Since the Covid-19 pandemic started in early 2020, our lives have changed significantly. We often hear sad news about outbreaks in nursing homes, the fight in hospitals, and how brave our frontline healthcare providers are, trying to win everyday battles against our mighty microscopic enemy!
The enemy is strong, and our fighters are always in need of PPE – Personal Protective Equipment. Nat decided to support them by 3D printing face shields and distributing them free of charge.
After purchasing the material from 3D Printing Canada – face shields, media for the forehead band (PLA) and strap (TPU), and downloading the design file, we were ready to print! By the way, our face shields have the lovely pink and green colours because these were the only colours available at the store, due to the increasing popularity of 3D printing during the pandemic!
Each of Nat’s Robotics Academy face shields is composed of one shield, one forehead band, and two straps. The forehead band is the bulkiest part and it takes approximately 6-7 hours to print one piece. The straps are smaller, taking only 40 minutes to print. It sounds like a lot, doesn’t it? 3D printing certainly requires a lot of patience, but it’s worth it!
After running some tests and over 57 hours of printing, our first face shields were finally ready! They were donated to the Village of Sandalwood Park nursing home, in Brampton.
We are still 3D printing face shields and distributing them to healthcare providers in the neighbourhood, as a THANK YOU to them for taking such good care of our community!
3D Printing the Forehead Band 
3D Printing the Strap 
Heroes at the Village of Sandalwood Park