Arts editor HELEN MUSA talks to a ceramicist who, with some nudging from a doctor friend, has put together a cost-effective medical shield for health workers battling COVID-19.

THE ANU School of Art and Design has good reason to be proud of its newest senior lecturer in ceramics, Rod Bamford, as he puts his peculiarly practical talents in 3D printing to prototype and manufacture a facial shield for medical practitioners battling the COVID-19 crisis.

He is a distinguished exponent of his art form, former chair of Craft NSW and head of the Ceramics and Future Making studios at UNSW and of the ceramics and glass master’s program at the Royal College of Art in London. 

The project to devise a shield came about after a phone call from a doctor friend, who told him she’d seen an internet image of a face shield, saying: “You’ve got a 3D printer, look into it.” 

He did, finding that much medical equipment had strict protocols around quality.

“I realised I couldn’t do masks, but face shields, yes,” he told me by phone from isolation.

“So I talked to people in the chat group thingiverse.com, which deals with playful but also serious stuff and is dedicated to the sharing of user-created digital design files.

“I worked on the face shield, printed one out on my home 3D printer, and sent it to my doctor friend to try and see.

“She wrote back with a list of things that needed to be improved and we’re on version three at the moment.” 

That included slits for ventilation to prevent the shields fogging up, adjusted visor fitting and comfort lining, as well as the need to flat-pack it and make it cleanable with disinfectant.
“I got a text this morning from a second doctor with a glowing report,” he said, “but it’s quite early, it’s only just out there.

“If it takes off I’d like to try and get in contact with other companies with 3D printers to help them print it.

It’s cheap, too, less than $1.50 a shield.

“I went to Officeworks and bought acetate binding covers for the clear visor and rubber bands to connect the backstop with the body… the third component is the 3D printing filament I use with the 3D printer, PLA (long term biodegradable plastic) and purchased from a different supplier,” he said. 

Right now two doctors are using the shields and Bamford has emailed others, saying: “If you’ve got a colleague, let them know this link to the design.”

“It would be impossible to copyright the shield because it’s out there in the public domain, but using thingiverse.com I was able to evolve the idea for share and use,” he said. 

But ceramics and 3D printing?

“Ceramics is an area where you don’t just work with ideas and aesthetics but with practical outcomes, they sit together well,” said Bamford, who started work at the ANU in February.

“In ceramics you need a good technical foundation, and that’s common to most ceramicists.” 

He first became interested in the computer as a tool for drawing designs, not just drawing things in 2D and 3D but then putting them through 3D machinery and finding, to his surprise, that printing in plastic was useful in making moulds.”

One of the things he focused on while working at the UNSW and production business, Cone9 Studios, was creating a 3D printer that will print using clay, which is still an ongoing project.

“I’ve been amazed as to how quickly the virus has moved to change our lives, so if I can make a contribution, that would be great,” he said.

Inquiries to roderick.bamford@anu.edu.au