STAFF at Borders College are supporting frontline workers by making face shields.

Assistant principal Davie Lowe and lecturer Mark Catto took home the college's 3D printers so they could create headbands and attach acetate shields.

The visors are being distributed to care homes by Scottish Borders Council during the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Lowe said: “I’d seen that other schools and colleges were utilising their 3D printers for this, so we decided that, as we’ve got 3D printers, we could use them.

“Our colleague Paul Watson, from Eyemouth High School, shared an approved open-source programme for creating the headband, which allowed us to get these into production.

“Between Mark and myself, we hope to produce over 100 face shields a week.”

Last Friday (April 24), at the end of their first week making the visors, the pair had produced 120.

The 3D printers take up to one hour to build up the layers of plastic that create the headband. The acetate screens then attached are made using lamination pouches.

Mr Lowe said: “The process is fairly straightforward and, in fact, my wife Yvonne is keeping the production going when I am working in the other room.”

The shields act as a physical barrier to protect health care workers’ faces, and 3D printer owners around the world are uniting to create an international network of DIY manufacturing.

Mr Catto, a construction and STEM lecturer, said: "As my wife works at the Borders General Hospital, I can see first-hand the impact this virus is having.

“Any small way that can support the NHS at this time can only be beneficial.

“I have also got my eight-year-old son Alasdair helping out with the 3D printing and assembly of the visors.