I'm honestly not sure why people don't just use plastic food wrap as a cheap improvised alternative for face shields. It's lightweight, readily available, disposable, fits over any attire and does not restrict visibility.
So no, they do mass-produce with them: https://youtu.be/BjoQw5fGk6Q
But for an equal amount of effort, raws and manpower you could get much more out of traditional manufacturing, much quicker.
The product is a very simple stamp, with very simple dies with little wasted material. Perfect for traditional production methods.
It's great people with machines are contributing to the effort, and empowering/informing individuals to be able to do so as well. But it's just done simpler traditionally.
We can definitely talk about what would have been better and more efficient, but in the meantime people need this stuff today.
It makes tons of sense for people with 3d printers to print as many as they can now because they can get them in the hands of people now. But once dedicated manufacturing comes online, that capability is going to be quickly become irrelevant.
The comment I replied to seemed to suggest individuals were printing 10s of thousands of these per day which is clearly not true. Thousands of individuals are printing a few each day which is vastly different.
You're right, but after this emergency all those production lines will be retooled to things that are more profitable.
The upside is that this pandemic has basically created a grass roots production network to fill gaps that will always exist in traditional manufacturing.
If the next world-wide issue can be at least partially mitigated by small plastic parts, that gap will again be filled by 3d printers, and we're all better off for it.
I didn't intend to impinge on the people helping hospitals or people with faceshields now via 3D manufacturing hence the 'It's good...' part. Rather simply comment on scaling up manufacturing methods.
The set of people who have 3D Printers at home, and the set of people with access to large-scale injection-moulding facilities (along with tool production) likely have a very small overlap.
I imagine those that do have access to those facilities were already trying to make those tools (assuming they wern't already occupied with other more urgent tasks). It just takes longer for them to scale up, and there's fewer of them in a smaller number of locations.
This can be a supplement until the original supply chains are up to speed and the doctor's can get the real equipment through official channels.
2. It's really hard to breathe through food wrap and it doesn't cling to hair well.
You wrap it around the top of your head (forehead level), so it sticks to itself. You keeps the bottom part loose, so it doesn't restrict breathing. It works.
Obviously you weren't advocating for a face mask that only covered the eyes.
Sorry, does your version of HN not display the comments you've previously written? Or does your dictionary have different definitions for the words "it" and "works"?
I don't like arguing with strangers on the internet, so I think we should probably just end this conversation, but in the future I hope you'll be more considerate before advocating for harmful techniques. Hope you're staying safe and doing alright in these strange times.
The speed of product delivery is a combination of how quickly you can make it, but also how quickly you can deliver it.
3D printing loses on production speed, but wins on delivery because it can be made a few minutes' drive away from the hospital.
Ping matters as much as bandwidth.
While we're waiting for mass production to step up, these local productions make a difference now.
In the meantime injection mold factories started creating the mold, fine tuning it and are now producing in large quantities.
But you see, for 2 weeks (or more) the big factories had 0 face shields coming out, which matters a lot.
People on the field don't need great and efficient solutions 2 weeks down the line, they need good enough solutions NOW.
I don't understand how the comment can have upvotes. "feels good"? Really? People with 3D printers are making a difference and actually helping those in the field. From health staff, to law enforcement to other areas. Shame on you.
And no I don't have a 3D printer. Unfortunately.
Both technologies have their uses, and this is a demonstration of the usefulness of 3D printing.
The TLDR is: 3D printing can start instantly. Someone with CAD skills can have a design made, 3D printed and out for evaluation in hours. In takes days (or weeks) to get a good injection mold tooled and up and running. Then once the injection molding is going, 3d printing can switch to working on something else.
This is all about fast. fast. fast.