“It started from a healthcare provider in town that knew I had a printer and reached out to me. He said he’d started printing some mask files, ‘but if you print a few for me, I’ll send you the files. It’d be really great if you’d help me out, because I’m going to start supplying some of my coworkers.’

“Immediately, I reached out to two people that I knew that had printers and relayed the same message. Without hesitation, everybody hopped on board and started printing. Now, once a week I drive to specific locations in town to pick them up and bundle the masks. Then, my wife and I disinfect them and put them into Ziploc bags and deliver them to the healthcare providers.

“We’ve made around 200, so far. It takes about six hours to print two masks, and so we are hunting for other makers in the area who can and will help. Aside from dropping and breaking the plastic, the masks are permanent. They’re easily disinfected and used over and over. That’s the cool thing. So, you know with modification of a surgical mask, it’s a filter insert that goes into the front of it. It just clips in. The big benefit of these masks is they completely seal around the face, so there’s no air gap. There’s no chance of anything getting in, and when it’s time to change out just pop the filter out and change it. 

“We all got into it from a hobby standpoint, almost a nerd reason? Like, what cool dice towers can we print and what things can we print to clip on our computers and toys can we make for our kids, right? And so this is really the first time that we get an opportunity to print and do something that’s helpful for the entire community. I can tell you that they’ve all been thrilled and super excited for what they’re doing, and I know there’s a huge level of fulfillment that they feel, knowing what they’re doing for their community.”