Air-tight N95 Face Mask Braces for Makers With Long Noses (Look Mom, No Fog!)

For the last 2 years, medical face masks have invited themselves into our lives, with a host of new problems we didn't know we had.

Since I have an unusually long nose, I always had leaks just underside my eyes, making it impossible to wear anything but the sheerest foam masks.

After scouring the web and purchasing every option I could put my mouse on, plus testing a bunch of crazy ideas, I've finally found a solution that is airtight (I can do Wim Hoff breathing with it!), lightweight, comfortable, and doesn't make me look like a jerk (you be the judge).

Supplies

I've used:

• corrugated paper, a sharp blade and a pencil
• optional: adhesive foam pads for air-proofing face masks. (They didn't work by themselves...)
• optional: a contour gauge, made of plastic (you'll use it on your face...)
• a flat bed scanner
• Vector graphics software (Inkscape), 3D software (Fusion 360)
• a professional 3D printing service (not clear if this will work with a consumer-grade filament printer)

... and obviously the most comfortable mask you can find (I love those soft 3-fold earloop ones).

Step 1: Map Your Face

This is the most critical, and easily overlooked step in the process.

You need to realize that the mask will espouse your face quite naturally, and will only need a little bit of focused help to do its job. Moreover, you need to acknowledge that your cheeks are soft and bouncy, while your nose bridge is stiff and sensitive.

First, with a knife, cut open the pouch holding the nose bridge wire. Slide it out, and discard it forever. It was not doing its job.

Then put on the mask, and with just the tip of 2 fingers, look for the pressure points that make your mask airtights. Don't try to squeeze your nose ; the mask does that naturally. Just putting a wee bit of pressure exactly at the right place will take care of everything. Find that place, and remember it.

Step 2: Record the Contour

Now take your contour gauge, and delicately press it against your face, roughly along the line where the nose bridge wire was, taking good care of going over the spots identified at the previous step.

Next, draw your face contour on corrugated paper, and cut the outline. Then put it against your face, and notice the places it doesn't fit.

Repeat until you've got something that rests nicely on the spots identified before. You'll want to have a few millimeters of clearance all around your nose, so that the brace never touches it.

If you don't have a contour gauge, you can start directly with the corrugated paper, though it will take more tries.

Lastly, put on your mask, and try it with the cardboard. It should be airtight but comfy.

Step 3: Position the Hooks

Your brace will be hooked on the earloops; now is a good time to identify their location. With the cardboard on your face, mark the edge of the mask on it. Make sure your contour is long enough to reach the end of the mask. It doesn't have to be snug, but you need to know how far to go. You might want to ask for help if you keep sticking your pencil in your ear.

(On the photo, notice how the end of the mask matches roughly with the edge of my piece of cardboard.)

You might be surprised at how lopsided your face is (I was). resist the urge to fix it, and write your left and right sides on the board.

Step 4: Scan Your Template

Position your cardboard cut-out on a flatbed scanner, and hit Go. You can put a ruler on the glass plate as well, to help you check your scale if in doubt.

I scanned my brace with Open Source software Naps2, in full-color 300 dpi, because I could. I saved the file to PDF, which records the scan dimensions.

Step 5: Digitize Your Profile

Next, you need to convert the bitmap image into vector graphics. I used Open Source software InkScape.

Import the PDF scan, and on top, with the bezier tool, draw a shape that follows the edge. Stop at the marks you made for the "end of the mask".

Next, delete your background image (yes), and Save as -> DXF.

Step 6: 3D Design

Now comes the time to draw a 3D model of your brace. I've used maker-friendly (free for personal use) Fusion 360.

You'll want to:

• import your DXF file
• check that the dimension is still the same (eg: measure the length between the edges of your bezier, and compare them to the same measurement in InkScape. DXF is notorious for messing up the scale of documents on occasions.)
• Then, draw the contour of your brace (I've used modify->offset in sketch view to draw a second contour that is a few millimeters larger than my face profile.)
• Before going to 3D, be sure to draw some hooks at each end of your brace. It doesn't have to be beautiful or symmetrical ; quick-and-dirty will do. Mine are about 1mm wide, 5mm deep, and with a 3mm-wide opening.
• Next, draw the full shape of the braces. Mine are a T-shape profile 6mm high, 1.5mm thick, and with a 2.5mm-deep, 2mm-thick flange. The result is just right, with a bit of flex but a keeping its shape well.
• If you're like me, by now, you'll have a bag of foam strips for face masks. I've added a 10mm-high area under each eye for glueing a few centimeters of foam strip. I'm not sure how essential they would be to a good build, but they helped me compensate for issues on mine.

Step 7: 3D-print

Because this build was so small, I've splurged on a black nylon material, for slightly above one dollar plus shipment (I've used WeNext; but by all means choose whichever print service is more convenient to you). You might get good results with a cheaper resin; but again, I'm not positive a home filament printer would do the trick. If you try it out, please leave a comment below!

Step 8: Wear It!

Mine came out almost right on the first try. This also means that I had missed out on the 1st step, and ended up having to pad it a little bit with some extra foam.

I've had some leakage on the left cheek. Not a deal-breaker, but slightly annoying. I was able to fix it by twisting the elastic band in a way that it would press the mask down against the face (a bit of mask foam worked as well).

Contrary to my prior attempts, I'm extremely satisfied with this build. I was able to:

• wear it on a daily basis (2~3 hours per day) without any significant fiddling, and without leaks.
• use it for bursts of exercise (running up the stairs, catching a train...) without significant discomfort.
• do Wim Hof breathing exercises (very deep intense breathing) without having to take off my mask.
• take it off and putting it back on without fiddling (the brace stays put, and keeps the mask open just the right way, making it very convenient to put on again).

Obviously, it all relies on having a good mask to begin with. You might want to start by sampling multiple models, and choosing one that's both comfy and easy to purchase again in a few months. I've settled on this one, which made the consensus in the whole family, despite my wife having a very different face shape from me. (Obviously, you'll want to find a mask supplier in your region).