Feet to Create COVID-19 Divider Screens

thingiverse

The re-opening of schools in the wake of a global pandemic will force a new normal that’s anything but for students, teachers and parents. How can we help kids, in particular, prepare? Use our free design file and your 3D printer to make low-cost barrier screens. Download our free design file to create a basic 3D plastic stand for making classroom screens. After printing the stand, students simply slide any type of firm material into the slots, like plywood, cardboard from collapsed boxes or foam board, to create an upright barrier. Even the smallest of 3D printers can handle the job. (Note: Parts are under 6” long). 1. Download the file from the link above. The screen stand requires two identical “feet.” A large foot is made of three pieces (intended for large floor standing dividers) and a small foot is made of one piece (intended for desktop/tabletop dividers).The large foot has 4 different center piece options for the gap thickness. You can choose the thickness based on how thick the divider material is. The options are .125”, .25”, .375” and .50” gap. (.125” is good for single thickness cardboard). The feet extensions work with all center pieces and the same foot is used on both sides. The small foot is currently only available in .125”. 2. Input this file into your printer software and 3D print the feet. 3. Slide and snap the pieces together to create a large foot. 4. After making two of the feet, slide a sheet of any firm material into each foot’s slot to create a barrier. The type of 3D printer most often found in classrooms is called an FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) machine. For the uninitiated, 3D printing is about transforming a digital object on a computer screen into a physical, three-dimensional object. It starts with a digital model in a 3D CAD (Computer Aided Design) file. Using raw material (plastic, metal, rubber, etc.) provided by the user, the 3D printer builds the object by adding one thin layer at a time, until the object is completed. For more information, visit https://smith.ly/2WI8ekR.