Friday, March 29, 2024

Apple released detailed instructions on how to fabricate your own face shield

Earlier this month, Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that the company is designing Face Shields and collaborating with suppliers to produce Face Shield to be donated to healthcare professionals around the world. Besides its own face shield production efforts, Apple is also encouraging others to make their own versions of the face shield.

The company has published instructions and related design files on its support pages, where users can learn how to make their own face shields and what kind of materials they will need.

Apple-designed Face Shield has made of three parts: transparent shield, forehead band, and silicone strap. The shield and forehead band are made out of clear PET or PETG. The silicone strap measuring 1.4 to 1.6mm in thickness is recommended, with further advice to not use natural rubber latex to prevent allergic reactions, while non-silicone materials may degrade quickly.

You can find exact measurements on Apple’s support website along with some guidelines as well as the design files you will need to piece it all together. These instructions are mainly intended for manufacturers who also want to produce them on a large scale.

Apple warns that “these manufacturing instructions should only be used by an expert. Manufacturing the face shields requires professional-level expertise in manufacturing and design, and should only be done by professional engineers or machinists in a factory environment.

With its new support pages, Apple’s ultimate goal is to make it as easy as possible for other people and companies to make face shields and masks for frontline healthcare workers. They also offer support to those who need assistance with the fabrication of face shields in the form of a dedicated email address given on their website.