Canfield Couple 3D prints relief for health care workers
Ray and Emily Detwiler are no stranger to 3D printing.
"About three and a half weeks ago I realized I have a 3D printer, I use it to make toys and things like that, let's see what I can use to possibly help with this situation," says Ray Detwiler.
From there, it was a little bit of trial and error tinkering with designs Ray find online but he finally came across on and from there he knew could start making a real impact.
"I went online and found a couple of prints that would allow me to print these shields and I started doing that and I post out like hey can anyone use these, and all of a sudden we started getting requests," adds Ray Detwiler.
At first, the requests were from a few neighbors but word spread, and requests starting pouring in from across the country.
"Some of them are going as far as California, Texas, New Jersey, Missouri. We focus a lot on local, trying to everyone locally taken care of," says Emily Detwiler.
The 3D printers can produce parts for the face shields anywhere from a half-hour to about an hour but parts are hard to come by, Ray says he's had some help from people across the Valley.
"We've had filament donated. My neighbor had bought one of these and lent it to me because he knew I was going to get it up and running very quickly," adds Ray Detwiler.
All of the 3D printed shield headbands and shields are sanitized, packaged, or even placed on their porch in no-contact bins for pick up. For the Detwiler's, the outreach of support from the Valley and beyond has been something they never anticipated.
" I know a lot of people have teared up or cried just because they weren't able to get anything at work," says Emily Detwiler.
"I thought it would be a great way to bring the community together and take this situation seriously because there is a shortage and we wouldn't have over 3000 requests for protective gear if there wasn't a major issue going on right now," says Ray Detwiler.
More information on how to make a request can be found here: https://ppe-requests.45press.com/ppe-status/
More information on how to donate can be found here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/5zq38-covid19
