Naomi Wu, from Shenzen, who's made many 3D-printed wearables, says that 3D printing masks doesn't work. Not flexible enough and can't get a good air seal.[1]
Face shields for medical workers, though - those 3D print just fine.
They suggest heating it up (to soften the plastic) and pressing it against your face to ensure a good fit. Seems unlikely that this would actually result in a perfect fit, but at least it's better than nothing.
Also, the claim that it's an "open-source" mask is somewhat soured by the fact that they appear to have patented it.
The straps will greatly aid a good fit once it's generally shaped for an individual's face. Also, a patent prevents others from profiting from making this and selling it, if they decided to enforce it, which would be unlikely unless it was egregious.
>Also, the claim that it's an "open-source" mask is somewhat soured by the fact that they appear to have patented it.
The article did not say that the mask itself was patented. They may have patented a small component (probably the copper voodoo stuff which may or may not actually work) and are giving people freedom to print the mask, patented component included, in the time of crisis.
It's ethical business dealing. You get to save lives and make a buck off the IP later. Win/win.
I saw that. Open source and patented? These folks don’t seem to understand open source. It’s perfectly possible to patent something and then release all rights to it.... but why?
Unless it degraded the material, I'd disinfect anything that would be touching my face with rubbing alcohol.
A filter would be better.
I've not worn construction masks, but military style gas masks are absolute misery after a couple of hours because of the weight and the one-size-fits-all approach. A custom fit (because of the thermoplastic deformability) should make something this light weight far more comfortable for hours of use.
I could print some of these, but where would I get the circular inserts?
Also it would be great if this could be modified to be broken down into smaller pieces, as it stands I don’t think it would fit on most home 3D printer beds.
To let air pass the filter easier, bigger surface is encouraged - bigger area, for the same pressure difference less flow per unit area. Why not to have two circular filters, on each side of the mask?
Honestly, this looks like profiteering in a crisis to help sell their filters as this doesn’t accept the industry standard sized filters made by 3M, et al.
Face shields for medical workers, though - those 3D print just fine.
[1] https://twitter.com/RealSexyCyborg