3D printed face masks with filters
Donation protected
Hello everyone!
Thank you for taking the time and having the desire to help others in this time of critical need. As you know the Covid-19 pandemic threatens to overwhelm hospitals and they are in desperate need of personal protective equipment (PPE) to continue doing their job safely. My goal with this campaign is to raise money to help me afford more 3D printers and the filament required for making these masks as safe and effective as possible. I would love to be able to just donate this all myself, but my goals here are bigger than my wallet alone would allow. I want to get these masks out to as many people as I can and since these masks are washable and reusable, every mask we make has the effect of possibly hundreds of the disposable masks. I will break down the costs and projections down below, but first I'll briefly introduce myself.
My name is Jake Shoulak. I am the owner of a music lesson franchise that is affected by shelter-in-place orders causing me to work from home. I recently bought a new 3D printer for my personal use and then within weeks states started asking all those with a printer to turn it on and help. Since I'm stuck at home for a while, I decided this is the perfect time and perfect combination of my skills as a nerd and a business owner to help in a possibly huge way. My girlfriend is an EMT in the Minneapolis/ St. Paul area and in addition to teaching me how to sew to help make other PPE, she owns her own business affected by the orders to shelter in place. We both want to help people in this time of need and between her networking skills and my nerd skills, I think we are in a great spot to be able to reach as many people as possible. Our pup, Baxter, will be helping too, although it's really just him helping us stay sane during these crazy times.
As far as the costs, here are the numbers I know as of now:
The printers I am using are about $500 each and can print at least 5-7 masks per day. There are two main types of filament I can use. There is one that is FDA approved for multiple uses including prosthetics and are antimicrobial meaning that the mask can be worn for longer periods between washing. The cost per mask using that filament is approximately $16.00 including 5 filters and the straps as well. The other type of filament I could use is just the regular PLA which would need to be washed more often, but costs only about $8.50 per mask to make. There are 3 benchmarks of how many masks I can make based on the number of printers and the amount of filament I have:
1) $2500-3000 would be 5 printers total producing 3200 masks over 6 months @ 18 per day.
2) $4500-5000 would be 8 printers total producing 6500 masks over 6 months @ 35 per day.
3)$10,000 would be 12 printers total producing well over 10,000 masks over 6 months @ 52 per day.
I know that is a wide range and I just want to say that absolutely anything is helpful. I've put about as much of my own money into this as I can and will continue to add to the funding myself as I am able. Currently, I am able to print about 15 masks and as of Tuesday 3/31, I should be ready to start making the antimicrobial masks. I'll keep everyone updated on our progress as we go. Thank you so much for your time, compassion, and donations. We are all in this together and that's how we will get through this. Together.
Sincerely,
Jake Shoulak
Thank you for taking the time and having the desire to help others in this time of critical need. As you know the Covid-19 pandemic threatens to overwhelm hospitals and they are in desperate need of personal protective equipment (PPE) to continue doing their job safely. My goal with this campaign is to raise money to help me afford more 3D printers and the filament required for making these masks as safe and effective as possible. I would love to be able to just donate this all myself, but my goals here are bigger than my wallet alone would allow. I want to get these masks out to as many people as I can and since these masks are washable and reusable, every mask we make has the effect of possibly hundreds of the disposable masks. I will break down the costs and projections down below, but first I'll briefly introduce myself.
My name is Jake Shoulak. I am the owner of a music lesson franchise that is affected by shelter-in-place orders causing me to work from home. I recently bought a new 3D printer for my personal use and then within weeks states started asking all those with a printer to turn it on and help. Since I'm stuck at home for a while, I decided this is the perfect time and perfect combination of my skills as a nerd and a business owner to help in a possibly huge way. My girlfriend is an EMT in the Minneapolis/ St. Paul area and in addition to teaching me how to sew to help make other PPE, she owns her own business affected by the orders to shelter in place. We both want to help people in this time of need and between her networking skills and my nerd skills, I think we are in a great spot to be able to reach as many people as possible. Our pup, Baxter, will be helping too, although it's really just him helping us stay sane during these crazy times.
As far as the costs, here are the numbers I know as of now:
The printers I am using are about $500 each and can print at least 5-7 masks per day. There are two main types of filament I can use. There is one that is FDA approved for multiple uses including prosthetics and are antimicrobial meaning that the mask can be worn for longer periods between washing. The cost per mask using that filament is approximately $16.00 including 5 filters and the straps as well. The other type of filament I could use is just the regular PLA which would need to be washed more often, but costs only about $8.50 per mask to make. There are 3 benchmarks of how many masks I can make based on the number of printers and the amount of filament I have:
1) $2500-3000 would be 5 printers total producing 3200 masks over 6 months @ 18 per day.
2) $4500-5000 would be 8 printers total producing 6500 masks over 6 months @ 35 per day.
3)$10,000 would be 12 printers total producing well over 10,000 masks over 6 months @ 52 per day.
I know that is a wide range and I just want to say that absolutely anything is helpful. I've put about as much of my own money into this as I can and will continue to add to the funding myself as I am able. Currently, I am able to print about 15 masks and as of Tuesday 3/31, I should be ready to start making the antimicrobial masks. I'll keep everyone updated on our progress as we go. Thank you so much for your time, compassion, and donations. We are all in this together and that's how we will get through this. Together.
Sincerely,
Jake Shoulak
Organizer
Jacob Shoulak
Organizer
Oak Grove, MN
