MakerMask build for respirator

I always love the opensource maker movement. People will publish free to use things that are needed, and go the extra steps to get their designs reviewed by the NIH for “certification as community use.” The folks at MakerMask.com did just that. I love projects so I could not pass up the opportunity to print me a few.

MakerMask_dot_com_first_bite

It started for me as a friend

needed some work done on his new 3D printer to print some of these. I did some test prints on the printer after testing and decided I could print some for me as well.

I had to do some repairs to my old Solidoodle 3, which had gotten a cheap knock off E3D print head to replace the factory print head. Once I got the very annoying “air print” issue resolved. I began printing MakerMask. The beta unit to test fit and finish printed with little or no issues.

Assembly of the beta unit went smoothly as well once all the parts were printed. I did have to sand a few parts to ensure a snug fit. Once the 0.1 mm layer height was tuned on the printer. I could also print the valves. All the body and filter parts print at 0.3 mm layers to speed up printing.

The old Solidoodle 3 prints the body without too much drama once it is tuned up.

Now on to the next project while these print in the background. I estimate even at the 0.3 mm layer “fast print” these take about 10 hours on the Solidoodle 3 to print all the parts if I empty the bed and rotate the prints in a timely fashion. I have sourced some HEPA rated filters from some air cleaners to cut up and put into the filter housings once they are finished printing, as I don’t know the rating on available vacuum bags available.