Head Cradle Surgical Mask Holder MK6

Hi,

I have spent the last 3 days designing and downloading other mask support devices for my friend and family as may of them work in the medical field, or work with the public during this unprecedented time in modern history.

Being as I was in the US Army and no stranger to protective mask, I found most designs, including my variation to be insufficient in regards to comfort.

I am a c-pap user when I sleep and one night I decided to make a variation of a proven design for everyone to print and use. I designed and printed 10 designs total, but 6 variations of this design trying every variation of material and settings to make it work as I desired it to.

While this looks a bit like a turtle, it was designed to ensure comfort. I have to print it on my Flashforge Creator 3 as the design requires quite a bit of real estate. As I mentioned I tried many designs and filament variation and my bet result for form my friends at Dupont. They manufacture the 3D Filaments Zytel and Hytrel. In my years of 3D Printing I have never seen a material like this. I used Dupont Hytrel for this particular design and it is perfect! I would also imagine if you have a spool of NinjaFlex, the name brand TPU, then it might also do the job, but other TPU brands did not do the job for me.

I am a converted customer in that if Dupont makes it, I will try it. Dupont Zytel and Hytrel are my preferred branded filaments of this type.

If you need them, Matterhackers chan provide them to you:
https://www.matterhackers.com/s/store?q=hytrel

I have included the Fusion 360 design, along with the step and stl models.

My prefered printing method is to use the 9 individual stl files:

Head_Craddle_Mk6.stl

Hook_BootmRight.stl

Hook_BottomLeft.stl

Hook_TopLeft.stl

Hook_TopRight.stl

Strap_BottmRight.stl

Strap_BottomLeft.stl

Strap_TopLeft

Strap_TopRight

I use Simplify3D as my slicer, and you need to ensure before you import the models to uncheck Tools>Options>Models>”Automatically center and arrange imported models”, remove the check mark on this option. Having this disabled will allow the model files to hold their encoded positions without any issues.

Once imported select on of the modeles, and the Ctrl+A to select all of them, and Ctrl+G to group them. Once you have grouped them the select Edit>Center and Orange Models to center on build platform. Once it is centered, Ctrl+Shift+G to ungroup. Uncheck all models except the Head_Craddle_Mk6.stl and create a process to print with a .3 mm layer height per your printers requirements. After you are done, then uncheck Head_Craddle_Mk6.stl, and check all of the other models and create a process with a .18 -.2 mm height per your printer specifications, and then check all models.

Select “Prepare to Print and select all processes. On my printer it takes about 1.5 hours to print one. If you have a Flashforge Creator 3, you can use my included Head_Craddle_SurgicalMaskHolder_MK6.g, I also included my factory file.

While I am pleased with this design as I would be comfortable wearing it all day, if you are skilled at design, I implore you to make it better if you have a better idea than I.

Printing this for other is in effect printing it for yourself and your loved ones if you have the capability.

I hope you find this useful and please support your local first responders!

Most important, please do not sell this! It is free! If you can not afford the material, but can print them for others, you are welcome to collect donation to buy the materials to print them.

100% not for profit!