Surgical Mask Ear Saver

You may have exported the dxf in inches instead of mm.

Here is a dxf you can try that I exported from corel draw in mm

Ear Saver.dxf (166.6 KB)

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Keeping this for when I get my 3mm Acrylic in! Thanks!

Also per your suggestion I changed the save as size to mm and it exported to 180mm which looks accurate! Thanks for the help guys! (for the long version)

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@NedMan do you happen to have this file handy? The layout is perfect for those sheets!

Sure here it is as a dxf and svg

Ear saver stay strong group.dxf (9.7 MB)

Ear Saver Stay Strong group

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@NedMan

Thanks for your infinite patience, I am literally just getting started with my laser!

I have some adjustments I’m going to make though. I’m probably going to do blank ones so I can get these out to a local hospital that expressed interest they need a lot and the extra words increase cut time a fair bit.

If you got the blank ones laid out already in a sheet let me know. Trying to drag and move these into place on a laptop (that slows down with each I place) is a pain! :slight_smile:

Also I have an 80 watt, running at 80% seems to be a little two high, I haven’t noticed burning but the plastic is warping a bit during cutting, likely from the excessive heat.

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You’re very welcome David.

Here is the blank band group if you still need it.

Ear Saver Blank Group.dxf (5.1 MB)

Yeah 80% with a 80 watt is a tiny bit overkill for this thin material. With an 80W I would be surprised if you were needing more than 20%. It’s also going to depend on your cutting speed as power and cut speed play off each other. Higher speed would need more power to cut the same depth compared to a lower speed.

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Thanks again! I’ll play with the power. The speed is currently set to 100mm, I’ll okay with the settings in the morning to find an optimal speed and power ratio! I’ve learned so much, thanks again!

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I came across these newer and improved designs.

http://www.royleban.com/maskclips/

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Thank you so much for your help! I was able to source the same exact mats locally, they were even on clearance for $1.50!

I bought 75 packs, which is 300 sheets of material! They work perfect as they are flexible, light and easy to clean being food grade safe! With that many sheets I can make about 13,500 using the Glow Forge version which is a bit smaller. I can fit about 45 per sheet and the cut time is down to less than 5 minutes per sheet!

I’m working with the Mayor here to get these into the hands of local medical works and other essential staff that might need them!

Next we are going to shift production to the face shields!

Just wanted to say thank you for your help as I stumbled through this (I just recently bought the laser!)

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Where you able to dial in the cut settings?

Yes sir. I’ve made around 4,000 so far, also swapping out to make Face Shields as well

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What speed and power did you end up using?

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are you using lightburn? care to share the file?

@NedMan 120 mms and 30% power ensures a clean cut. Less power means it’ll still cut but require popping them off the Sprue by pulling on them.

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Still haven’t received the cutting mats from amazon, but I found these placemats at Walmart for $2 each.

They are made from 0.3mm polypropylene with a 1.5mm EVA foam backing. Wasn’t sure how well the foam backing would cut but turned out cutting just fine. Cut some larger ear savers. The mats are 12x18” so I can get 28 from a mat. On the K40 I cut them at 25mm/s and ~8mA power.

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OK, cool, so this is easy to do with a loop of velcro, or a bit of string. I’m not saying don’t make them out of the plastic, I’m saying don’t stress too much. All that’s happening here is a a bit of material takes the pressure off the back of the ears and spreads it across the hair and head. So if you have a laser cutter great, if you just want to use a couple hair ties and a bread closing plastic thing you can.

I don’t think anyone’s stressing about it. This thread is about how to laser-cut them (that’s why it’s posted in the K40 laser category). Then there’s Improved design for 3D printing ear savers if you want to 3D print ones that weight about 1g each (2.5¢ or so each, if you assume filament is about $25/kg). In NYC area, they are 3D printing buttons to sew on headbands, because apparently the stores ran out of buttons! Lots of ways to help here! :slight_smile:

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When I import SVG files into my CAD system they are coming in HUGE, and I need to scale them to the correct size. Can someone tell me how wide these are supposed to be?

The scale of the SVG files are in mm.

Typically when things are very much the wrong size they are off by a factor of 25.4 because 25.4 mm per inch and metric/imperial confusion. Each ear saver should be about an inch by seven inches.

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