Glen Crook has been helping with 3D Printing of masks and now he had the great idea of making straps out of a better material and a much faster process.
I’m sharing his email and Files Medical strap laser
Hello Allan,
Attached are the dxf. Files for all of the straps that I have made. Cutting them out is fast as long as you use the right materials. The trick is trying to find out the best material to cut out. Acrylic is a little too brittle so there needs to be thermoforming after the cut out is finished to help keep it from bending. We are currently ordering materials to determine the best option. Polycarbonate is very flexible and durable but it is hard on the laser and burns the edges. Based on my research, if Polycarbonate is to be used, it needs to be very thin like 1/16” or less. We are ordering ABS sheets and Polypropylene to test at 1/16” thickness. These supposedly cut clean like acrylic but have more flexibility like the polycarbonate. The acrylic cut times per strap are less than one minute. If these materials are successful, we could potentially cut out over one hundred of them in a day with just one laser machine. I will keep you posted on what we find as we are able to test the new materials. Thank you for including me on this project.
Respectfully,
Glen
THANK YOU GLEN AND THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF COOS BAY FOR BEING A TEAM PLAYER IN THIS CRITICAL SITUATION