Speed up your fabrication rates with this simple transparency press & drilling rig. Like many of you, we’re 3D printing PPE face shields for our local healthcare workers and faced a surprising bottleneck — laser cutter cycle time. Our fastest cycle time with two 60 Watt laser cutters was about one minute & 45 seconds for 5 transparencies.

The rig below lets us prep thousands of transparencies in just a couple of hours. We can now drill stacks of 100 in about less than a minute. Some tips: Drill then back the bit all the way out to clear chips and keep it from getting too hot to avoid melting plastic.

This drilling jig is compatible with the 3DVeristan 3D Printed Face Shield: https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/27274-3dveristan-face-shield-midsouth-makers-focus-versi/files

Bill of Materials

• 6 7/16″ Dowel Pins, 1 1/4″ to 1 1/2″ Long.
• 3 1/4-20 x 1.25″ Screws
• 3 1/4-20 Threaded T-nuts
• 3 Fender Washers
• 1 9/32 Drill Bit
• 2 large wooden platforms, 1 for the base, another for compression

Licensed CC-0 by Brant Sollis for Midsouth Makers and MemphisFightingCOVID.com