Making Free 3D Printed Face Shields For The NHS
Donation protected
I started making 3D printed face shields back on the 28th March to try and help my local community with the PPE shortage, by providing NHS and essential healthcare workers with face shields free of charge. My initial post ended up being shared almost six thousand times on Facebook and I soon received over 700 messages from frontline workers requesting more than 4,000 face shields. Started out with a single 3d printer. However, since then I have added another 6 more printers in order to increase production to try and meet the demand from key workers that desperately need protective face shields. To date, I've made over 2,500 face shields and 500 ear savers, which have all been provided to NHS frontline workers across the Merseyside area and beyond completely free of charge. Not a bad effort for one person managing everything alone. However, we're not done, we still have a massive list of people still waiting and are desperate for this PPE.
I'm now able to make up to 420 face shields and 100 Ear savers in 24 hours. However, to make this many units it requires A LOT of materials, 8kg of 3d printer filament and 420 clear acetate sheets to be precise. Due to the recent increases in the price of these materials it now costs £26 per kg of filament and £17 for 100 sheets of clear acetate. Therefore to make 420 face shields and 100 ear savers it costs around £225 and that would be per day if we were to max out capacity. That's still only around 50p per face shield which is significantly cheaper than what the NHS is being charged for face shields from their suppliers. I spoke to the manager of a GP surgery in Liverpool who had been charged £284.70 for 15 face shields, that's almost £19 each! So it goes without saying how happy she was when I gave her 20 for free, which I was later told that they were in fact much better and more comfortable to use than the ones they paid so much money for.
Up to now this project has been entirely funded by myself and some donations from friends and family. However, we're now running out of funds to buy enough materials to keep on providing this PPE and we still have a waiting list of almost 2,300 face shields from local NHS and other healthcare workers in Merseyside alone.
At first I refused to accept any donations in an attempt self fund this mission. However, it soon got to a point were I could no longer cover the costs myself. To date, I've put £2,000 of my own money into this project in order to buy additional 3D printers and materials, I've had a similar amount donated by my friends and family which has all been used to buy materials to make more face shields. However, we're now coming to the end of the pot and may have to halt production without funding to buy more materials (3D printer filament and clear acetate sheets).
No one will be making any money on this, like I said, I've put in £2,000 of my own money plus an entire month of my time, pretty much working around the clock making and distributing these face shields. All of which are being provided to NHS healthcare workers completely free of charge. I'm providing my time, and covering all other operating costs such as electricity and rent for the premises etc... What I'm asking from you is help with either providing 3D printer filament and clear acetate sheets or donate to help fund the purchase of these materials so we can in turn help our NHS and essential workers with the PPE they so desperately need right now.
Thank you for your help and support in advance.
Take care and keep safe!
James McConville
I'm now able to make up to 420 face shields and 100 Ear savers in 24 hours. However, to make this many units it requires A LOT of materials, 8kg of 3d printer filament and 420 clear acetate sheets to be precise. Due to the recent increases in the price of these materials it now costs £26 per kg of filament and £17 for 100 sheets of clear acetate. Therefore to make 420 face shields and 100 ear savers it costs around £225 and that would be per day if we were to max out capacity. That's still only around 50p per face shield which is significantly cheaper than what the NHS is being charged for face shields from their suppliers. I spoke to the manager of a GP surgery in Liverpool who had been charged £284.70 for 15 face shields, that's almost £19 each! So it goes without saying how happy she was when I gave her 20 for free, which I was later told that they were in fact much better and more comfortable to use than the ones they paid so much money for.
Up to now this project has been entirely funded by myself and some donations from friends and family. However, we're now running out of funds to buy enough materials to keep on providing this PPE and we still have a waiting list of almost 2,300 face shields from local NHS and other healthcare workers in Merseyside alone.
At first I refused to accept any donations in an attempt self fund this mission. However, it soon got to a point were I could no longer cover the costs myself. To date, I've put £2,000 of my own money into this project in order to buy additional 3D printers and materials, I've had a similar amount donated by my friends and family which has all been used to buy materials to make more face shields. However, we're now coming to the end of the pot and may have to halt production without funding to buy more materials (3D printer filament and clear acetate sheets).
No one will be making any money on this, like I said, I've put in £2,000 of my own money plus an entire month of my time, pretty much working around the clock making and distributing these face shields. All of which are being provided to NHS healthcare workers completely free of charge. I'm providing my time, and covering all other operating costs such as electricity and rent for the premises etc... What I'm asking from you is help with either providing 3D printer filament and clear acetate sheets or donate to help fund the purchase of these materials so we can in turn help our NHS and essential workers with the PPE they so desperately need right now.
Thank you for your help and support in advance.
Take care and keep safe!
James McConville
Organizer
James McConville
Organizer
England