COVID-19 PPE Getting Started

What we are doing

We are a group of volunteers producing homemade 3D printed face shields for delivery to frontline staff. We are based in Milton Keynes, working to supply face shields to medical staff within the area. You are more than welcome if you’d like to collaborate as a printer or wish to donate towards the purchase of 3D printing material, details below.

Right now there is a serious lack of protection equipment, so we encourage everyone that can help to start printing. Even one print helps, and the sooner we start the more face shields we can get into the hands of those who need them.

Quick Start

  1. Set up printer:
  2. Adopt SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) 
    • Find suitable print location – avoid dust/contamination
    • Clean your workbench
    • Wash your hands, gloves (if possible) and mask (covering mouth and nose)
    • Clean the print bed with disinfectant (isopropyl alcohol)
    • Check filament supply and print shield band
    • Verify quality*. We need good quality prints without cracks so that they can be disinfected properly.
  3. Print more bands
  4. Bag each 5 bands** and one copy of the disclaimer, filled in with your details. Do not fill in the packing date in the disclaimer, and leave the bag open. We will include the A4 sheets, fill in the packing date and close the bag after collection.
  5. Once you have at least two bags with 10 bands say so in our Slack #medical_covid19 channel and we will arrange collection
  6. If you are running out of PLA/PETG or bags/disclaimers, or need anything else ask in the channel and we will try to supply you with some once a volunteer picks up your prints. However, we are trying to save it for people who would have to stop printing otherwise, so please let us know if you need some to keep on running :).

*If you need help with the quality of your prints ask in our Slack #medical_covid19 channel.

**There is no need to include the A4 transparent sheets, these will be sorted out by the team of volunteers.

If you become symptomatic

Please, if you come down with symptoms and suspect you have COVID-19 – please ensure that you inform the team via the channel ASAP, so that appropriate precautions can be made to destroy or quarantine the stock that you have already created.

Review and ensure you follow the gov.uk advice on self-isolation.

Other UK wide initiatives

We are inspired by the efforts from 3DCrowd and N3DPS, with a focus on making an impact in our local community. The face shield base designs we print (link above) are from N3DPS. If you want more info about these initiatives please ask in our Slack #3dprinting channel and we will be more than happy to help.

If you need Face Shields

If you are a surgery, chemist, or doctor who needs some face shields you can request them in https://bit.ly/MKPPE.