MERCURY RACING EMPLOYEES USE 3D PRINTING TO HELP IN THE FIGHT AGAINST COVID-19

Mercury Racing 3D Printing

Apr 21, 2020

Three home-bound Mercury Racing employees are using personal 3D printers to support community efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. When Steve Wynveen, a development engineering manager at Mercury Racing, learned that Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee had posted a pattern and instructions for home sewers to create cloth face masks, he discovered a way to pitch in.

“One of the more time-consuming parts to sew in this plan is folding bias tape in half and stitching it together to form the strings that loop over your ear or behind your head,” said Wynveen. “Bias tape has a bit of springiness to it because of the 45-degree weave angle. The tool we are 3D printing is a funnel that folds the tape back onto itself, so that when it exits the tool, it can be fed right into a sewing machine, or be ironed flat.”

Bias tape tools are available commercially, but a sewer who doesn’t have one on hand would have to leave home to purchase one – not advisable right now – or order one online and wait for delivery. Wynveen found a bias tape tool on thingiverse.com to design a bias tape tool that could be 3D printed and enlisted fellow development engineering manager Chris Jenks and Mercury Racing technician David Dins to help crank out the plastic tools. All three Racing employees are 3D printer hobbyists, according to Jenks, and one of them brought home a 3D printer from Mercury Racing to keep engineering projects moving forward while the company is on “work from home” status.

“The 3D printer community is finding many ways to help during the pandemic,” said Jenks. “PrusaPrinters created files with its local health ministry in the Czech Republic for face shields and shared them with its printer community. Those in the 3D printer hobby usually make small models or arts-and-crafts projects. I’ve been making motorcycle parts. The bias tape tool was something we could make quickly and share locally.”

“The tool is designed to be handheld and forms the tape as it is fed into a sewing machine, or as it is ironed flat. Wynveen communicated with two Facebook groups coordinating sewing of masks in Wisconsin – Masked Sewists for SE Wisconsin (2,762 members) and Wisconsin Face Mask Warriors (3,963 members) – and on March 30 offered his bias tape tool. He then enlisted Jenks and Dins to help print the tools, or “formers.”

“We are printing 30-piece nests of four-centimeter and five-centimeter formers,” said Wynveen. “I picked that nest size as it’s about a 12-hour print, which best lines up with our human sleep schedules, and gets us 60 pieces per machine, per day.”

Jenks said the “printer brigade” has created about 600 of the bias tape tools and has delivered about 500 of them to sewers. Jenks said ideally the tool would be designed and prototyped on a 3D printer, and then used to create a die for mass-production of an injection-molded part, but that process could take 12 to 16 weeks. For a small and fast run, the 3D printer option is working.

“I know it sounds cliché, but it really does feel good to help in the fight against this pandemic,” said Wynveen. “Sewists from all over Wisconsin are grateful to get one of these tools. Plus, it didn’t hurt that we got to tweak on our printers, and apply some technical knowledge to maximize our production rate. Fun stuff for an engineer that likes to go fast.”

Read the full story at: https://www.mercuryracing.com/mercury-racing-employees-help-in-covid-19-fight/

Related Posts





Vote for Dorothy, BC’s Iconic Sailing Yacht, in the Classic Boat Awards 2024

CMRA

You are invited to support an historic, recently restored and refitted BC sailboat, Dorothy, by voting for her in a contest, the Classic Boat Awards 2024, run by the UK’s prestigious Classic Boat Magazine. The Maritime Museum of BC (MMBC), owner of this sleek, wooden vessel built in 1897, believes she’s the oldest sailboat in Canada. As she isn’t the only classic yacht in the running, you’re urged to go online and vote for her in the category of Restored Sailing Vessel under 40ft.

Read More




Need to Catch up on News This Week?

Every Tuesday we publish a fresh Digest with informative articles pertaining to the Canadian boating and marine industry. Stay up to date with the latest products, research and industry developments.

Missed an Issue of Boating Industry Canada News Week? If you’re looking for a specific issue, or simply want to catch up on previous issues, check out our Boating Industry Canada News Week Archives.

Not signed up for News Week? Subscribe here.



Even more BALIs at BALI

CATANA GROUP launches its 14th BALI CATAMARANS model, the BALI 5.8, for the brand’s 10th anniversary! Always bigger, always more powerful, always more… BALI!

This time, the new BALI 5.8 is completing the range from the top down.

Read More


Water heater offers dynamic heat source choices

Hubbell-Marine Stainless steel outlet covers
Hubbell-Marine Stainless steel outlet covers

After a long day on the water, having ample supplies of hot water for multiple showers and meal preparation is a welcome luxury. The 1700 Series Marine Water Heater from Raritan Engineering was created specifically for marine use. With a proven long-life design, it’s available with a 115V AC or 240V AC heating element, and the option to include an innovative heat exchanger that uses the vessel’s hot engine coolant.

Read More