Goldhawk, 3D printing and Covid-19
Life is certainly different during these chaotic times….
Here at Goldhawk, we’re still building bikes in our Camden workshop, but in answer to the call to ‘Stay Home, Save lives’, we’re limiting the time we go in and instead, are 3D printing face shields for donation to NHS staff and others working on the Covid-19 front line.
Our 3D printer earned its’ keep during the design phase at Goldhawk, but when we saw a post from Prusa, the printer manufacturer, about their efforts to make face shields, we thought this was something we could get involved in.
The 3D printing community was already alive with ideas for equipment, but the face shield is a vital piece of PPE that we could get started on right away.
The design we’re using is approved in the Czech Republic, where Prusa are located and although not yet formally approved by the NHS, there are orders for over 185,000 shields in the UK.
One of the problems we faced was sourcing the clear plastic part, but after reaching out on social media, we joined the ‘3D Crowd UK’ community who are coordinating everything and supplying the clear plastic. It’s an amazing effort.
Each set of parts we print takes a couple of hours to produce, so it’s slow going, but with our printer running all day long and the 1000’s of community members coming together, it all adds up.
I’m really proud that Goldhawk is involved. Whilst we’ve seen an increase in sales for our bikes during this period, they’re a premium product, so not your everyday High Street purchase. 3D printing these shields is our way of making a contribution in the fight against Covid-19.
To find out more, take a read of these:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-52111522
https://www.prusa3d.com/covid19/
Stay safe everyone…
Jeff. Goldhawk Bikes
