How 3D printing gave one man an idea, and another a hand
You never know who you are going to meet at a networking session or what you might get out of it.
Take Shashi Jain and Jordan Nickerson, for instance.
While at a recent Portland Development Commission diversity event, Jain, a 3D printing enthusiast, was speaking with Portland Incubator Experiment General Manager Rick Turoczy and Switchboard CEO Mara Zepeda and showing them photos on his phone of a 3D printed prosthetic hand.
Eavesdropping on the nearby conversation, Nickerson, who doesn't have a left hand, asked if he could have the hand pictured on Shashi’s phone.
“He said, ‘yes,’” said Nickerson laughing about the random encounter.
Now the two are working together to create a 3D printed prosthetic hand that will suit Nickerson’s needs.
The 23-year-old Portland State University student has never really used a prosthetic because the traditional devices didn’t feel right.
The first try at creating a 3D printed hand prosthetic. The device was made by Portland Entrepreneur Shashi Jain for Portland State University student Jordan Nickerson
“It just wasn’t natural, from what I think would be natural, but I’ve never had a hand,” he said. “I tried a hook and it didn’t work.”
Both Nickerson and Jain hope the DIY prosthetic will be a better fit. So far, the first attempt didn’t work out, so they are tweaking the design.
Jain is part of a global volunteer group, called E-Nabling The Future, that is making 3D printing resources and related design work available to people who need prosthetics. Next week, one of the group’s founders Ivan Owen, a Bellingham, Wash., propmaker, will be in Portland to attend the Portland 3D Printing Lab meetup.
At the event Nickerson and Jain hope to have the last fitting of a 3D printed hand for Nickerson.
Hands created by members of E-Nable are significantly lower cost than traditional devices, which can run more than $20,000. Jain estimates his could cost between $50 and $200. He is using an open source design from the E-Nable community, some of the know-how from the community’s designers and his own Makerbot 3D Printer.
“I got into this because I am selling 3D printers right now and exploring all the things that can be done with them,” Jain said. “There is pretty cool stuff happening in town with this, but in my mind, this is the coolest one.”
The first hand Jain printed for Nickerson, based on the Cyborg Beast Hand design, took 11 hours to print and was made with polylactic acid, or corn plastic.
All of the materials needed for the hand were found on Amazon.com, Jain said.
Nickerson’s is the first prosthetic Jain has produced. He's already talking to someone in Eugene who is looking for a specific type of hand for a child. For that project, Jain is looking for a designer who can help work out some of the specification the child will need.
For his part, Nickerson is excited to be working with Jain. He hadn’t heard of the e-nable group prior to his run-in with Jain but he is hoping this random meeting will mean a hand can be developed to fit his needs.
“It would be helpful to have fingers and look more like a real hand and more natural to use,” he said.