Local Tech Heroes has been contributing 3D printing time and volunteer hours in a joint effort between local company and LTH sponsor IC3D and United Way of Central Ohio to battle COVID-19 in Central Ohio!

You can read more about IC3D's effort by visiting their page, here.

Thanks to our volunteers, Local Tech Heroes has assembled 3000 face shields!

Read more below about our weekly contributions and how our community stepped-up to bridge the PPE (personal protective equipment) gap in Central Ohio!

Please note: as of July, 2020, our mission has succeeded - no more help required at this time!

So, you have two hands and you're looking for something to do while you binge a Netflix series? Why not assemble face shields approved by the National Institutes of Health that have a place in Columbus' local Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) distribution chain? If this sounds good to you, then you're in luck!

The way Local Tech Heroes will be coordinating our Assembly effort is by picking up boxes of yet-to-be-assembled face shield components (50 sets per box) from IC3D on Fridays and distributing boxes to volunteers. Then, LTH will collect boxes from volunteers on Tuesdays and return to IC3D on Wednesdays. Masks take around a minute and a half to assemble after you get the hang of it.

It takes just 4 easy steps!

1. Determine how many boxes of 50 masks you can handle each week.

2. Fill out our LTH COVID-19 Volunteer form, here.

3. Coordinate with our team to arrange pick-up and drop-off.

4. Assemble, assemble, assemble! See IC3D's COVID-19 page for the latest assembly instruction video, also below.

So, you have a 3D printer and you're looking for something to print? Why not print face shield components that are pre-approved by the National Institutes of Health and have a place in Columbus' local Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) distribution chain? If this sounds good to you, then you're in luck!

It takes just 4 easy steps!

1. Visit IC3D's COVID-19 page and download the latest file.

2. Be sure to "sign up to 3D print" on the IC3D page while you're there.

3. Print your PPE components

4. Drop them off at IC3D in batches!

If you're a person with a small 3D printer like our Lulzbot Mini, the IC3D components may not fit on your printer. Fear not! One of the LTH founders designed a special version of the Budmen mask just for you - find it here on Thingiverse! If you choose to print this version, IC3D won't take it, but we will!