N95 Mask Alternative? by greatwolf

Last crawled date: 4 years, 1 month ago

A remix to resize the 6mm adjuster strap. It's become almost impossible to find 1/4" (6mm) elastic material for masks as people are hoarding what they believe are mask making supplies. But there are some rubber bands that will fit instead. Changed the the length of the adjuster to accommodate the thickness of the rubber band.
Dropped the clips because I don't believe this is a good method to secure the material to the frame, nor comfortable for wearing longer term. Not sure what the paper Koshi1 is referring to, but believe that sewing (even a simple baste stitch that I can almost do, see the photos) is far more secure and comfortable.
I added an attempt at a pattern. I am not a seamstress, nor do I play one on TV (not even on CNN). If someone has a better pattern, or can correct this one, post it! Be aware, though, that this has to be adjusted some based on thickness of material.
The original design by Koshi1 is ingenious; it is simple, flexible, and easily snaps together. By sewing it together (or, I suppose, using a glue stick if there is a paper-like filter material that would work), the frame can be unsnapped, disassembled, and everything cleaned. The material can be washed, or disposed of and replaced. The frame pieces can be wiped down with isoprpyl alcohol (anything over 60% will kill covid-19 according to W.H.O.).
The frame needs to be printed in petg (as Koshi1 said) or pla+/plapro, which is more flexible than normal pla. These pieces print very thin and are intended to be very flexible.