Hello Everyone, you’ve all done a superb job of getting lots and lots of PPE into the hands of front line health care staff, care homes, for key workers and the rest!
I’m getting a real sense of a sudden drop in the call for face shields. Our biggest “customer” in Nottingham just confirmed they have a good supply of face shields and also a supply of the kite-marked BS standard shields now too.
My team are finishing up the materials we have cut into flat packs and bags of 26 complete face shields for smaller groups and care homes, but I suspect I’ll have a big pile of them left at the end. I think it’s important at this point to reflect. We should be ready to fire up the machinery should it be needed and ready to flex our design muscles should a different challenge arise too! But for now, it feels like we’re nearing the end of the PPE crisis, though we’re probably still in the early days of the Corona Virus Crisis.
I’d encourage you to think about responsible and environmentally ethical ways to dispose or reuse any surplus face shields and parts you have. For my part I’ve stopped cutting for now as not to waste he PP sheets I have left (about 45). What news can you bring me from where you are? Have you reached out to the folks you’re supplying to see if they still have need? Let me know if you know of somewhere still desperate for shields, as I suspect the glut won’t be uniform in all areas.
At the start of this, when I was still 3D printing at home, I anticipated that I’d be providing a few dozen shields as a stop gap for a week or so until “big industry” kicked in to make something less ad-hoc. It’s gone on a lot longer than I thought!
I want to draw peoples attention to my friend Sean Drummond who drew up the original polypropylene face shield design, I’ve seen dozens of schools and design firms claiming it’s is their “own” design, I suppose once you’ve laid it out in a cutting software or made some small tweaks, it IS your design. I’ve not heard Sean be anything other than humble about his part in it. If you thought his design was good, maybe you should go say so on his Linked In page.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/drummond1/
I’d also like to take a little time to thanks @phillw who has been here helping lots of you with the forum and your work on the face shields. Thank you so much Phill. You’ve made things much easier for me during this time by taking away much of the stress of looking after people here on the community.
I really hope many of you will stay and ask for help with your laser cutters, or show other people how to find this forum. It’s to help anyone who has a laser cutter problem. I started it after I saw how horribly toxic and masculine places like Sawmillcreek and Facebook help groups can be. The facebook groups especially annoyed me as there wasn’t 2 serious answer in any 100 answers given.
As a reminder, Smoke & Mirrors is a UK based laser cutter sales, service, repair and support company and we specialise in helping makers and schools keep their laser cutters running! We sell all sorts of mirrors and lenses (check the shop icon at the top). But really our main service is to help you get the most out of the laser cutter you have. If you’re not sure about something, we’ve probably got a helpful hint or video or can give you an idea here on the forum.
Well done everyone. Your face shields have certainly saved lives!
Dominic aka Smokey
