Tech Camp Blog

More Face Shields for Local Doctors

Inspired by Harry's efforts at making some face shields, we contacted some local doctors around us who were keen to get some as well.  Seems crazy that our front-line NHS staff don't have access to something as simple as this.

The original 'Prusa' design was great, but we realised that making the 3D-printed parts was overly time-consuming, so looked around for a design that was purely laser-cut (as we have a 700mmx500mm laser cutter at work, and laser cutting is a much quicker process), and found this one which worked pretty much out-of-the-box.

We made a small change to allow it to be cut on our laser bed as the original strap was a bit large.  As luck would have it, we had enough stock of 0.5mm clear PETG to make enough shields for the doctors and nurses at Thatcham Medical Practice (around 30) and thanks to Steve in the office (who has been furloughed but was keen to help out with this one), within a few hours they were all cut out and ready to be delivered.  The staff were very grateful and Dr Pongratz gives us a thumbs-up for this one in the photo.

As a side-note, we went to our normal plastic sheet supplier to discover that all supplies of 0.5mm clear PETG were out of stock - probably because of all the people trying to help out with this in a similar manner.  We've since found this design which we're working on now.  It doesn't look quite as industrial, but as it uses clear binding covers which are easier to find (for the moment), this should be an easier one to produce quickly.  We've always been fans of Kitronik who have been pretty instrumental in coming up with this design.  It's great to see companies like this doing so much to help.  They also have some terrific educational kits to keep those tech-savvy kids occupied and learning during this difficult time.