PTEG Sucks! COVID-19 Post #9

Failed prints

 Things were going along fine until I ran out of PLA printing filament. I've given over 50 to the hospital and I've got 40 that are ready to take over tomorrow.

Then I got into the PETG filament. For this application this stuff is useless. The print temps are high, 240C, the bed temp needs to be 120C for these face shields. If the speed is more than 60 mm/s it doesn't seem like the filament melts fast enough in the hot end and it gets lumpy. And it's super stringy.

Managed to get some okay prints with the lower speeds.

The XYZ filament (translucent red) I got from B&H turned out to be total garbage. Once I got something out of it the print was brittle. The ear pieces broke on several prints.

The Overture filament (opaque white) came out a lot better. Way less stringy. It's also less brittle.

XYZ filament, super stringy

I'll keep working on it. I've got more PLA on the way. Should be here Tuesday. These face shields are needed now. The RTs & Nurses only have the ones I've sent over and some from another 3D printer who's donating them to nursing. Sounds like they are still short enough so everyone has one. They should have enough so they can throw them out if they get anything on them. That's going to be hard to do unless normal supply levels kick back in. So if I can print faster with PLA then that's the way to go.

Edit 4/13/20: Materials are almost all here. Amazon shipped the PLA early. It got here today. Jerry's Art-O-Rama shipped the last of the .007 Duralar & it arrived today. Over the weekend I got more .010 film from C.S. Hyde & Co. I have enough material for about 400 more units. Maybe more. There's another 300 units worth of film on the way in a couple weeks.

We'll see. The numbers are looking good in terms of the peak utilization. Still after six to eight weeks of supply issues they still don't have face shields or enough N95s to return to anything even close to normal. As a nurse on '60 Minutes' said, they are wearing medical waste every day. It's not as bad in CA as it is in NYC but it's not normal and it's not good.

I worry about my wife and her friends at work every day.

Overture filament, okay results

I've adjusted the proximity sensors, re-leveled the beds, purged the PETG, and am printing again. I think the proximity sensors were pretty significantly out of whack. That could have been part of the issue with the PETG. Still, the PLA printed fine even with the issues. So ... I'm saying PLA is the far more forgiving material.

As of today 97 have been delivered. I have another 100 to go before there will be enough for one round for respiratory & Nursing. Nursing is getting some from someone else too. So with both supplies maybe they'll have enough to be able to actually throw some out when they get more seriously contaminated.

NIH Stratasys Face Shield - COVID entry #8

Happy respiratory therapists with the face shields I'm making

EDIT: 4/7/2020 - Well ... for some reason, tonight, NIH has moved this model to the under review section. The notes are the same and there is no reason listed. I think it might be an error

If you are printing the re-mixed Stratasys face shield on the NIH site here are some tips on the shield & the holes:

NIH Shield project is here - https://3dprint.nih.gov/discover/3dpx-013421

If you don't have laser cutting equipment, or some other cool way to CNC cut the shield material use the file there. The NIH one does not have the logo. I think that's actually better from a cleaning & re-use perspective.

The file on the NIH page has a slight modification to the last hook over the Stratasys shield with the logo that's on the Stratsys Site. This is to make it easier for those of without the laser cutting capabilities, like me.

It's got a small protrusion on the right hook (as you are looking at the front of the visor. The other hooks appear to have a smaller slot for the shield material and the hook seems a tiny bit shorter. This allows a standard three hole desk top punch (U.S.) to be used to punch the holes and the holes are tight enough. Actually still requires a good tug on the last hole.

The shield material should be cut to 8" x 12". Punch the 12" side.

Start putting the shield on by hooking the shield on the left most hook (as you are facing the front of the visor), then the center, then pull it over the last one with the back side protrusion.

My first two dozen plus go to my wife's respiratory care department today. I'll post back with results. She took one visor over the other day and everyone liked the fit. I'm printing with PLA. I'm wondering if it will be more durable than the PETG.

I've got enough stuff on the way for 700 plus of these and maybe 50 of the Budmen shields. Maybe more if I ration the foam. Hopefully I'm taking one hospital off the want list for faceshields.


I started with the Cura built in low resolution settings
Machine - Creality CR10S Pro (about a year old)
I'm printing @ 230C (my machine might be out of calibration)
.3mm layer height
.4mm line width
First layer @ 240C
First layer speed 70 mm/s
First layer flow 150%
Print speed 90 mm/s
Two bottom layers
Four top layers
10% fill EDIT: Switched to 20% fill. Top of the visor is much tighter now. Added ~20 minutes.
Walls - 2 rows
Travel I think is set to 95 or 100, my machine was making funny noises at 145.

I did my own 2 up layout in Cura. Just open two, rotate & reposition the 2nd one so they are back to back. I've got a Creality CR10S Pro so I have plenty of room. Taking ~2:40 to print two.

Good luck everyone! Stay safe. Might be a really interesting week.