3D printing - surgical mask straps

[John K Jordan]

I found a 3D model file on Thingiverse for these straps. (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4249113)
I've heard them called "ear savers" since they hook and hold mask ear loops and can prevent soreness/fatigue from long use. And can keep the mask from accidentally slipping off!

surgical-mask-straps_square.jpg

I printed a couple of these to try and gave one to the girl who comes here to the farm and works with my horses. She took it to her dad who wears masks 10 hours a day at the hospital.
After trying it for a day he was SO excited, wanted to know if they were for sale. Ha! I'm printing a pile to send - share the love, share the wealth.

For those interested this batch of six takes about 2.5 hrs to print. Cost to print is maybe 7-1/2 cents each.

JKJ

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Good on you John!

I have a granddaughter who is an EMT. I bought some similar ones and had them sent to her.

[Jim Becker]

Those are a good idea for folks who use ear-loop type masks and have to wear them for long periods of time! Anyone you provide them to will appreciate them for sure. I personally use "over the head" type masks (elastic cord, not ties), because they don't interfere with my hearing aids and honestly are a lot more comfortable. That's for both those that Professor Dr. SWMBO made and for those I've bought from commercial sources.

[Lisa Starr]

John,

I'll have to go get that file. My 3D printer has lots of idle time and I'd be happy to donate the materials. Do they use standard PLA filament?

[ChrisA Edwards]

My Prusa is supposed to arrive today.

This will be a good test project.

[John K Jordan]

John,

I'll have to go get that file. My 3D printer has lots of idle time and I'd be happy to donate the materials. Do they use standard PLA filament?

I used PLA from Prusa. I tried some in blue but thought all bright orange would be OK. I started with the model on Thingiverse, made one for a test, then used Prusaa slicer to make as many instances that would fit on my printer heat bed. 20% infill, .4mm nozzle, 0.02mm layers, set for speed rather than quality. I like to bend them slightly before giving them out.

I gave one today to the girl who comes and extracts fecals from the llamas for parasite testing. She immediately put it to use - held her hair out of the way too.

You can let people know if they tend to use the same set of hooks all the time they can easily cut off the extra hooks and/or any extra length.

[Lisa Starr]

Thanks John. I'll fire up the printer tomorrow.

[John K Jordan]

Thanks John. I'll fire up the printer tomorrow.

Great! I've printed about 50 so far. I'll pass those on tomorrow and see how far they go in that hospital.

[Myk Rian]

I've printed a bunch of the ear savers also. Not to mention Covid Xmas ornaments, Baby Yoda, Benchy, a garden gnome, and now I'm printing Bernie sitting in the folding chair.
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4744009 that is a 90mm tall model.
I made a gcode file to print 6 at a time, 40% scale Bernies at a time. I give them away to people.

20210129_182112.jpg

[John K Jordan]

...
I made a gcode file to print 6 at a time, 40% scale Bernies at a time. I give them away to people.

I love it! Might be perfect for painting.

My oldest son got the same Prusa printer I did and he's been going wild, designing and printing jewelry, lamps, action camera case, components for his photo/video business.

I printed some of his design of cable holders using TPU flex filament. Threaded but will push into and hold in drilled holes. I'm using some to route cables under my computer desk.

ben-flexholder_TPU.jpg