[GBR1]

So I have an additive manufacturing company. (3D Printing) we do many other engineering projects but the AM side is quite big.

Anyway I designed a face shield which we will produce for free for any NHS staff that want one, we can prob produce between 100 and 200 a week for local hospitals , care homes etc. I have designed the shield in conjunction with some doctors friends, it needs some tweaks but is essentially ready to go.

So I pasted on facebook asking any doctor/nurse friends if they wanted some. I had load of reply's saying they did which is shit for many reason but at least we can help.

I then had a post from a friend who makes PPE basically saying I would go to jail if the product failed etc.

We are making these FOC, they are not CE certified etc etc I am sure he is partially trying to save his job..

GBR1

[XAlp]

Maybe need a contact in Purchasing in the NHS? They’d know the regs I’m thinking...

[XAlp]

Chap I know said: Get CE approval. Supposed to be very quick now 2-3 days they have created a speedy way to do it. That is what they were saying. Best to get some made then give it to a pharmacist. They know what to do. No idea f that helps?

[robbiep]

Issue 1 : ensuring it complies with the CE markings, is suitable for use

Issue 2 : ensuring it is safe for staff to use in other ways. By this, I mean : What steps are taken to ensure that (for example) the people making the visors, if they had or were carrying coronovirus, were not then leaving it on the visors, for it to be transmitted to the NHS staff using the visors.
So a cleaning / sterilising regime. In big industry, this is often done by radiation dosing. Which means you've got to ensure that you are putting enough of a dose into the visor to kill everything, but not so much as to give the staff using it radiation burns or sickness !
If you decided to use an alcohol gel to finish the visors, then that's probably going to react with the plastics, making them brittle and not fit for use.

Yes, it can be done. But those are just a couple of the steps that have to be taken

Sorry if that's raining on the parade of a good idea. The pic looks a really good quality visor with great protection, and even a really decent strap.

My old post (private sector, before I joined the NHS), I spent a few years doing medical advice classification and certification. It's an awful field, incredibly complex, and the regulations completely change every few years. In fact, they were due to change again in May.

[Watsey]

A friend of mine, working on a collaborative basis with contacts cross-industry, apparently designed and achieved regulatory approval for a new type of ventilator in under a week.

On that basis surely approval for a face shield should be pretty straightforward. Just a matter of reaching the approporiate point of contact.

I'll see what I can find out.

[gangzoom]

Originally Posted by GBR1

I then had a post from a friend who makes PPE basically saying I would go to jail if the product failed etc.

We are making these FOC, they are not CE certified etc etc I am sure he is partially trying to save his job..

GBR1

We are in extraordinary times, idiots who still think management/red tape brigade is still in charge needs to come and spend a day on the COVID19 wards!!

I'll PM you my work address if you want to send some for me to have a look at.

As far as am concerned protection for our staff is the most important thing right now, anyone who wants to put red tape in the way of that can do one!!

[MashinBenzin]

This is great GBR1 - what a fantastic contribution if it comes off

[335dMSport+]

We're supplying a conglomerate of 3D'ers with the clear visor part for this project; https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints...ace-shield-rc2 maybe you can get involved. We're currently die-cutting 80,000 full face visors for frontline NHS and the clear material has switched from PET/PETG to pretty much ANY clear plastic.

Concentric are also heavily involved and have the ability to produce on a scale that is mortals can only dream of. The total cost per visor from them is £1.50.

We've just sent five tonne of PVC to Babcock in Plymouth for the same project too.

My friend is in charge of our local A&E and he confirms they're short of everything and they've hardly had any COVID-19 cases compared to other hospitals but what he did say, was provided they're donated and not intended to be used for surgical applications then he would happily wear them as they're better than nothing (even thought not CE).

Nursing homes, hostels and other unrecognised establishments are also woefully I equipped to deal with this so they'd be just as grateful to you.

[Sennen]

Originally Posted by 335dMSport+

We're supplying a conglomerate of 3D'ers with the clear visor part for this project; https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints...ace-shield-rc2 maybe you can get involved. We're currently die-cutting 80,000 full face visors for frontline NHS and the clear material has switched from PET/PETG to pretty much ANY clear plastic.

Concentric are also heavily involved and have the ability to produce on a scale that is mortals can only dream of. The total cost per visor from them is £1.50.

We've just sent five tonne of PVC to Babcock in Plymouth for the same project too.

My friend is in charge of our local A&E and he confirms they're short of everything and they've hardly had any COVID-19 cases compared to other hospitals but what he did say, was provided they're donated and not intended to be used for surgical applications then he would happily wear them as they're better than nothing (even thought not CE).

Nursing homes, hostels and other unrecognised establishments are also woefully I equipped to deal with this so they'd be just as grateful to you.

Fabulous work all round, just make sure you keep an eye out for Greta when this is all over as she will be on the war path with all this plastic usage ......... how dare you !!!!

[davyk31]

Excellent initiative. You will not be punished for trying to do good even if it all did go wrong. Get them made and distributed as quick as you can.

[GBR1]

Thanks all, i have been very open and honest with people about these and overnight i have been in touch with some Procurement people from the NHS which are basically saying send me what you have, they don't care at this point about CE markings etc.

Ultimately the reason we went with the shields (over masks or ventilators) is the shield is a shield, its clear PETG, it will stop something. Is the design perfect, probably not but it will help.

gangzoom pm me your address and i will send some up for testing/use!

[GBR1]

Originally Posted by 335dMSport+

We're supplying a conglomerate of 3D'ers with the clear visor part for this project; https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints...ace-shield-rc2 maybe you can get involved. We're currently die-cutting 80,000 full face visors for frontline NHS and the clear material has switched from PET/PETG to pretty much ANY clear plastic.

Concentric are also heavily involved and have the ability to produce on a scale that is mortals can only dream of. The total cost per visor from them is £1.50.

We've just sent five tonne of PVC to Babcock in Plymouth for the same project too.

My friend is in charge of our local A&E and he confirms they're short of everything and they've hardly had any COVID-19 cases compared to other hospitals but what he did say, was provided they're donated and not intended to be used for surgical applications then he would happily wear them as they're better than nothing (even thought not CE).

Nursing homes, hostels and other unrecognised establishments are also woefully I equipped to deal with this so they'd be just as grateful to you.

I know that project well and they are doing good work. The problem with their solution is it takes too long to print (5 hrs) vs 20 min for my design. Plus its an open top which seems to be a no no. Again much better than nothing but if we can make something "different" but is well received and as importantly quicker then that's a good thing!

Our cost, outside of labour and printer time is around 75pence per shield, as a company we are more than happy to suck this up and get as many as we can to our key workers..

Keep up the good work!

[Ajs_435d]

There's lots of people been doing it for all while but just join up with these guys linked below seem to be better setup. I've just bought a 3d printer so plan to help as I'm far up north/Scotland

Lots of people joined, reputable and they'll get certified I think.

https://www.3dcrowd.uk/

Keep up the good work 👍

[AndyMD]

All the best with this. Is this something you could push out to other manufacturers with access to the same kit?

[NISFAN]

Great idea!!!

If you can support high volumes on the screen part, it might be worth looking at injection moulding? Let me know if interested. We could knock these out at thousands per day.

[GBR1]

Originally Posted by NISFAN

Great idea!!!

If you can support high volumes on the screen part, it might be worth looking at injection moulding? Let me know if interested. We could knock these out at thousands per day.

This is certainly the smart route to go down! Just depends on tooling cost and lead time!?

I will PM you the cad file.

Thank you

GBR1

[454697819]

Originally Posted by GBR1

Thanks all, i have been very open and honest with people about these and overnight i have been in touch with some Procurement people from the NHS which are basically saying send me what you have, they don't care at this point about CE markings etc.

Ultimately the reason we went with the shields (over masks or ventilators) is the shield is a shield, its clear PETG, it will stop something. Is the design perfect, probably not but it will help.

gangzoom pm me your address and i will send some up for testing/use!

This...

I have just been stood down on a project to build a field hospital that didn't run.. BUT, we had several conversations that HTM's and HBN's are currently lowish on the list of compliance, as with all these things, if its the best they have its better than nothing.

Nice one BTW - I hope they serve the teams well.

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by 454697819

This...

I have just been stood down on a project to build a field hospital that didn't run.. BUT, we had several conversations that HTM's and HBN's are currently lowish on the list of compliance, as with all these things, if its the best they have its better than nothing.

Nice one BTW - I hope they serve the teams well.

Is the fact that the field hospital project got canned a good sign that they dont think they will need the extra capacity originally anticipated? Or am I being a foolish optimist...

[gangzoom]

Originally Posted by GBR1

Thanks all, i have been very open and honest with people about these and overnight i have been in touch with some Procurement people from the NHS which are basically saying send me what you have, they don't care at this point about CE markings etc.

Ultimately the reason we went with the shields (over masks or ventilators) is the shield is a shield, its clear PETG, it will stop something. Is the design perfect, probably not but it will help.

gangzoom pm me your address and i will send some up for testing/use!

Have sent you PM

[335dMSport+]

Originally Posted by NISFAN

Great idea!!!

If you can support high volumes on the screen part, it might be worth looking at injection moulding? Let me know if interested. We could knock these out at thousands per day.

Swanline print in Stone are die cutting the clear visors for us (working with 3dCrowd)

The Photocentric ones are CE marked but honestly, I'm not a massive fan of the design for holding the visor on and I've fed this back to them.

[Bryans69]

Originally Posted by Ajs_435d

There's lots of people been doing it for all while but just join up with these guys linked below seem to be better setup. I've just bought a 3d printer so plan to help as I'm far up north/Scotland

Lots of people joined, reputable and they'll get certified I think.

https://www.3dcrowd.uk/

Keep up the good work 👍

Which printer did you go for. Been looking at one, sepcially now at home for the immediate future, and seems like a huge choice and massive price range. I'm sure like everythin the more you spend etc, but no point in going too cheap and have something not worth using

[GBR1]

Originally Posted by 335dMSport+

Swanline print in Stone are die cutting the clear visors for us (working with 3dCrowd)

The Photocentric ones are CE marked but honestly, I'm not a massive fan of the design for holding the visor on and I've fed this back to them.

Thats my issue with many of the designs, don't get me wrong everyone has the right intentions but the design has to be close to right!

mine is very much single use at this point and i am using a 3M double sided tape to hole the visor in place, less cutting and much less chance of it falling off!

I am looking into the CE mark, looks like they are fast tracking this!

GBR1