Girl on a mission: Scout makes masks for service project

A dozen 3D printers are spread throughout Eric Thorsen Gallery on Friday afternoon, methodically creating essential protective equipment for medical workers. Some are churning out masks fitted with N95 filter material, others are printing face shields and still others are creating bands that help secure a better fit for cloth masks. The Thorsens are printing an average of 30 masks per day, along with other protective materials, to help equip local healthcare professionals and prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

It all started one afternoon when Gabrielle Thorsen was doing her homework. Her mom had the news on and Gabrielle paid attention.

“They said they had a shortage of masks and it gave me the idea of turning this into my Eagle project,” Gabrielle Thorsen said.

Gabrielle is a member of Troop 1916 in Scouts BSA, formerly known as the Boy Scouts, and has to complete a service project to achieve the esteemed rank of Eagle Scout.

At the onset of the coronavirus outbreak, people across the country bought up vital supplies of N95 masks, leaving many healthcare workers without the necessary equipment to protect them from the virus. Citizens throughout the U.S., and right here in Montana, have stepped up to fill that need, sewing cloth masks or using 3D printers to make plastic masks fitted with N95 filtration material, known as “Montana Masks.” A trio in Billings designed the latter and released the design files publicly so others could help fill the supply gap.

Gabrielle and her family were among those with access to 3D printers. Her father, Eric Thorsen, happens to be a talented artist known for his wildlife and figurative sculptures, some of which he creates with the help of 3D printers. He even designed his own version of the “Montana Mask” which has a larger filter area and the option to include two layers of filtration material.

The Thorsens used the printers they had on hand and Gabrielle also acquired printers from Swan River School for a total of 12. As part of her service project, Gabrielle enlisted the help of two of her classmates, who are running printers at their respective homes to make masks.

The 3D printers work by adding layer by layer of melted filament to create a product — in this case, masks, straps and visors. The masks take about five hours to make while the visors take about an hour for the simple model and three to four hours for the more elaborate version.

So far, Gabrielle said she’s distributed visors to the Bigfork Post Office for their employees to test, 70 cloth masks and 15 3D printed masks to Rising Mountains Assisted Living and have an order for 50 3D printed masks from Lake View Care Center. Additionally, she reached out to more than 20 individuals to gather sewn masks, and has collected more than 100 to date.

“It’s really exciting because she’s done the leadership part of this — she’s the one contacting everyone,” Eric Thorsen said. “And she’s working out the logistics of it, too. It’s great. It’s really neat to see.”

All of the protective equipment is donated at no cost to the workers or medical professionals that need them, although Gabrielle is requesting donations of the filament materials used to make the 3D printed masks. She also established a drop box at her father’s studio where folks can drop off sewn or 3Dprinted masks, which she’ll then distribute.

And Gabrielle isn’t done yet. She hopes to produce at least 300 3D printed masks and continue supplying front line workers during the pandemic. ¦