e-NABLE Wants Your Help in 3D Printing 1,000 Prosthetic Hands By Mid-September

e-NABLE has been happily providing 3D printable hand prosthetics to children, veterans and the disabled for almost three years now. In that time thousands of volunteers have helped produce over 1500 prosthetic hands that were given away at no cost. The global network of tinkerers, engineers, 3D print enthusiasts, occupational therapists, university professors, 3D designers, families, artists, students, teachers and people of all backgrounds who just want to help, has grown to over 5,000 strong. But now they need even more help to deliver more hands to those in need than ever before.

The assembled Raptor hand.

e-NABLE has backlogged requests for thousands of 3D printed hands from parents, families and those in need all over the world that they have yet been able to fill. So they need the 3D printing community to come together and crowdsource the largest donation of 3D printed hands that they have ever tried to organise. They need everyone to pitch in and help meet their goal of 1000 Raptor hands by mid-September. Thankfully, they have already enlisted plenty of help from several colleges, including Florida State, Purdue and Duke. They have also received plenty of support within the 3D printing business community from Mind-to-Matter, Fargo 3D Printing and 3DPrinterOS.

“We challenge the 3d printing industry as a whole to take the time to print at least one hand to help eNABLE meet their goals. Working with e-NABLE and utilizing our network of printers is a prime example of how 3d printing can affect real change and this is just the beginning,” said CEO of 3DPrinterOS John Dogru.

An exploded view of the Raptor hand.

The Raptor Reloaded 3D printable hand files have been added as a stock project directly in 3DPrinterOS so current users will easily have access to the files. The project will also include printing directions as well as mailing instructions for the completed prosthetic hand kits. They are also sweetening the deal to encourage their users to participate. The first thirty 3DPrinterOS users who 3D print and ship completed kits to e-NABLE will receive a free t-shirt, and the 3DPrinterOS user that prints and ships the most hands before September 15th, 2015 will receive a free Raspberry Pi 2.

Not to be left out, Fargo 3D Printing is also going to be sweetening the pot. The 3D printing services and materials provider will be offering a 25% discount off of all orders on their filaments and 3D printing accessories from 3domusa. The discount will be available until September 15 so you can stock up on all the materials that you need to print Raptor hands, just enter the promo code ENABLE25.

“We’re looking forward to being involved with the e-NABLE project and helping to get more hands printed. We’re excited to be able to offer a discount on our materials to help that happen,” John Schneider from Fargo 3D Printing added.

The e-NABLE community was inspired by a prop maker from the USA and a carpenter from South Africa who despite being complete strangers came together to create the first prosthetic hand device for a small child from South Africa. They then put those plans online for anyone to use, alter or customize for free, so anyone who needed a low cost 3D printed hand prosthetic would have access to their designs. That act of simple human kindness has since exploded into the massive e-NABLE movement that neither of the original hands designers could have ever imagined.

If you’re unfamiliar with the story of Liam and the first 3D printed hand prosthetic take a look:

“With the help of the larger 3d printing community, we hope to provide several thousand hands over the next two years and reach those in the remote areas that need them most. No contribution is too large or too small, together we can change the world,” said Director of Operations at eNABLE Melina Brown.

Internet giant Google has recently awarded e-NABLE a $600,000 grant so they can further develop their hand designs and technology and make it even easier to send them all over the world. By sending hand kits to communities for group assembly events, e-NABLE helps volunteers engage with the disabled members of their community and impact their lives in very real and tangible ways. So put a hold on 3D printing those Yoda Heads and lend your 3D printer to a great cause. If you help print a hand, e-NABLE encourages you to post it on social media using the hashtag: #enablethefuture and spread the word. The most current files for the Raptor 3D printable hand can be downloaded for free on Thingiverse here.

All completed hand kits can be mailed to eNABLE at this address:

Attn: Melina Brown
216 S 8th St.
Opelika, AL 36801.

And when you send off your hand kits make sure that you let us know over on our eNABLE Needs a Hand forum at 3DPB.com.