have been tested and liked by staff all over the world but there are a lot of different regulations regarding medical supplies, you must ensure to follow authority guidelines that applies within your region.
The footprint hub and its partners are unable to certify the appropriateness of this solution for your specific regional and regulatory situations, that lies with each medical service. We are however able to discuss the technicalities with them directly for you. Please refer any contacts you may have here.
Shopping list for Manufacture and Assembly of the protective visor:
PA11, PA12 Loom, (PLA, CPE, PETG, ABS etc.)
A4 Clear Plastic Binding Report Cover Transparent 7.5 mm Polypropylene Acetate Sheet
Adjustable A4 Hole Punch
Elastic banding
3D-PRINTED PROTECTIVE GOGGLES
Our colleagues at Farsoon Hunan China, Huaxiang Ningbo China & LEHVOSS Group Hamburg Germany, have designed a frame and cutting template for producing protective glasses from standard A4 sized plastic sheets. This is a little more challenging to print in a home printing environment, however our industrial partners have fond it has a much higher likelihood of meeting the medical product requirements needed for hospitals and healthcare services.
Here are the QUICK LINKS for print-files and settings to make it easier if you already have a 3D-printer and would like to help. We can help you coordinate the steps from print to supply into your local healthcare service here.
The goggle frame and visor have been tested and liked by staff all over the world but there are a lot of different regulations regarding medical supplies, you must ensure to follow authority guidelines that applies within your region.
The footprint hub and its partners are unable to certify the appropriateness of this solution for your specific regional and regulatory situations, that lies with each medical service. We are however able to discuss the technicalities with them directly for you. Please refer any contacts you may have here.
The goggle frame and visor have been tested and liked by staff all over the world but there are a lot of different regulations regarding medical supplies, you must ensure to follow authority guidelines that applies within your region.
The footprint hub and its partners are unable to certify the appropriateness of this solution for your specific regional and regulatory situations, that lies with each medical service. We are however able to discuss the technicalities with them directly for you. Please refer any contacts you may have here.
Simple shopping list for Manufacture and Assembly of the protective goggles:
- FS3300PA (or equivalent)
- Lehvoss TPU (or evivalent)
- A4 Clear Plastic Report Cover Transparent 7.5 mm Polypropylene Acetate Sheet / Protection lens
- Material Scissors
- Elastic banding
- 3D Printer with capacity XX or above
EAR GUARDS FOR SURGICAL MASKS
This outside of the box solotion to make those helping others a little more comfortable. The Surgical Mask Strap (Remix) was designed by Suraky March 29, 2020. It is a nifty little clip that holds back the straps of protective face masks. the abrasive nature of the straps can irritate the ears of the wearers aver long periods of use.
Here are the QUICK LINKS for print-files and settings to make it easier if you already have a 3D-printer and would like to help. We can help you coordinate the steps from print to supply into your local healthcare service here.
Clip is simple enough to use, however have been tested and liked by staff all over the world however there are a lot of different regulations regarding medical supplies, you must ensure to follow authority guidelines
that applies within your region.
The footprint hub and its partners are unable to certify the appropriateness of this solution for your specific regional and regulatory situations, that lies with each medical service. We are however able to discuss the technicalities with them directly for you. Please refer any contacts you may have here.
Simple shopping list for manufacture of the ear guards:
- Printer brand: Prusa
- Printer: I3 MK3S
- Rafts: No
- Supports: No
- Resolution: 0.35
- Infill: n/a
- Filament_brand: n/a
- Filament_color: n/a
- Filament_material: PLA.
Notes: The designer suggests that these need to be made fast and in large numbers. Don’t mess around with TPU, just crank them out in PLA. Fit 9 on a Prusa print bed. Draft / 0.35mm. Infill doesn’t matter, it’s thin enough that it prints solid. Turn up the on-screen speed of your printer up to 150% from the start.
Get In Touch
You have made it this far you are a person requiring basic protective supplies and/or own a 3D printer and/or know someone with one.
Please have contact details, your needs, any information of input file format(s) your printer will accept and/or design suggestions you may have. We thank you in advance for your consideration and support of this initiative. We’ll do our best to respond and assist you to help those in need.
the frequently asked stuff...
LOCAL STANDARDS & REGULATIONS ?
The legal process surrounding the products employers provide their staff to safely perform their duties is vast and complicated. This is particularly the case in the production of products designed to be used in medical situations.
Our clinical design team is working tirelessly with the medical providers in each area to source the original designs of products they already use for inclusion into a 3D design and subsequent additive manufacture (3D printing) process. Another challenge we are working on is the sterilisation of community printed products into the hospital system.
Our clinical design team is working tirelessly with the medical providers in each area to source the original designs of products they already use for inclusion into a 3D design and subsequent additive manufacture (3D printing) process. Another challenge we are working on is the sterilisation of community printed products into the hospital system.
Please be aware that this initiative, while extremely strong in concept, requires a certain nuance to get it right. Unfortunately all suggestions and products produced may not meet the regulatory requirements set out in all local healthcare system. If you are a medical, legal, supply chain, social media, print suppler or other, please contact us here to see what we all can do together to assist those in need.
WHAT MATERIAL DO I PRINT WITH ?
So far, all the most common rigid plastics used in Filament based 3D Printing has shown promise to work well.
If you are buying filament especially for this project, go with PETG or another Co-Polyester, these have better temperature resistance and a slightly better tolerance to some chemicals, but if PLA is all you got, go with it!
(PLA, CPE, PETG, ABS etc.)
The filaments you should NOT USE are...
- Anything flexible, TPU, TPC or similar.
- Anything deliberately porous, like Polymatte or Colorfabb LW-PLA
- Wood or other natural fiber filled polymers, these can absorb fluids.
- PVB, PVA or BVOH, anything that is easily soluble in either alcohol or water, (PolySmooth is not a suitable filament for using to make these since it will dissolve in the disinfection the hospital will likely use).
- PMMA, since it has very low resistance to alcohols.
Materials have been tested and liked by staff all over the world but there are a lot of different regulations regarding medical supplies, however you must ensure to follow authority guidelines that applies within your region. The footprint hub and its partners are unable to certify the appropriateness of this solution for your specific regional and regulatory situations.
BEFORE YOU PRINT : VARIETY OF PRINT FILES
Who would have thought that a global pandemic would make us learn something. As it happens there is numerous types of hole punches in the western world. Now you may be able to win a few points on your next “pub quiz” night, it is important to print out the visor in the appropriate configuration for your region. The champs at 3D verkstan, Sweden have made three primary configurations for the Austral / European, American and Swedish systems. Please chack wich is right one for your system below:
International Standard ISO 838.
Typical in Australia, UK & Europe.
Typical in Australia, UK & Europe.
US Letter paper format.
Typical for the US, Canada and parts of Mexico / Philippines
The Swedish four-hole national standard.
Good on you Sweden. The most secure.
Good on you Sweden. The most secure.
Here is a bit of a visual file ti help you figure out what other configurations you may need. If there is one that you can’t easily obtain in your country of residence, please contact us here and we will get to designing the frame into the configuration you need.
commonly used hole patterns for hole punches and ring binders (thanks to wikipedia)
VISOR CONFIGURATION :
Australasia / Europe / Most of the World ( International Standard ISO 838 )
This version is made to be used with the ISO 838 2-hole punches that are common all around Europe.
This is the version to go for if you are making these anywhere in Europe that is NOT Sweden.
How to do the punching:
Download mirror (GitHub)
How to do the punching:
-
- Set your hole punch to the setting for a A6 sheet, this is done by pulling out the guide bar until it says “A6”
- Make a test punch in a piece of paper, then measure how far the holes are from each edge and make sure it is symmetric
- Make one punch on one side of the long side of the A4
- Flip the A4 sheet around its short axis, and make one punch on the opposite side
- Voalah! You end up with 4 holes along the same edge
Download mirror (GitHub)
VISOR CONFIGURATION :
US Letter paper format : US / Canada / Parts of Mexico & Philippines
This version is made to be used with north american 3-hole “Letter” punches.
The 3-hole pattern turned out to not be sturdy enough, so they used a 1/2″ spacer to create a 6-hole pattern with a 1″ offset instead. This is the version to go for if you are making these in North America and want to use letter size sheets.
How to do the punching:
Download mirror (GitHub)
The 3-hole pattern turned out to not be sturdy enough, so they used a 1/2″ spacer to create a 6-hole pattern with a 1″ offset instead. This is the version to go for if you are making these in North America and want to use letter size sheets.
How to do the punching:
- Set your hole punch to the setting for a Letter sheet
- Make a test punch in a piece of paper, then measure how far the holes are from each edge and make sure it is symmetric.
- Print the Spacer piece and put it on top of your guide bar. This is what creates the hole offset needed.
- Put the Letter (8.5″x11″) and make one punch along one of the long sides, with the short edge resting on your spacer piece.
- Flip the Letter sheet around its short axis,
- Make one punch on the opposite side, so you end up with 6 holes along the same edge.
Download mirror (GitHub)
VISOR CONFIGURATION :
Swedish National hole punch standard ( triohålning ).
This version is made to be used with the Swedish national hole punch standard “triohålning”.
This is the version to go for if you are making these in Sweden.
If you are considering to laser cut your shields, this is the sturdiest fastening.
How to do the punching:
Download mirror (GitHub)
If you are considering to laser cut your shields, this is the sturdiest fastening.
How to do the punching:
- Set your hole punch to the setting for a A6 sheet, this is often done by pulling out the guide bar about 10mm.
- Make one punch on one side of the long side of the A4
- Flip the A4 sheet around its short axis,
- Make one punch on the opposite side, so you end up with 8 holes along the same edge.
Download mirror (GitHub)
FOR THE TECHIES : PRINTING GUIDES
This is the guide on how to choose your print settings and print the protective visors / face shields. For best quality we strongly recommend that you follow these settings.
The settings described below is described with the terminology used in Ultimaker Cura, but they should be possible to enter in any slicer on the market that allows you to change settings.
Quality-checking:
The settings described below is described with the terminology used in Ultimaker Cura, but they should be possible to enter in any slicer on the market that allows you to change settings.
Quality-checking:
Make sure that:
- Layers adhere properly to each other
- Walls are completely fused together
- Surfaces are smooth without gaps
- The print has decent flexibility
What filament do I use ?
So far, all the most common rigid plastics used in Filament based 3D Printing has shown promise to work well.
If you are buying filament especially for this project, go with PETG or another Co-Polyester, these have better temperature resistance and a slightly better tolerance to some chemicals, but if PLA is all you got, go with it!
If you are buying filament especially for this project, go with PETG or another Co-Polyester, these have better temperature resistance and a slightly better tolerance to some chemicals, but if PLA is all you got, go with it!
The filaments you should NOT be using are...
- Anything flexible, TPU, TPC or similar.
- Anything deliberately porous, like Polymatte or Colorfabb LW-PLA
- Wood or other natural fiber filled polymers, these can absorb fluids.
- PVB, PVA or BVOH, anything that is easily soluble in either alcohol or water, (PolySmooth is not a suitable filament for using to make these since it will dissolve in the disinfection the hospital will likely use).
- PMMA, since it has very low resistance to alcohols.
They have not evaluated the use of resin printers to print face shield frames.
Print Settings...
What infill percentage should I use ?
This model is made to print with no infill at all. But it is also made to be printed fully solid.
This means that you can set your infill percentage to 0%, as long as you follow the suggested line width and wall number settings below. This will make your print the strongest and fastest to print.
It is important that the print has as few voids as possible, since this will increase the drying time every time it is dipped in disenfectant solution and make it harder to clean.
This means that you can set your infill percentage to 0%, as long as you follow the suggested line width and wall number settings below. This will make your print the strongest and fastest to print.
It is important that the print has as few voids as possible, since this will increase the drying time every time it is dipped in disenfectant solution and make it harder to clean.
What nozzle size / line width should I use ?
Since one of the key things in this project is to get the production volume high, if you have the possibility, we suggest you to use a larger than standard nozzle and a larger layer height than you may be used to.
The parts are fully printable with nozzles up to 1.2mm if you choose proper settings, and if you have a high-flow hot-end like the Mosquito Magnum or the E3D Supervolcano you should try to use these to your advantage. Set all your line widths to a multiple of approximately 4 mm.
Be aware that Cura hides quite a few of the settings as default, so turn the setting visibility to “expert“. Set your number of walls to be equal to ~2.5 mm, so with 0.8 mm line width you should have at least 3 walls thickness, with 0.4 mm it should be at least 5, and with 1.33 mm line width only 2 walls is needed.
The parts are fully printable with nozzles up to 1.2mm if you choose proper settings, and if you have a high-flow hot-end like the Mosquito Magnum or the E3D Supervolcano you should try to use these to your advantage. Set all your line widths to a multiple of approximately 4 mm.
Be aware that Cura hides quite a few of the settings as default, so turn the setting visibility to “expert“. Set your number of walls to be equal to ~2.5 mm, so with 0.8 mm line width you should have at least 3 walls thickness, with 0.4 mm it should be at least 5, and with 1.33 mm line width only 2 walls is needed.
This means that the optimal line width is:
0.4mm nozzle -> Set line width to 0.5mm
0.6mm nozzle -> Set line width to 0.66 or 0.8mm
0.8 mm nozzle -> Set line width to 0.8mm or 1.0mm
1.0mm nozzle -> Set line width to 1.0mm
1.2mm nozzle -> Set line width to 1.33mm
What layer height should i use ?
Since this design has no real overhangs and little need for cooling, the main limiting factor for how fast you can push out these frames will be your hot-end flow rate.
The hot-end flow rate is the number that determines how much plastic your printer can melt in a certain amount of time.
If you just want to start printing:
Start with our suggested layer thickness and line width for the nozzle you are using, and a print speed of at 40mm/sec. This should work on almost any printer. Make sure to set all the different print speed settings to the same number, this design caters very well to this.
If you just want to start printing:
Start with our suggested layer thickness and line width for the nozzle you are using, and a print speed of at 40mm/sec. This should work on almost any printer. Make sure to set all the different print speed settings to the same number, this design caters very well to this.
Ultimaker Cura has quite a few “hidden” print speed settings, but if you turn on “expert” mode you can set all of them.
The only one that should be lower is the “initial layer print speed”, since it important for bed adhesion. A good starting value is about 20mm/sec.
The only one that should be lower is the “initial layer print speed”, since it important for bed adhesion. A good starting value is about 20mm/sec.
If you are an advanced user and want to speed up production:
For a regular E3D V6 this is about 10mm3/sec, wich with a 0.8mm nozzle and 0.3mm layer height is calculated as: 10mm^3/(0.8mm*0.3mm) = ~40mm/sec,
A high-flow hotend like the Mosquito magnum with a 0.8mm nozzle and a 1.0mm line width can on the other hand push more than 30mm3/sec, or 30mm^3/(1.0mm*0.5mm)= ~60mm/sec
A super high flow hot-end like the E3D Supervolcano can melt up to 100 mm3/sec, and with a 1.2 mm nozzle and 1.33 mm line width it can push 100 mm3^3/(1.33 mm * 0.6 mm) = ~125 mm/sec
In practice, it might be hard to reach these numbers for other reasons, and if you see signs of your printer under-extruding or wanting to grind, start by lowering your print speed by 5 mm/sec and increasing your print temperature by 5 degrees.
For a regular E3D V6 this is about 10mm3/sec, wich with a 0.8mm nozzle and 0.3mm layer height is calculated as: 10mm^3/(0.8mm*0.3mm) = ~40mm/sec,
A high-flow hotend like the Mosquito magnum with a 0.8mm nozzle and a 1.0mm line width can on the other hand push more than 30mm3/sec, or 30mm^3/(1.0mm*0.5mm)= ~60mm/sec
A super high flow hot-end like the E3D Supervolcano can melt up to 100 mm3/sec, and with a 1.2 mm nozzle and 1.33 mm line width it can push 100 mm3^3/(1.33 mm * 0.6 mm) = ~125 mm/sec
In practice, it might be hard to reach these numbers for other reasons, and if you see signs of your printer under-extruding or wanting to grind, start by lowering your print speed by 5 mm/sec and increasing your print temperature by 5 degrees.
What should I look for in the layer preview section ?
You know that you have a good sliced file when you look at the layer preview and the following is true:
- All lines follows the shape, no zig-zag patterns except on the thin surface in the front.
- No weird break-ups in the lines where it looks like multiple short lines make up a longer one with small spaces in between
- All lines seem to be touching each other, no large spaces in between them
PRINT LEGENDS.
With so much going on, it is important to remember the community that we are working to help. These are some of the local leg-ends we have found that represent exactly what we as humans can do for each other in times of need…
Whitgift School teacher 3D prints hundreds of protective visors for Croydon University Hospital NHS staff.
Thomas Wendes, a DTE teacher at Whitgift School, has started making visors for healthcare workers with 3D printing. His protective visors have been approved as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) by Croydon University Hospital and the first 150 have already been delivered. With his new “quick to manufacture” methods, the aim is to make and deliver up to 100 visors a day.
Source: My London News 2020.
Read on here…
