Masks Part two

NOT SCIENTIST.  I HAZ PRINTER*

(This mask may or may not work but it is the placebo that is making me feel better when going to the grocery store)

Alright!  As promised I am posting part two of my mask research/me just trying to make something that fits my odd shaped head.

After sifting through a ton of models online and 3D printing a few prototypes. I think I may have found one that might work (almost, see image above).  

So here are my design problems. I don't have elastic. I wear glasses (think Mr. Magoo). I have a giant head/odd shaped head. Almost all of my sewn masks keep falling off (because I don't have elastic) or fogging up my glasses (because they didn't fit) or, as mentioned in a prior post, was suffocating (when tied too tight or made from dense fabric).

I saw online somewhere that someone, who had also run out of elastic just used two hair ties at two locations on the sides of the mask and then had sewn a strap to bridge the gap. Kudos to that someone somewhere.  You are a genius!

With the mask fitting well my glasses were not fogging up.

So the final problem to solve was the breathing/filtering. I don't have a wide selection of fabric, period. I have a ton of canvas, interfacing and leather.  We don't have a spare set of sheets and my wife recently threw away all of my old T-shirts. While I could sacrifice a shirt or two to make a mask, with my poor sewing skills I might make eight prototypes and just have enough fabric left to make one mask (hence the paper models etc).  

I have been a big fan of thingiverse for a long time.  If you have a 3D printer, which I do, you can find all kinds of pre-modeled files to download and print (no 3D modeling experience required).  If you search for COVID-19 they have a ton of mask files. 

I found a number of masks that seemed suitable 

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4239663

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4240530

I even saw a few masks that would retro fit a shop respirator so you can make your own filters. 

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4199876

Ultimately, I ended up using a mask that use disposable cotton pad filters.  Liz had bought a giant bag from the big box store before all this craziness went down.  Since she is not really going out she is not really putting on makeup and she basically told me I could use all I want.  So the idea would be that every time I went out I could use a cotton pad and then throw it out and wash the mask or put it under the UV lamp. 

I, of course, had to remodel it to fit my face.  After printing a few I noticed a few design flaws that needed to be fixed.  Mostly the fit.  So after the re-model and a few tweaks it was off to the races!

So after a few attempts I finally landed on something that worked. I have re-modeled it a couple of times and added a few outside "lugs" for the hair ties (see image below). I want to make the file as streamlined as possible so it can print quickly if I find myself in a place where I am sharing the file.  So to put it simply this will print in less than two hours with no support on my printer.  Which is not too bad considering how tall the part it in the Zaxis is.