Are you wanting to do something to help beat COVID-19? If you've got a 3D printer, you can sign up to 3D Crowd UK: a volunteer-led campaign to produce more than 500,000 protective face masks. Thousands have already joined the campaign, including some of our 3D printing enthusiasts from Transcendit.
3D Crowd UK states that, 'Over 6,000+ volunteer 3D printer owners across the UK have joined forces in just two weeks to address the desperate lack of PPE (personal protective equipment) in the medical and health services, by printing face shields themselves.'
According to their website, 'The 3D printers create the headband part of the face shield, bag up the parts and send them to the closest hub where they are assembled, a clear plastic film is placed on the front and elastic attached to the back to hold it in place.'
3D Crowd UK is using a standard design of mask, developed by one of the larger printer manufacturers and available via this link. There's plenty of help online for tuning particular printers to produce good results on this mask design, including an active Slack forum for 3D Crowd volunteers.
Volunteers are also asked to follow certain operating procedures to maintain high quality and hygiene. Regional organisers then collect the printed parts, check the quality, then pass them on for assembly and distribution to healthcare workers.
If you don't have a 3D printer you can donate to their JustGiving page, which is raising money for the cost of materials and transport costs, which enable the face shields to reach the frontline health workers that need them the most.
If you're a frontline health worker you can request face shields from the 3D Crowd UK website. If you have a 3D printer and want to start printing face shields for the NHS, you can sign up online - just click 'Volunteer'.
Find out more about 3D Crowd UK
