3D Printed Face Shields

During the summer of 2020, Devin and a group of other students from Beckman High School set out to donate 3D Printed face shields to various retirement homes in Orange County. From June to August, they printed and assembled an average of 100 face shields a week, meeting once every week in a member's garage to clean and assemble the face shields.

3D Printed Protective Face ShieldHelp healthcare officials and government agencies continue the fight against Covid-19 by 3D printing as many of these protective face shields as you are able. This face shield, designed by Erik Cederberg of 3D Verkstan, has been approved for clinical use by the National Institute of Health's COVID-19 Supply Chain Response.

Face Shield Design

The face shield design was sourced from MatterHackers. It is was designed by Erik Cederberg of 3D Verkstan and has been approved for clinical use.

It consists of a 3D Printed headband and a clear plastic sheet. The clear plastic sheet must have holes cut into it so that it can be inserted into the headband's knobs.

During peak production, the volunteers had 4 members running 3D printers, with each printer producing 4 headbands every hour.

Assembly Process

In order to ensure cleanliness of the face shields, every part was cleaned before assembly and delivery. The volunteers wore face masks and gloves to prevent contamination.

They developed a procedure and assembly-line-style process to speed up cleaning and assembly. This allowed them to produce approximately 100 face shields in 2-3 hours (excluding headband 3D Printing time).

Step 1: Plastic Sheet Cutting

The first step is to punch 3 holes into the plastic sheet. After punching holes, the corners are rounded to avoid sharp angles.

Step 2: Plastic Sheet Wash

After the sheets are prepared, they are washed and scrubbed in a solution of dish soap and water.

Step 3: Plastic Sheet Rinse

After being scrubbed, the sheets are sent to a separate station to be rinsed. They must be rinsed in a separate water bath to prevent soap spots.

Step 4: Hand Drying

After being rinsed, the sheets are further hand dried to prevent water spots. After this, they are hung on a clothes line to air dry.

Step 5: Headband Cleaning

During the other steps, a batch of approximately 25 headbands are submerged in a bleach and water solution for 20 minutes. After the cleaning, they are hung to air dry.

Step 6: Delivery

Once the headbands and plastic sheets are dried, they are assembled and bagged in bags of 10. The bags are sealed and stored away for delivery.

Alan Onuma's Website for this Project