Blog
Covid-19 PPE
The mission
Twin Cities Maker is doing our part to help supply the medical professionals in our community with the personal protective equipment they need to stay safe. We have been hard at work getting as many 3D printers online as possible in our community of makers to print as many shields as we can and have been working to pursue other avenues, such as molding, to see if we can up our production rate.
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How to help out Donate to help supply the effort Request PPE
Want to help out?
If you have a 3D printer at home and can help out here are the steps to take. If you do not we have work for you to do if you want to volunteer. Click here for info.
1. Download and print
There are 2 parts that we have been printing, 1 is a face shield and the other is an “ear saver” to help keep the straps from masks off the back of medical personnel’s ears.
Printing the face shield
Click here to download the face shield
Use these settings and print in PLA or PETG:
- 0.2mm layer height
- 4 perimeters
- 20% infill in grid, gyroid, or cubic
- At least 4 solid layers top and bottom
- You can turn off the skirt if you use one
These settings have been tuned emphasizing part quality and wall smoothness over speed of print on purpose. We are looking for quality parts that do not have any voids so they are easy to disinfect and reuse.
Printing the ear saver
Click here to download the ear saver
Print at 85% scale for “average” size and 100% scale for “large” size.
These are so thin that you can print them out of basically anything and they will be fine. I have been using PLA and they work perfectly and flex basically in half without breaking.
2. Package up your prints
Put your prints in zip-top bags and label them with the date you put the last one in there, the material used, and your name.
3. Drop off
We need to collect the parts for disinfecting, assembly, and deliver. We have setup a drop-off bin on the front step of the makerspace to help facilitate safe, no contact drop-offs.
Drop off address:
Twin Cities Maker
3119 E. 26th Street
Minneapolis, MN 55406
Just put your packaged prints in the bin and replace the lid. When you have dropped parts please email [email protected] to let us know they are there to be picked up.
4. Repeat and get supplies
Right now the need is great so as long as you can keep printing we are happy to take in the parts and get them out to those who need them. If you need filament email [email protected] and we will get you supplied. We have been bulk ordering filament to supply volunteers as you generally get a better rate when doing a large order.
Don’t have a printer but you want to volunteer?
We have lots of work that needs to be done sterilizing the visors and punching shields that needs to get done. If you would like to get involved in this please email [email protected] and we can get you setup.
Donate to help supply the effort
We are working as hard as we can to make all of the PPE we can and donate it to hospitals and individuals in need but we only have so much backlog of supplies. Each spool of filament makes about 50 shields and costs about $35 and the shield material is about $0.40 a sheet. It is cheap per part but it all adds up fast at the scale that we have been making them. If you would like to donate to help keep this running you can:
- Send donations to [email protected] on PayPal with the note “PPE”
- If you have filament, transparencies, binder covers, or something else that could be of help you want to donate you can contact us at [email protected]
Need PPE?
Are you an individual or representative for a hospital or other medical facility that is in need of PPE? Please fill out this form and we will email you back within a day.