I just imported it into 2d design and it came out as being >500mm wide!?!?
I’m new to 2d so I will just post up converted files and the more knowledgable on here can mess with it.
Happy to put it up on dropbox if you have nowhere to place it. (DM me)
Cheers
Phill
Link to follow
I’ve been moving between different software and always kick myself if I don’t check the dims. The top part should be 221.875mm wide (more or less) according to Inkscape. 222mm should do
But always cut one and try it before making a batch
I resized it according to your figures and saved it as Dermots_top_piece_dxf_resized in dropbox!
Anyone opeing the 2d design or CorelDraw can do the same to suit.
Check you imported in mm not inches.
Hi everyone,
I’ve got a laser cutter and sourced material but I’m really struggling to find a main point of contact to check how many are needed and where.
Can you guys help.
Deffo in mm when I imported, gave the same when I imported into CorelDraw.
Importing the svg into CorelDraw gave the right size!
No worries, I can design the top from scratch as long as I know what the inside and outside radius is. I’ll adapt anyway for 3 popper points rather than the tabs. Ta
Try the resized dxf file in the dropbox folder before going from scratch!
Hello @Davelondon81, Not really no use your social media, take a photo of yourself in them and talk about them being available. Search around on social media for schools or other groups making them locally see if you can feed into them. The important thing is to have as few points of contact as possible. Alternatively, drop them into local pharmacies, care homes, housing authorities, street carers and other front line places. Don’t spend a lot of time pestering for numbers and permissions.
See if there is a large care home in the locality, get in touch with them. When you drop off the visors tell them to get in touch with any other local care homes that might need them. That had a snowball effect for us.
Our headteacher tweeted about it and on friday it was nuts trying to keep up with requests, so as Smoky said use social media.
You could DM richjmaynard. He’s in central london, sorry if your surname is actually London 
Thanks, I think I’ve found someone to take the masks. Which is the most up to date fully laser cut mask?
Also is there a Slack channel to join for the faceshields?
I think the official repository was the github link from Notts hackspace!
https://wiki.nottinghack.org.uk/wiki/Laser_Cut_COVID-19_PPE
I think the design has been fairly fixed, people just alter cutting layouts to fit their laser bed size!
Sorry, I have no idea what a slack channel is… I have only just embraces twatter and whatsapp!!! 
How are people getting on with optimising production?
Here’s where we’re at:
Maybe it’s obvious, but major time savings are to be had from batching the work as much as possible
Prepping materials
We’re cutting sheets down to size and then cleaning them with household detergent before laser cutting. Experimented with cleaning after cutting but there was a lot of dust this way, plus the parts are fiddly to clean individually
After cutting group parts in numbered stacks (easier to count/stack when they come off the cutter, than picking them out of a box…as we found out)
Clear visor
Did anyone have success cutting the holes in the PVC visor in bulk using a drill press or other method? Someone at our Makerspace is going to experiment with this today
We’re reasonably successful using a scroll saw to round the edges - can be done on stacks of up to 30 with usually good results, with the occasional fusing of melted sheets. We’ll look at trying different blades and maybe a little slower blase speed to reduce the heat. Bandsaw wasn’t successful for us, but YMMV
Head band
One of our lasertechs is going over the files and optimising them for cutting on our Trotec Speedy 300. In particular he’s looking at separating cuts that are too close and causing a build-up of head which deforms the PP. We should end up with files with colour coded sections for optimised vector ordering, and of course will share them
Assembly
We’re currently getting volunteer members to take kits of 50 to assemble in COVID-19 free/non-quarantined homes. Seems to be a reasonable number at the moment
As with other parts batching the headband first seems time-efficient, and becomes second nature after a while
With the slightly modded tops (extra slots in end tabs) the easiest eay to fit these seems to be by starting with an end one and working away from it – it’s important to bend the tabs down properly first
Any thoughts/tips/tricks?
Anyone else want to celebrate the return of distributed factory work (nee cottage industry)?
I clean after cutting as there is a fair bit of dust on them from the pp. Pulling them through a damp dishcloth works fine for me.
I spend a couple of days cutting, to build up a stock of cut pieces. In between I am cutting up the PVC to A4, we have ‘requisitioned’ the repro hole punch (shhh, they don’t know yet) which will punch through up to 5 sheets easily.
Big pair of scissors and we can round the edges off 3 sheets at a time.
I’d like to optimise my files but, they are fast enough and my 2d design skills are woefully short.
(on that note, are you using the V shaped variation on the adjuster strap? if so, have you got a file in non-dxf format that I could use, my attempts to load this into lasercut software does not work, the V’s do not appear in the imported file?)
We have a team of 4 in for 1/2 a day, properly socially distanced we have: one chopping/punching PVC, one putting headband and standoff together, one adding the adjuster and one adding the PVC.
The chopper/puncher then keeps checking social media / email and does bagging and labeling.
We aren’t bothering with the top parts, no-one has asked for them.
I am celebrating the whole:
Government; “oooh a nasty virus, what do we do?”, runs around in circles, waving hands in air.
General public: “Hold our beers, we’ve got this”
I really hope this is a turning point for the whole way global manufacturing works, pay a bit more, have it made local, less emissions, less of a problem when something like this happens.
@Smokey - we have shipped >1500 in just over 2 weeks, getting the stuff for 2000 more.
Has anyone had any luck sourcing acetate sheets thicker than 150 microns at the moment?
I’ve purchased some of the 150 but I’d rather make them thicker if this is what is preferred.
Is anyone finding that the acetate is static / attracting a lot of dust, and how are you dealing with this?
Also, how is everyone dealing with charring on the underside of the PP (where it touches the honeycomb)? I’ve been masking the underneath but this is extra work and perhaps a waste of transfer tape too!
Thanks!
I’ve been using 200 - 240 microns but I’ve not heard of any issues or concerns about 150.
We’ve been using a compressor to blow dust off before bagging the shields up. We bag them in bags of 26.
I’ve had concerns about scoring and dirty on light PP from the honeycomb. I was worried medics would assume the visors were dirty and therefore dispose of them as not clean! However we’ve not had reports of this.
Generally though we’ve avoided buying light colours.
The backing tape is a good idea but wow a lot of extra work.
That is great news, have you submitted to Life Science Wales?
Do you have a website for your efforts? We are based in Mid Wales and trying to get approval here.
We have expanded the documentation on the Kitronix design for our local group and thought this might be useful for others. Open for comments, please add on any additional approvals from health boards/hospitals you have received or any other suggested tweaks.
Hiya, and welcome.
There has been discussion on here: General discussion - LASER CUT PPE/FACE SHIELDS
General chat is over on that board.
Concensus is we don’t need approvals, if people want them we will supply them.
We are struggling to keep up with demand here!