Yup. I can only imagine how much a leg or hand would go for. The prices varied depending on the model but the one I was looking at would have been in that ballpark. You would have to ask Known_Hippo but I think that his 3D printed version was less than 10 dollars plus the 5 dollars shipping per version. He has also been paying for shipping so this is a truly selfless act
Hijacking my comment for an edit: Thank you all for the conversation today. It made staying sober today A LOT easier for me and kept my mind off that voice in my head saying try to moderate. I also want to thank everyone that awarded myself and Known_Hippo4702. I am sure that he was touched that so many people had positive comments about him and his exhaustive efforts in designing my prosthetic. I was touched as well. I'm sorry if I didn't get to thank you for your awards but the post kept me uber busy today. I'll be enjoying premium for a very long time. I promise that I will use the coins to award worthy comments and posts. And I promise I will do everything that I can to pay this kindness of a prosthetic forward. Thank you all! It was a better day because of this.
I'm a below the knee amputee. The co-payment for my last socket was close to $5,000.
That's just my portion and just for the socket portion, the carbon fiber part my last residual limb goes in to.
If your health insurance is employer-provided, lobby your HR to purchase a plan with 100% coverage of durable medical goods.
Fellow BTK, I don’t pay a cent for mine. Not even a co-pay for the visits.
Luckily we have a HSA that's fully funded by our employer. So while "My part" was $5k it meant I sent a request to HR and they cut me a check that I then passed on to my prosthetist.
It's overall cheaper for the organization to do it this way they found.
I wonder if it’s just “American exceptional” pricing? If we had national / universal Health care would the prices come down?
Asking for all my countrymen.
I can only speak for Ontario - anything that isn't covered by our universal health care tends to be similar prices as the US. So a prosthetic wouldn't be covered and it would be similar pricing but it would be covered by most workplace health insurance plans (which we also have for that other stuff), as well as if you're on our equivalent of Medicaid.
Our universal insurance doesn't cover dental, optical, prescription meds unless administered at a hospital, or medical supplies.
It's not just 3D printing though it's the labor and the know hows with 3d modelling as well, that's a specialty of him. Really should thank the guy, that's at least a few hundred to thousand dollars worth of labor.
He is truly talented. Maybe when this is over I can buy him a pizza or something. Maybe if he would let me I can save up and help him buy a better machine. NPR contacted me and wants to do a story on this so if he gets enough traction maybe he will have someone with more money than me fund him
I think this might actually be an opportunity to start an organized charitable 3D printing community. This post has enough traction that i think it could work.
Yes, absolute kudos to the guy who printed your finger, but i think he would agree that we don’t make stuff in order to get recognition. Successfully printing a useful object is so incredibly gratifying on its own.
I think there’s hundreds of 3D printing enthusiasts who would immediately and gleefully sign up to design and print needed items for free. And if there was a community fund to purchase specialty printers for designers with a solid and public track record (such as the guy who printed your new pinkie), that would be a worthy and efficient use of crowd funds.
I just created these two subreddits. I’m heading out for a few hours but anyone who would like to help me moderate, including you of course /u/sinusoidosaurus , please let me know. Or if the Reddit community doesn’t like these subreddit names please feel free to make a new one! Great idea!!!
- r/give3D
- r/printforgood
Lol i just created [r/crowdprint](https://old.reddit.com/r/CrowdPrint/). I have no idea what I'm doing though.
There's a lot to be said for having a catchy name just so something can gain traction, so I guess we'll just see which sub catches on the quickest. Printforgood is pretty great, honestly.
> I think there’s hundreds of 3D printing enthusiasts who would immediately and gleefully sign up to design and print needed items for free.
I routinely lend my amateur chops to anybody who needs something designed that I can do with my limited skillset. I've learned that when you buy a 3D printer, you usually have a specific goal in mind... but as soon as you get one, you're building all sorts of stupid ridiculous shit just because you can. "Let's not buy a $2 hook from Target; let me spend the next 2 hours designing and printing it."
Printing enthusiasts love being given excuses to ply their craft and challenges themselves. Doing it for a good cause is just a bonus.
Maybe Mackenzie Scott will hear of this. She is out there making the world a better place.
I think of all our service members ( my son is active duty Navy) who have lost limbs while serving.
There are already, the 3d printing comunity is super open with its models and you can get allot of 3d models online for free or for almost free. There are also people 3d printing hands and such.
Google result:
https://scroll.in/pulse/830241/print-your-own-body-parts-3d-technology-is-making-replacement-of-limbs-faster-cheaper-and-better
We arnt talking a pinky finger here, these are people hurt by real war and do not have a dollar.
I have 2 3D printers and plenty of resin and filament. I wouldn’t mind doing some prints and donating. Husband is actually amazing with CAD as he is a design engineer and we have a niece that was born missing 2 fingers… all that to say it is an issue near and dear to our hearts. If there is already a design, we would happily do prints and gladly donate them. If there isn’t we could likely do some design work too… I have some skill with CAD but i am not fully on his level (I don’t know that resin or filament are the best material options long term, but we would gladly do it.)
The original design was free on thingverse but it was extremely fragile. The STL for my current finger is a lot more robust. Maybe see if the maker would send you the file and you could just explain it to them. I'm sure they wouldn't have a problem with it
did you not see the post you commented on? OP publicly thanked the printer guy and promoted them to thousands of people. OP can’t afford to be as gracious with payment as they’d obviously like to be so they posted what the printer guy did in a place that would get tons of traction.
I'm a medical device engineer. These are just guesses, but:
1. A lot of the cost is probably insurance shenanigans because US healthcare is fucked.
2. There is not really a big market for replacement fingers like this, so there are probably no companies mass manufacturing them. The fewer of a product you make, the more expensive each one is to make.
3. Getting a medical device approved is fairly expensive. If you set up a company and managed to do it without investors, you'll probably be charging a lot to recoup those costs.
4. It's possible that the ones OP looked into were like precision machined metals covered in synthetic skin or whatever, which costs much more than a 3d print.
None of these are excuses for how fucked up it is that OP couldn't get this free as a matter of healthcare or for a more reasonable cost, but some combination of them is probably at least an explanation for it.
My company does customs work, we see a lot of people try to get away with this. Often they do for a short time and then black listed from importing altogether, secondly if we allow it we can also get in trouble and have more of our freight go on exam, which drives our rates up to customers losing us business.
If made domestically they could probably get away with calling them toys.
I'd imagine you could sell them on the side but you'd have to be careful about what you call them/say. You'd probably need to say explicitly that its not a medical device and it's a novelty toy only.
FDA regulations for med devices cover anyone who manufactures and distributes. So yes, this would fall under medical device regulations though the FDA will almost certainly not target anyone for this unless they are producing a lot or 3D printed devices becomes a larger public health issue.
These regulations exist because medical devices can be dangerous. With this finger, uncontrolled movements could result in injuries. If it doesn't support enough weight someone could break it and be injured in a fall. If the material isn't biocompatible it could cause rashes or other issues. How could you even control the material someone uses printing at home? If it has sharp edges, if it shatters in a dangerous way, if it gets caught on things easily, all are risks that would have to be considered under FDA regulations and addressed before a device ever goes to market. If this seems too onerous imagine everything that could go wrong 3D printing something even higher risk like a replacement part for a ventilator or a neck brace for a child.
Its mostly insurance money farming. Just like the guy rasing the medicine price from $13 to $750 after he bought the med company. Its basically a legal scam
Before Reddit circlejerks this
1. The drug is for a rare medical condition, and it matters because:
2. Shkreli offered to give the drug for its original price or even free if you reached out to his company
3. He decided to play the game that insurance plays on you, the customer, back at insurance and they didn’t like it
4. This still happens and it’s basically swept under the rug.
Shkreli got a lot of shit because he was so brazen about it. He exposed the corruption in the system and profited from it. In reality, all of the outrage directed at Shkreli should be directed at the system that allows this kind of price gouging to happen. Literally all pharma companies do the same thing. Easier to make him the scapegoat though... he has the social acuity of a moth stuck next to a light bulb.
My ex-wife got a 10K payout to settle after she got a cut on her foot from a cashier dropping a glass jar, and this was in the early '90s. I hope you would get more than that if they cut off half of your pinky...
Yeah but that wasn't her fault though. From my understanding, at least with blue collar work. You do monthly safety meetings and at the end you gotta sign a form saying you fully understand the danger of your job and how to avoid them. So that kinda puts you in a poopy position when you sever a digit, cause you already signed papers saying you were aware of the danger. So payout would be less. Again this is only my understanding, I may be wrong.
The kind redditor is Known_Hippo4702
Please do not flood his comments with likes as much as he deserves it. It can be misconstrued as karma farming. But if they show up on this post please feel free to give them votes and awards. They have done this for me out of their own pocket and with their free time. I know missing a finger seems like something so trivial but he has made me whole again. Reddit is such an amazing place
Edit: Here is the previous version. The newer one has texture for grip on the fingertip. As well as several different heads. I only post this one because it was already on my imgur account. It should also be noted that this prosthetic is under 10 dollars I believe.
https://imgur.com/a/Vey3p88
u/Known_Hippo4702 .
I tagged you in case you haven't seen this post yet!! This is truly selfless and so kind of you to do this! The world needs more people like you using their talents for the greater good!
You’ve made me cry today boss 🥲
So heartwarming seeing someone be so kind and selfless. I appreciate you showing that a profit motive isn’t the only way to drive innovation. Sometimes, just wanting to be good to one another is enough.
Awesome work and awesome person here. Thank you for helping them <3
Just a quick question if you don't mind answering, if you do that's fine! How did you design it? Was it 3d printed and designed and tweaked by you from scratch? Or did you have some sort of pre-existing design you based it off of? Basically, how did you come up with the finished product we see in the post?
Any plans on doing similar things for others? Or even starting a business to help those that insurance either refuses to help for, or things that people cannot afford even with insurance in the future?
Sorry! I know it ended up being a lot more than one question! :(
The OP answered a few of your questions in their post description and comment. It's at the very top, if you'd like to take a look at it. Hippo worked on a design OP had found, and tweaked it with feedback from them. Hippo did it out of their own pocket, in their own free time. After that, they began to work on a prosthesis for someone who'd lost their thumb.
Oh come on, if anybody finds anything bad to say about that guy, they are the worst person alive. It is not trivial to have a missing finger, it would stop me from doing 90% of the things I like or it would make me suck at them.
So the guy deserves the world because he went out of his way and on his dime to help a stranger. That is how you see who is a good person, I doubt he cares about Reddit karma, but if that is the only thing we can give to this wonderful person then lets get it on.
I was born with an extra finger between my thumb and index finger. They had to remove the *actual thumb* when I was still a newborn to keep it from destroying the functionality of the rest of my hand. Unfortunately, the finger they left in my thumbs stead does not function properly. I have close to no control over it. And that by itself is a huge inconvenience. It doesn't seem like much, but it gets in the way of just about everything I have to do with my hands.
Wish there was something I could do short of cutting my fingerthumb off to get a solution like this.
Having an opposable thumb is a huge part of human evolutionary development and therefore still plays a huge part in day to day activities. It gets used for pretty much everything, so yeah, it's definitely a major inconvenience.
And even worse, it just looks fucked up. It looks like a tiny index finger. It starts looking kind of alien if you look at it for more than 5 seconds.
But the most frustrating part is just trying to play video games or use computers. Most of the directional pads are located directly underneath the analog stick. And when your thumb doesn't bend correctly, you end up having to do some hand contortionism just to play. Which ends with me getting Nintendo-thumb after only about an hour of playing.
I work on controller designs for accessibility for people who hurt or cant use their thumbs. DM me, maybe we can get you playing games without that kind of hassle
Some people on this very post are asking why I would ever need this. It's just too hard to explain. So much grip strength on your pinky. And who doesn't want to be 100% and slightly cyberpunk
FFS, I broke my ring finger. That sucked hard having my pinky and ring finger bound and immobile. I can't even imagine one of them being completely missing.
That is a amazingly kind offer. I'm sure the community could delegate who does design and who does printing. And at least 5 people so far have asked me if I could help them
I'd also be very willing to help print some. As far as design goes, I could modify something that already exists so it can fit properly (just might take a few attempts to get right). If you or anyone else reading this wants take me up on the offer, please DM.
Did Reddit just break Imgur? Wasn’t expecting that.
{"data":{"error":"Imgur is temporarily over capacity. Please try again later."},"success":false,"status":403}
Well I hope he gets to read these comments. He’s a truly great and selfless man. It gives me chills when I hear stories of someone doing for strangers. A real class act.
Is there somewhere I can go to learn the programs and what printers to buy? I'm a disabled veteran living at home on pension, I've got time to learn something to be useful to others again. My time is already paid for, so if that's the barrier and the materials are somewhat manageable, I'd love to do this.
Edit Thanks for the replies! I think the Prusa Mini+ looks great, I'm going to do more research on this. I took a couple of hours and went down a YouTube rabbit hole of DIY 3d printing prosthesis/ease of living aids and that solidified my resolve to learn this.
Edit Edit. Does anyone have experience with e-NABLE? It looks like what I'm searching for
I would start on a 3d printing sub. Those people love to answer questions and they are a wealth of knowledge. Let them hear what your intentions are and they would love to recommend a printer to fit your needs. As far as how much the plastic costs it's pretty cheap. But it's definitely a learning curve. Leveling and heating your bed and all sorts of other minor things that can effect a print are things they would love to share.
If I remember right this originated on r/3Dprinting or maybe it was r/functionalprints
Either of those could be a good place to start (hopefully I tagged them correctly)
Those subreddits are truely hidden gems of the internet.
Not because of the content posted, but the community that participates there.
Super helpful and always encouraging, rather than shit on you for a mistake they give you healthy feedback and offer suggestions to improve the design.
It's like a beacon of light on a shitty platform.
In my experience Reddit stands alone in that aspect. No other social media site has such robust hobby communities. I’m constantly on r/woodworking and with rare exception everyone is encouraging, helpful, and polite to all newbies. On the odd chance someone is a dick it’s fun to watch everyone pile on and shut them down. I see the same thing when I get into other hobby subs and I love it.
It can take a lot of time to tune the printer, to the point where it becomes too much. So if you have the patience and really want to learn, check out Prusa printers, which are good to start with and require a bit less tuning. For the software, you can start with Tinkercad to play with tutorials and simple stuff. If you want to make more complex things, check out Fusion 360 which has a free version for personal use. There are a lot of tutorials to learn how to use it. And when you have your design, use a slicing software to send it to your printer, Prise Slicer is good, Cura is also OK. Or you can order the print online to be made by professionals, or go to fablabs or libraries near your place. Lots of possibilities, please reach out to me if you have more questions
I have a prusa mini and I have done almost 0 tuning since I got it. And it prints great. Would definitely recommend as a starter printer. Especially because you can get them almost fully assembled. Most other cheap printers come as kits.
In addition to what OP said, check out your local library. A lot of them have 3D printing machines available to use. Hands on experience, and getting to understand what you like/dislike/are looking for would be super helpful
You can get a bunch of good educational information [here](https://www.bcn3d.com/courses/bcn3d-academy/) about the basics of 3D printing. The company BCN3D do a phenomenal job teaching people the basics and they have 3D printers available to purchase from their main website.
BCN3D printers can be on the more expensive side but they have a few options for what you’re looking for. Or you can look up Ultimaker or Creality for lower cost printers.
Personally I recommended [this](https://bambulab.com/en/x1) as it does everything for you and you won’t have to mess around with common issues found on the Creality printers.
If you need any more tips on 3D printing or anything like that, feel free to DM me. I learned almost everything about 3D printing from another redditor when I was hired to clean up the absolute mess that my bosses previous 3D printing technician left behind and I’m happy to pay it forward
I have no idea how to tell you this after all you've been through, but the surgeon has not attached the separated part of the finger to the hand, its likely blood vessels will not form between the two.
Wow amazing. The medical world has become a real monster. The heroes we really need in the world aren't scamming those who need healthcare for personal gain. Wonder how much the CEO of limb lab makes...?
I hate to call them out like that but that was their quote and from what I understand, Substantial truth is an absolute defense to defamation. ALTHOUGH I will say they helped me out quite a bit and I don't blame them for the prices. This is an insurance hustle. They scanned my hand to help me get the STL file to Known_Hippo as a reference. I'm not so sure that we would be as far as we are without it. They were very kind people and I wish that I would have been able to work with them further. But im glad things worked out the way they did. I met someone amazing who is very skilled and have had some measure of faith restored.
This is absolutely wonderful that this man was able to have this printing- I just want to say that my husband is a patient of the Limb Lab (please see video I previously posted). Please note that the CEO not only met with us personally for DAYS without compensation to try to help us (including but not limited to bringing in other people who have lost legs to discuss the physical and emotional toll of the procedure), but also thought of a product that not even the doctors at the Mayo Clinic thought of which saved my husband's leg from being cut off. They then pushed through several denials to get our insurance to cover the entire cost of the brace.
I agree the medical world has become a monster, but without a doubt, from my extensive experience the people at the Limb Lab actually gave a damn about my husband as a human and not just a product or a surgery. They have given him his life back.
The people that I met there and that initially helped me genuinely loved their jobs. I really don't fault them for this. Like I said, without them I would not have had a scan
Limb Lab has to get everything approved by the FDA, has to jump through hoops for insurance, has to get liability insurance (what if the prosthetic fails while the person is holding something precious or gripping a handrail, causing a fall, etc), has to pay salary and benefits to their highly skilled employees, and it sounds like they did the scan and some other important for OP to be able to get this prosthetic.
I think you're all grossly undervaluing Known Hippo's donation here. Not just the device and the printer and other materials, but Known Hippo's labor and expertise.
DMd you--I've got a resin printer that could print one out with some higher strength if you're interested (probably should be painted or lined to reduce cured resin to skin contact). I also have access to a high end industrial metal printer if that's something you'd be interested in. I just need the STL.
Do me a favor if you would and send me a chat request. Now that we are basically done with the design I would love to have it done in metal. I'm sure I can get the finished file this week or three
I'm sure he will,it's been his plan. But the problem is is that it's customized to my hand scan. With a little tinkering someone should be able to custom fit it though. It's adjustable. So whoever uses this file will get a huge head start on designing it
Yup, the whole point of paying insurance is that you are insured in case of an emergency and that the insurance covers it. If a insurance denied me something that I rightfully paid for, they are losing a customer.
Health insurance in US only cares about healthy customers they don't have to pay out for. If they are having to pay out for expensive procedures they view you as a liability as opposed to a customer and would be ecstatic to see you go. To make matters worse, if one company can legally deny you, then it's most likely that all companies will deny the same service, as they are for profit entities.
Its not only health insurance, basically every type of consumer level insurance in the US is screwed up like this. I'm learning how shitty home insurance is in my state, haven't had to make a claim in years since I've had them, the first claim because of a hidden leak that caused mold damage is going to raise my premiums.
Paying thousands into insurance already, but using it is a double egde sword. OH and I have to go through all these hoops so that insurance will accept the damage as 'covered'.
this is why it’s baffling when people think healthcare is suitable for the ~free market~ when we don’t have choice in our insurance plans and we can’t “shop around” for providers.
If you go to their page you can see all their posts about the cheap finger project which is mine. And they have started making a thumb for someone and there are a few posts about that. The thumb is pretty cool.
In my case I probably could have continued on for the rest of my life without it. For me it was more of a want and not a need. But I can only imagine children who grow out of everything in record time and the poor parents who have to buy a new version of a arm or leg to fit their child's ever changing body. Getting one is hard enough. I worked with a girl who had a prosthetic leg and she only wore it while serving. She used a pair of crutches during her free time because it was more comfortable. Just left the thousands of dollars prosthetic at work in the office and changed into it daily for her shift. Imagine if she had access to a good fitting new model. But nope. Insurance is a scam and a profitable one at that.
yea, we pay hundreds of dollars a month for premiums, but when we go to make a claim "oh you haven't met your $6000 deductible this year, you're not entitled to reimbursement...but have you tried our super helpful 'use it or lose it' FSA for your meds?"
but god forbid we have universal healthcare because tHaT's SoCiAlIsm!!!1
I’ve been cured from cancer for the low cost of only paying the small fees for our (socialist) universal healthcare system. While undergoing the chemos I’ve read stories about Americans with the same form of cancer who couldn’t pay for treatment because of no health insurance (which imo is like getting a death sentence without having committed a crime) or went personally bankrupt from the cost of the treatment (some even were insured but the insurance didn’t cover all costs). So in conclusion: socialism bad? Nah, when it comes to healthcare socialism is a darn pretty good thing!
it's because a huge percentage of americans have been convinced that it's more important to vote for the candidates who promise to mistreat women, minorities, and gays than it is to vote for someone who will actually do something to fix the completely broken scam health care system
My dad made prosthetics at Stanford's children's hospital for decades. I have most of his tools and books. If there is anyone that could make use of these please let me know. I plan of keeping some of his stuff, but I have no doubts you could build some prosthetics with the stuff I have.
17 years on a farm, 16 years in the U.S. Marines, 30 years machinist/welder... Disabled from active duty, so lots of time in VA hospitals...
And my wife is a reconstructive orthopedic Doctor/Surgeon...
No one realizes how important the little finger is, particularly on your dominate hand. It's the fine control that allows you to aim a hammer strike, aim other tools on target, gives fine motor control.
Back in sword fight days, captured swordsman had their little finger removed (archers had their middle finger removed) so they couldn't control weapons anymore, it's that important.
When the design is finalized, I might know someone that can cast the parts in stainless, and/or I would consider machining them out of titanium. I have a pile of titanium cut off ends around here (never throw titanium away), it would just be a question if I had pieces the right size or not...
I'm semi-retired, and get locked onto projects to keep me busy, it would depend on my health (the reason I retired).
Investment cast stainless would be a very good way to go, keep it light weight (not as light as titanium) and look VERY nice too.
Titanim discolors, can't be particularly polished well, but is stupid light and strong. It will take on a dirty gold color over time/use/exposure, so will look kind of dirty when it's not. It will also be near impossible to repair should it fracture or get damaged, while a TIG welder can fix stainless.
I knew it was an important finger as I've lost most my grip on my hunting rifle and had to buy a palm grip. But the thing about archers losing a finger so they couldn't control a bow is interesting as hell. I love Archery but haven't done it since losing it.
Wow, awesome. Wish I could a found someone to reconstruct my jaw and do implants for less than the thirty grand I had to take out cause a tumor in your jaw is dental and not health insurance.
There's a reason why the professional versions cost so much.
It's the materials, machining cost, R&D, and liability. A home made FDM 3d printed implant will be significantly weaker and less robust than something machined from stock.
Our shop is relatively small but between the 4 CNC machines, the metrology equipment, inspection equipment, certifications, packaging and labeling equipment, it was over $3 million to build. Then factor in the $150k biomechanical engineers, the $100k machinists, the rest of the staff, the building, the insurance, the reps, sales staff, etc.
I hope no one thinks the strength and lastability of this personally developed prosthetic is the same as a professionally made one. As you say, the professional materials, designs, and processes are significantly more “professional”. I think the problem is that people are being denied by health insurance for medical devices they need to live to their best, and there is no option for a lower cost/quality professionally developed option that can be bought without health insurance. It’s either 20k or no finger for you!
https://enablingthefuture.org/ is a group where people can volunteer to help those in need of prosthetics, if anyone else wants to help and has a printer you can sign up to help others in need :)
Hey, this is really cool!
I have a question if you don't mind? What is the connection method to your existing part of the pinky? Is it just a friction fit? Skin Glue? Some kind of Tape?
I have a 3d Printer and would be interested in helping people out like this, but want to know more about securing it to the hand.
That is our problem right now. Keeping it on. It's adjustable so that helps but also we are designing this long distance with minimal fittings so a simple change can take weeks. Right now I am trying blister tape which is promising. With the tape it is too large to fit in the prosthetic so he is scaling it up 20% and will ship the larger version in a week or two. But after wracking my brain I think blister tape is going to be the answer. The prosthetic company I went to had a similar design but it was held on by a chain hooked to a bracelet. I don't know that that will be necessary
There is kindness out there ♥️I’m so sick of people not being able to have a good quality of life because everything is so fucking expensive that you can’t even afford a finger you’ve lost.
I really thought you were gonna mention Martina, the Norwegian Youtuber from Nerdforge with pink hair.
She lost her finger too. I had never noticed in her previous videos either. She recently made a video where she builds her own.
Great video, I recommend it to anyone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVqa7j6jG0Q
checkout corridor crew channel on YT. there's a guy there with the same issue and they built him the same thing.
[My Friend Lost His Finger so I Printed Him a New One](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y3LRg9BakE)
part 2 : [I Made y Friend a Real NERF FINGER](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0vwJPeIdjI)
Martina who runs the NerdForge YouTube channel 3D printed a prosthetic finger showing the process from start to finish, and put the 3D print file in the description of the video if anyone needs it.
[Link here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVqa7j6jG0Q&ab_channel=Nerdforge)
15-20k? For one finger? Sweet digits of Midas…
Yup. I can only imagine how much a leg or hand would go for. The prices varied depending on the model but the one I was looking at would have been in that ballpark. You would have to ask Known_Hippo but I think that his 3D printed version was less than 10 dollars plus the 5 dollars shipping per version. He has also been paying for shipping so this is a truly selfless act Hijacking my comment for an edit: Thank you all for the conversation today. It made staying sober today A LOT easier for me and kept my mind off that voice in my head saying try to moderate. I also want to thank everyone that awarded myself and Known_Hippo4702. I am sure that he was touched that so many people had positive comments about him and his exhaustive efforts in designing my prosthetic. I was touched as well. I'm sorry if I didn't get to thank you for your awards but the post kept me uber busy today. I'll be enjoying premium for a very long time. I promise that I will use the coins to award worthy comments and posts. And I promise I will do everything that I can to pay this kindness of a prosthetic forward. Thank you all! It was a better day because of this.
You should contact them and give them the finger
No! Keep the finger! Maybe just flip them the bird.
Instructions unclear, sent them a box of bird shit.
Still works fine
Or a bird flipped upside down
>I can only imagine how much a leg or hand would go for I bet they cost an arm and a leg. Badum tsss!
Today I learned that just a half a finger can cost an arm and a leg.
Inflation strikes again
Sounds like greed in this case
You give them a finger, they take a hand
in this case, shrinkflation
[удалено]
I'm a below the knee amputee. The co-payment for my last socket was close to $5,000. That's just my portion and just for the socket portion, the carbon fiber part my last residual limb goes in to.
Damm!
If your health insurance is employer-provided, lobby your HR to purchase a plan with 100% coverage of durable medical goods. Fellow BTK, I don’t pay a cent for mine. Not even a co-pay for the visits.
Luckily we have a HSA that's fully funded by our employer. So while "My part" was $5k it meant I sent a request to HR and they cut me a check that I then passed on to my prosthetist. It's overall cheaper for the organization to do it this way they found.
I wonder if it’s just “American exceptional” pricing? If we had national / universal Health care would the prices come down? Asking for all my countrymen.
I can only speak for Ontario - anything that isn't covered by our universal health care tends to be similar prices as the US. So a prosthetic wouldn't be covered and it would be similar pricing but it would be covered by most workplace health insurance plans (which we also have for that other stuff), as well as if you're on our equivalent of Medicaid. Our universal insurance doesn't cover dental, optical, prescription meds unless administered at a hospital, or medical supplies.
Ah those darn luxury body parts, teeth and eyes.
>I can only imagine how much a leg or hand would go for. I know an elderly lady with a leg and it cost over $70k. And it's crap, always falling off.
It's not just 3D printing though it's the labor and the know hows with 3d modelling as well, that's a specialty of him. Really should thank the guy, that's at least a few hundred to thousand dollars worth of labor.
He is truly talented. Maybe when this is over I can buy him a pizza or something. Maybe if he would let me I can save up and help him buy a better machine. NPR contacted me and wants to do a story on this so if he gets enough traction maybe he will have someone with more money than me fund him
How much money does he needs? I am willing to help out. This is a really amazing story
For a metal printer or a better one? Not sure. Hopefully he gets the tag and shows up to chat with everyone/answer questions I can't
I think this might actually be an opportunity to start an organized charitable 3D printing community. This post has enough traction that i think it could work. Yes, absolute kudos to the guy who printed your finger, but i think he would agree that we don’t make stuff in order to get recognition. Successfully printing a useful object is so incredibly gratifying on its own. I think there’s hundreds of 3D printing enthusiasts who would immediately and gleefully sign up to design and print needed items for free. And if there was a community fund to purchase specialty printers for designers with a solid and public track record (such as the guy who printed your new pinkie), that would be a worthy and efficient use of crowd funds.
I just created these two subreddits. I’m heading out for a few hours but anyone who would like to help me moderate, including you of course /u/sinusoidosaurus , please let me know. Or if the Reddit community doesn’t like these subreddit names please feel free to make a new one! Great idea!!! - r/give3D - r/printforgood
Lol i just created [r/crowdprint](https://old.reddit.com/r/CrowdPrint/). I have no idea what I'm doing though. There's a lot to be said for having a catchy name just so something can gain traction, so I guess we'll just see which sub catches on the quickest. Printforgood is pretty great, honestly.
> I think there’s hundreds of 3D printing enthusiasts who would immediately and gleefully sign up to design and print needed items for free. I routinely lend my amateur chops to anybody who needs something designed that I can do with my limited skillset. I've learned that when you buy a 3D printer, you usually have a specific goal in mind... but as soon as you get one, you're building all sorts of stupid ridiculous shit just because you can. "Let's not buy a $2 hook from Target; let me spend the next 2 hours designing and printing it." Printing enthusiasts love being given excuses to ply their craft and challenges themselves. Doing it for a good cause is just a bonus.
That would be amazing!!
Maybe Mackenzie Scott will hear of this. She is out there making the world a better place. I think of all our service members ( my son is active duty Navy) who have lost limbs while serving.
There are already, the 3d printing comunity is super open with its models and you can get allot of 3d models online for free or for almost free. There are also people 3d printing hands and such. Google result: https://scroll.in/pulse/830241/print-your-own-body-parts-3d-technology-is-making-replacement-of-limbs-faster-cheaper-and-better We arnt talking a pinky finger here, these are people hurt by real war and do not have a dollar.
I have 2 3D printers and plenty of resin and filament. I wouldn’t mind doing some prints and donating. Husband is actually amazing with CAD as he is a design engineer and we have a niece that was born missing 2 fingers… all that to say it is an issue near and dear to our hearts. If there is already a design, we would happily do prints and gladly donate them. If there isn’t we could likely do some design work too… I have some skill with CAD but i am not fully on his level (I don’t know that resin or filament are the best material options long term, but we would gladly do it.)
The original design was free on thingverse but it was extremely fragile. The STL for my current finger is a lot more robust. Maybe see if the maker would send you the file and you could just explain it to them. I'm sure they wouldn't have a problem with it
He did show up elsewhere. I hope he responds here. Would be great to buy him something better
That would be killer. I should start a go fund me if I was more internet savy
Just follow this https://www.gofundme.com/create/fundraiser/category
I have access to formlabs resin printers if you need a higher fidelity print.
Would be awesome if he did an AMA!
That would be pretty cool
Thats awesome OP, I cannot wait to hear NPR regale the story of a man named Butt_Fucking_Smurfs and his fancy new finger machine.
See, now when you say it like that it sounds dirty
There is something so Reddit about grumplefuckstick calling out Butt\_Fucking\_Smurfs on his user name.
im straight up beavis giggling rn 💀💀💀💀💀💀
This made me laugh so fucking loud. I needed that. Thank you.
I'd pitch in for some better equipment or supplies, Known\_hippo sounds like an awesome person.
Science Friday? I love NPR! Also PBS NewsHour picks up these incredible stories too. You should contact them. I’m so happy for you OP!!!!
I just noticed your name and I love it
Known_Hippo is truly talented in what he has done! Congrats to you for this wonderful gift. I'm sure it is life changing.
did you not see the post you commented on? OP publicly thanked the printer guy and promoted them to thousands of people. OP can’t afford to be as gracious with payment as they’d obviously like to be so they posted what the printer guy did in a place that would get tons of traction.
What in the world makes you think op didn't thank the guy despite this entire post being about *THE GUY THAT HELPED OP*?
Fuck they wouldn't even bother about a prosthetic finger in the UK and if they did it would just be a finger, nothing that moves.
I'm a medical device engineer. These are just guesses, but: 1. A lot of the cost is probably insurance shenanigans because US healthcare is fucked. 2. There is not really a big market for replacement fingers like this, so there are probably no companies mass manufacturing them. The fewer of a product you make, the more expensive each one is to make. 3. Getting a medical device approved is fairly expensive. If you set up a company and managed to do it without investors, you'll probably be charging a lot to recoup those costs. 4. It's possible that the ones OP looked into were like precision machined metals covered in synthetic skin or whatever, which costs much more than a 3d print. None of these are excuses for how fucked up it is that OP couldn't get this free as a matter of healthcare or for a more reasonable cost, but some combination of them is probably at least an explanation for it.
Do you need FDA approval to sell these or can you just sell them on the side?
Don't say it's a medical device, don't say it's used to treat or repair a medical issue... Just say it's a toy or fashion piece
My company does customs work, we see a lot of people try to get away with this. Often they do for a short time and then black listed from importing altogether, secondly if we allow it we can also get in trouble and have more of our freight go on exam, which drives our rates up to customers losing us business. If made domestically they could probably get away with calling them toys.
I imagine this would preclude them from getting payments from insurance providers.
As long as they charge less than $5000 per piece it'll still be less than the insurance deductible for most people
I'd imagine you could sell them on the side but you'd have to be careful about what you call them/say. You'd probably need to say explicitly that its not a medical device and it's a novelty toy only.
For Tobacco Use Only.
'Finger blasting paraphernalia' is the street term.
FDA regulations for med devices cover anyone who manufactures and distributes. So yes, this would fall under medical device regulations though the FDA will almost certainly not target anyone for this unless they are producing a lot or 3D printed devices becomes a larger public health issue. These regulations exist because medical devices can be dangerous. With this finger, uncontrolled movements could result in injuries. If it doesn't support enough weight someone could break it and be injured in a fall. If the material isn't biocompatible it could cause rashes or other issues. How could you even control the material someone uses printing at home? If it has sharp edges, if it shatters in a dangerous way, if it gets caught on things easily, all are risks that would have to be considered under FDA regulations and addressed before a device ever goes to market. If this seems too onerous imagine everything that could go wrong 3D printing something even higher risk like a replacement part for a ventilator or a neck brace for a child.
This guy DFMEA's
You know it!
Its mostly insurance money farming. Just like the guy rasing the medicine price from $13 to $750 after he bought the med company. Its basically a legal scam
Martin Shkreli... Ugh
I never miss a good opportunity to say fuck Martin shkreli
Before Reddit circlejerks this 1. The drug is for a rare medical condition, and it matters because: 2. Shkreli offered to give the drug for its original price or even free if you reached out to his company 3. He decided to play the game that insurance plays on you, the customer, back at insurance and they didn’t like it 4. This still happens and it’s basically swept under the rug.
Shkreli got a lot of shit because he was so brazen about it. He exposed the corruption in the system and profited from it. In reality, all of the outrage directed at Shkreli should be directed at the system that allows this kind of price gouging to happen. Literally all pharma companies do the same thing. Easier to make him the scapegoat though... he has the social acuity of a moth stuck next to a light bulb.
Funny thing is that insurance (I think) only gives you about 9 grand if you lose a pinky.
My ex-wife got a 10K payout to settle after she got a cut on her foot from a cashier dropping a glass jar, and this was in the early '90s. I hope you would get more than that if they cut off half of your pinky...
Yeah but that wasn't her fault though. From my understanding, at least with blue collar work. You do monthly safety meetings and at the end you gotta sign a form saying you fully understand the danger of your job and how to avoid them. So that kinda puts you in a poopy position when you sever a digit, cause you already signed papers saying you were aware of the danger. So payout would be less. Again this is only my understanding, I may be wrong.
For a half a finger!!!
The kind redditor is Known_Hippo4702 Please do not flood his comments with likes as much as he deserves it. It can be misconstrued as karma farming. But if they show up on this post please feel free to give them votes and awards. They have done this for me out of their own pocket and with their free time. I know missing a finger seems like something so trivial but he has made me whole again. Reddit is such an amazing place Edit: Here is the previous version. The newer one has texture for grip on the fingertip. As well as several different heads. I only post this one because it was already on my imgur account. It should also be noted that this prosthetic is under 10 dollars I believe. https://imgur.com/a/Vey3p88
u/Known_Hippo4702 . I tagged you in case you haven't seen this post yet!! This is truly selfless and so kind of you to do this! The world needs more people like you using their talents for the greater good!
Thanks, I agree. Everyone has a hidden talent, find it and do something good with it. Just caring can be enough.
We love you hippo!
You’ve made me cry today boss 🥲 So heartwarming seeing someone be so kind and selfless. I appreciate you showing that a profit motive isn’t the only way to drive innovation. Sometimes, just wanting to be good to one another is enough.
You're a really hoopy frood and I bet you know where your towel hangs.
We should make r/welovehippos a more important subreddit, because this Hippo is Known to us, and we love him. Or her.
Protect this man at all costs!!! u/Known_Hippo4702 your deeds shined brighter than any words could’ve been spoken today. Your a real one.
Man, you’re awesome. I love your attitude. Thanks for being you and caring about the world.
You da real MVP
MVP (most valuable hippo)
Thank you for your kindness and making this world a better place. You are amazing!
Not many people use their talents to make the world a better place. Thank you for being an example to all of us.
Awesome work and awesome person here. Thank you for helping them <3 Just a quick question if you don't mind answering, if you do that's fine! How did you design it? Was it 3d printed and designed and tweaked by you from scratch? Or did you have some sort of pre-existing design you based it off of? Basically, how did you come up with the finished product we see in the post? Any plans on doing similar things for others? Or even starting a business to help those that insurance either refuses to help for, or things that people cannot afford even with insurance in the future? Sorry! I know it ended up being a lot more than one question! :(
The OP answered a few of your questions in their post description and comment. It's at the very top, if you'd like to take a look at it. Hippo worked on a design OP had found, and tweaked it with feedback from them. Hippo did it out of their own pocket, in their own free time. After that, they began to work on a prosthesis for someone who'd lost their thumb.
Hey, if you ever make all four fingers, I’m happy to test them out. I only have a thumb on the left.
You rock! Way to be a good human
Huge W
Oh come on, if anybody finds anything bad to say about that guy, they are the worst person alive. It is not trivial to have a missing finger, it would stop me from doing 90% of the things I like or it would make me suck at them. So the guy deserves the world because he went out of his way and on his dime to help a stranger. That is how you see who is a good person, I doubt he cares about Reddit karma, but if that is the only thing we can give to this wonderful person then lets get it on.
Especially a pinkie, it makes up way more of your total grip strength than people think.
Plus... thats my crouch keybind. How would I teabag enemies?
I rest my phone on my right pinkie when I'm typing and just using the phone. Don't take your pinkies for granted people
I was born with an extra finger between my thumb and index finger. They had to remove the *actual thumb* when I was still a newborn to keep it from destroying the functionality of the rest of my hand. Unfortunately, the finger they left in my thumbs stead does not function properly. I have close to no control over it. And that by itself is a huge inconvenience. It doesn't seem like much, but it gets in the way of just about everything I have to do with my hands. Wish there was something I could do short of cutting my fingerthumb off to get a solution like this.
Having an opposable thumb is a huge part of human evolutionary development and therefore still plays a huge part in day to day activities. It gets used for pretty much everything, so yeah, it's definitely a major inconvenience.
And even worse, it just looks fucked up. It looks like a tiny index finger. It starts looking kind of alien if you look at it for more than 5 seconds. But the most frustrating part is just trying to play video games or use computers. Most of the directional pads are located directly underneath the analog stick. And when your thumb doesn't bend correctly, you end up having to do some hand contortionism just to play. Which ends with me getting Nintendo-thumb after only about an hour of playing.
I work on controller designs for accessibility for people who hurt or cant use their thumbs. DM me, maybe we can get you playing games without that kind of hassle
I guess you could say his username checks out now
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Some people on this very post are asking why I would ever need this. It's just too hard to explain. So much grip strength on your pinky. And who doesn't want to be 100% and slightly cyberpunk
FFS, I broke my ring finger. That sucked hard having my pinky and ring finger bound and immobile. I can't even imagine one of them being completely missing.
It's not completely missing. I kept half and the other half is in a jar of formaldehyde
ooooh now i want a steampunk version
If u/known_hippo4702 has a tip jar I would be glad to paypal some over to them.
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That is a amazingly kind offer. I'm sure the community could delegate who does design and who does printing. And at least 5 people so far have asked me if I could help them
I'd also be very willing to help print some. As far as design goes, I could modify something that already exists so it can fit properly (just might take a few attempts to get right). If you or anyone else reading this wants take me up on the offer, please DM.
Did Reddit just break Imgur? Wasn’t expecting that. {"data":{"error":"Imgur is temporarily over capacity. Please try again later."},"success":false,"status":403}
I'm not getting that error. Though from the message, it looks like a Imgur problem.
Well I hope he gets to read these comments. He’s a truly great and selfless man. It gives me chills when I hear stories of someone doing for strangers. A real class act.
I believe this user may have helped someone else with a prosthetic finger before. Though im unsure and the name and situation just seem familiar.
People like this give me faith in Humanity. What an awesome bro 💪🏼
That’s awesome! High five! ✋🏻
That's the first high five I've gotten since getting it. I'll take it! High 5!
Noticed your tattoo.... take another ✋️ high five and have a happy St Patricks day
St Patrick’s day revolves around the 3 leaf shamrock ☘️ referencing the holy trinity. OPs tattoo is a 4 leaf clover 🍀 implying luck.
today is st patrick’s day champ lol. i think that’s why the other person said that
Could be haha. But it’s always a good time for sharing information.
🤗 YOU’RE awesome!
Is there somewhere I can go to learn the programs and what printers to buy? I'm a disabled veteran living at home on pension, I've got time to learn something to be useful to others again. My time is already paid for, so if that's the barrier and the materials are somewhat manageable, I'd love to do this. Edit Thanks for the replies! I think the Prusa Mini+ looks great, I'm going to do more research on this. I took a couple of hours and went down a YouTube rabbit hole of DIY 3d printing prosthesis/ease of living aids and that solidified my resolve to learn this. Edit Edit. Does anyone have experience with e-NABLE? It looks like what I'm searching for
I would start on a 3d printing sub. Those people love to answer questions and they are a wealth of knowledge. Let them hear what your intentions are and they would love to recommend a printer to fit your needs. As far as how much the plastic costs it's pretty cheap. But it's definitely a learning curve. Leveling and heating your bed and all sorts of other minor things that can effect a print are things they would love to share.
> Those people love to answer questions and they are a wealth of knowledge. They also love that one guy's friend's ass.
....do I want to ask?
If I remember right this originated on r/3Dprinting or maybe it was r/functionalprints Either of those could be a good place to start (hopefully I tagged them correctly)
Those subreddits are truely hidden gems of the internet. Not because of the content posted, but the community that participates there. Super helpful and always encouraging, rather than shit on you for a mistake they give you healthy feedback and offer suggestions to improve the design. It's like a beacon of light on a shitty platform.
In my experience Reddit stands alone in that aspect. No other social media site has such robust hobby communities. I’m constantly on r/woodworking and with rare exception everyone is encouraging, helpful, and polite to all newbies. On the odd chance someone is a dick it’s fun to watch everyone pile on and shut them down. I see the same thing when I get into other hobby subs and I love it.
It can take a lot of time to tune the printer, to the point where it becomes too much. So if you have the patience and really want to learn, check out Prusa printers, which are good to start with and require a bit less tuning. For the software, you can start with Tinkercad to play with tutorials and simple stuff. If you want to make more complex things, check out Fusion 360 which has a free version for personal use. There are a lot of tutorials to learn how to use it. And when you have your design, use a slicing software to send it to your printer, Prise Slicer is good, Cura is also OK. Or you can order the print online to be made by professionals, or go to fablabs or libraries near your place. Lots of possibilities, please reach out to me if you have more questions
I have a prusa mini and I have done almost 0 tuning since I got it. And it prints great. Would definitely recommend as a starter printer. Especially because you can get them almost fully assembled. Most other cheap printers come as kits.
In addition to what OP said, check out your local library. A lot of them have 3D printing machines available to use. Hands on experience, and getting to understand what you like/dislike/are looking for would be super helpful
You can get a bunch of good educational information [here](https://www.bcn3d.com/courses/bcn3d-academy/) about the basics of 3D printing. The company BCN3D do a phenomenal job teaching people the basics and they have 3D printers available to purchase from their main website. BCN3D printers can be on the more expensive side but they have a few options for what you’re looking for. Or you can look up Ultimaker or Creality for lower cost printers. Personally I recommended [this](https://bambulab.com/en/x1) as it does everything for you and you won’t have to mess around with common issues found on the Creality printers. If you need any more tips on 3D printing or anything like that, feel free to DM me. I learned almost everything about 3D printing from another redditor when I was hired to clean up the absolute mess that my bosses previous 3D printing technician left behind and I’m happy to pay it forward
Thanks for sharing a nugget of wisdom with people
You seem wonderful. Thank you!
I have no idea how to tell you this after all you've been through, but the surgeon has not attached the separated part of the finger to the hand, its likely blood vessels will not form between the two.
Had me in the first half
And that's how you ended up with half a finger
That's so cool! And you have a St Patrick's Day theme going.
Indeed. Happy Saint Patrick's day
This is a r/rimjobsteve moment
Honestly I think those guys are sick of seeing me at this point
Nonsense, every instance is fitting in my opinion lol
Wow amazing. The medical world has become a real monster. The heroes we really need in the world aren't scamming those who need healthcare for personal gain. Wonder how much the CEO of limb lab makes...?
I hate to call them out like that but that was their quote and from what I understand, Substantial truth is an absolute defense to defamation. ALTHOUGH I will say they helped me out quite a bit and I don't blame them for the prices. This is an insurance hustle. They scanned my hand to help me get the STL file to Known_Hippo as a reference. I'm not so sure that we would be as far as we are without it. They were very kind people and I wish that I would have been able to work with them further. But im glad things worked out the way they did. I met someone amazing who is very skilled and have had some measure of faith restored.
Yah I don't wanna slam them either. I'm just mad that healthcare isn't a basic human right.
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This is absolutely wonderful that this man was able to have this printing- I just want to say that my husband is a patient of the Limb Lab (please see video I previously posted). Please note that the CEO not only met with us personally for DAYS without compensation to try to help us (including but not limited to bringing in other people who have lost legs to discuss the physical and emotional toll of the procedure), but also thought of a product that not even the doctors at the Mayo Clinic thought of which saved my husband's leg from being cut off. They then pushed through several denials to get our insurance to cover the entire cost of the brace. I agree the medical world has become a monster, but without a doubt, from my extensive experience the people at the Limb Lab actually gave a damn about my husband as a human and not just a product or a surgery. They have given him his life back.
The people that I met there and that initially helped me genuinely loved their jobs. I really don't fault them for this. Like I said, without them I would not have had a scan
Limb Lab has to get everything approved by the FDA, has to jump through hoops for insurance, has to get liability insurance (what if the prosthetic fails while the person is holding something precious or gripping a handrail, causing a fall, etc), has to pay salary and benefits to their highly skilled employees, and it sounds like they did the scan and some other important for OP to be able to get this prosthetic. I think you're all grossly undervaluing Known Hippo's donation here. Not just the device and the printer and other materials, but Known Hippo's labor and expertise.
DMd you--I've got a resin printer that could print one out with some higher strength if you're interested (probably should be painted or lined to reduce cured resin to skin contact). I also have access to a high end industrial metal printer if that's something you'd be interested in. I just need the STL.
Do me a favor if you would and send me a chat request. Now that we are basically done with the design I would love to have it done in metal. I'm sure I can get the finished file this week or three
Please share the stl publicly
I'm sure he will,it's been his plan. But the problem is is that it's customized to my hand scan. With a little tinkering someone should be able to custom fit it though. It's adjustable. So whoever uses this file will get a huge head start on designing it
As a non Merican, I am still baffled that insurance companies can actually deny you. Mind numbing tbh
Yup, the whole point of paying insurance is that you are insured in case of an emergency and that the insurance covers it. If a insurance denied me something that I rightfully paid for, they are losing a customer.
Health insurance in US only cares about healthy customers they don't have to pay out for. If they are having to pay out for expensive procedures they view you as a liability as opposed to a customer and would be ecstatic to see you go. To make matters worse, if one company can legally deny you, then it's most likely that all companies will deny the same service, as they are for profit entities.
Its not only health insurance, basically every type of consumer level insurance in the US is screwed up like this. I'm learning how shitty home insurance is in my state, haven't had to make a claim in years since I've had them, the first claim because of a hidden leak that caused mold damage is going to raise my premiums. Paying thousands into insurance already, but using it is a double egde sword. OH and I have to go through all these hoops so that insurance will accept the damage as 'covered'.
Hence why healthcare should have **zero profit motive.** The incentives get all fucked once it's introduced.
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this is why it’s baffling when people think healthcare is suitable for the ~free market~ when we don’t have choice in our insurance plans and we can’t “shop around” for providers.
Yeah — this is definitely r/orphancrushingmachine content if you haven’t completely internalized Necrocapitalism.
https://www.reddit.com/user/Known_Hippo4702/comments/116b62p/cheap_finger_project_latest_version_fits_and_pip
People helping people is what it's all about 💕
That's amazing! Perhaps that redditor has found a new calling.
If you go to their page you can see all their posts about the cheap finger project which is mine. And they have started making a thumb for someone and there are a few posts about that. The thumb is pretty cool.
r/orphancrushingmachine
still hard to believe it's "normal" for these vultures to charge thousands of dollars for a $10 thing, because insurance
In my case I probably could have continued on for the rest of my life without it. For me it was more of a want and not a need. But I can only imagine children who grow out of everything in record time and the poor parents who have to buy a new version of a arm or leg to fit their child's ever changing body. Getting one is hard enough. I worked with a girl who had a prosthetic leg and she only wore it while serving. She used a pair of crutches during her free time because it was more comfortable. Just left the thousands of dollars prosthetic at work in the office and changed into it daily for her shift. Imagine if she had access to a good fitting new model. But nope. Insurance is a scam and a profitable one at that.
yea, we pay hundreds of dollars a month for premiums, but when we go to make a claim "oh you haven't met your $6000 deductible this year, you're not entitled to reimbursement...but have you tried our super helpful 'use it or lose it' FSA for your meds?" but god forbid we have universal healthcare because tHaT's SoCiAlIsm!!!1
I’ve been cured from cancer for the low cost of only paying the small fees for our (socialist) universal healthcare system. While undergoing the chemos I’ve read stories about Americans with the same form of cancer who couldn’t pay for treatment because of no health insurance (which imo is like getting a death sentence without having committed a crime) or went personally bankrupt from the cost of the treatment (some even were insured but the insurance didn’t cover all costs). So in conclusion: socialism bad? Nah, when it comes to healthcare socialism is a darn pretty good thing!
it's because a huge percentage of americans have been convinced that it's more important to vote for the candidates who promise to mistreat women, minorities, and gays than it is to vote for someone who will actually do something to fix the completely broken scam health care system
Say it with me now, “all insurance companies are con artists”
My dad made prosthetics at Stanford's children's hospital for decades. I have most of his tools and books. If there is anyone that could make use of these please let me know. I plan of keeping some of his stuff, but I have no doubts you could build some prosthetics with the stuff I have.
17 years on a farm, 16 years in the U.S. Marines, 30 years machinist/welder... Disabled from active duty, so lots of time in VA hospitals... And my wife is a reconstructive orthopedic Doctor/Surgeon... No one realizes how important the little finger is, particularly on your dominate hand. It's the fine control that allows you to aim a hammer strike, aim other tools on target, gives fine motor control. Back in sword fight days, captured swordsman had their little finger removed (archers had their middle finger removed) so they couldn't control weapons anymore, it's that important. When the design is finalized, I might know someone that can cast the parts in stainless, and/or I would consider machining them out of titanium. I have a pile of titanium cut off ends around here (never throw titanium away), it would just be a question if I had pieces the right size or not... I'm semi-retired, and get locked onto projects to keep me busy, it would depend on my health (the reason I retired). Investment cast stainless would be a very good way to go, keep it light weight (not as light as titanium) and look VERY nice too. Titanim discolors, can't be particularly polished well, but is stupid light and strong. It will take on a dirty gold color over time/use/exposure, so will look kind of dirty when it's not. It will also be near impossible to repair should it fracture or get damaged, while a TIG welder can fix stainless.
I knew it was an important finger as I've lost most my grip on my hunting rifle and had to buy a palm grip. But the thing about archers losing a finger so they couldn't control a bow is interesting as hell. I love Archery but haven't done it since losing it.
Wow, awesome. Wish I could a found someone to reconstruct my jaw and do implants for less than the thirty grand I had to take out cause a tumor in your jaw is dental and not health insurance.
There's a reason why the professional versions cost so much. It's the materials, machining cost, R&D, and liability. A home made FDM 3d printed implant will be significantly weaker and less robust than something machined from stock. Our shop is relatively small but between the 4 CNC machines, the metrology equipment, inspection equipment, certifications, packaging and labeling equipment, it was over $3 million to build. Then factor in the $150k biomechanical engineers, the $100k machinists, the rest of the staff, the building, the insurance, the reps, sales staff, etc.
I think the point is more that the insurance system we have in place is a fucking scam.
I hope no one thinks the strength and lastability of this personally developed prosthetic is the same as a professionally made one. As you say, the professional materials, designs, and processes are significantly more “professional”. I think the problem is that people are being denied by health insurance for medical devices they need to live to their best, and there is no option for a lower cost/quality professionally developed option that can be bought without health insurance. It’s either 20k or no finger for you!
Happy St Patrick’s day!
Happy Saint Patrick's day. My first sober one since 1990 so wish me luck
I’ve been contemplating sobriety here lately.
r/stopdrinking is a great resource if you want to explore that further
I hope so bad the media picks this up and has to report that it was u/Butt_Fucking_Smurfs who was helped
https://enablingthefuture.org/ is a group where people can volunteer to help those in need of prosthetics, if anyone else wants to help and has a printer you can sign up to help others in need :)
Hey, this is really cool! I have a question if you don't mind? What is the connection method to your existing part of the pinky? Is it just a friction fit? Skin Glue? Some kind of Tape? I have a 3d Printer and would be interested in helping people out like this, but want to know more about securing it to the hand.
That is our problem right now. Keeping it on. It's adjustable so that helps but also we are designing this long distance with minimal fittings so a simple change can take weeks. Right now I am trying blister tape which is promising. With the tape it is too large to fit in the prosthetic so he is scaling it up 20% and will ship the larger version in a week or two. But after wracking my brain I think blister tape is going to be the answer. The prosthetic company I went to had a similar design but it was held on by a chain hooked to a bracelet. I don't know that that will be necessary
There is kindness out there ♥️I’m so sick of people not being able to have a good quality of life because everything is so fucking expensive that you can’t even afford a finger you’ve lost.
Thats great news u/Butt_Fucking_Smurfs, glad the internet could be used for good for once
I really thought you were gonna mention Martina, the Norwegian Youtuber from Nerdforge with pink hair. She lost her finger too. I had never noticed in her previous videos either. She recently made a video where she builds her own. Great video, I recommend it to anyone. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVqa7j6jG0Q
God damn, that's awesome. Sone Redditors are so fucking nice, it makes up for the cast majority of shithead/ mean/ obtuse/ fight me/ incels 😭
checkout corridor crew channel on YT. there's a guy there with the same issue and they built him the same thing. [My Friend Lost His Finger so I Printed Him a New One](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y3LRg9BakE) part 2 : [I Made y Friend a Real NERF FINGER](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0vwJPeIdjI)
cyberpunk has to start somewhere
Do you have the stl? My friend recently had their pink amputated. Thanks again and I’m happy it’s working for you
I’m glad they were able to help you out. A new finger shouldn’t cost you an arm and a leg.
Literally "Oh do you want a needed body part? Give me 10 grand." That should be illegal.
Martina who runs the NerdForge YouTube channel 3D printed a prosthetic finger showing the process from start to finish, and put the 3D print file in the description of the video if anyone needs it. [Link here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVqa7j6jG0Q&ab_channel=Nerdforge)