U channel

thingiverse

I created a U-channel for my N95 masks to test their durability, and I made a discovery - it's a hit or miss when printing them in flex materials. Unfortunately, no matter what material I used, wearing the masks was uncomfortable due to the stiffness of the U-channel. To improve this issue, I designed a new U-channel that wraps around the brim of the mask where it touches my face. This design doesn't provide the same flexibility as rubber, but it's flat and can be shaped easily since it's made from flex materials like TPU. When printing normal masks, any type of U-channel will do the job fine. However, for N95 and similar masks, I highly recommend using a flab version of the U-channel.