Voodoo Manufacturing Partners with e-NABLE to 3D Print Prosthetic Hands

Brooklyn-based 3D printing service provider Voodoo Manufacturing has partnered with the Enable Community Foundation to donate a total of 150 3D printed prosthetic hands for a showcase at the Autodesk University Convention in Las Vegas, marking the single biggest contribution to date.

Voodoo’s donations were assembled at the convention and the 150 hands will then be distributed by e-NABLE on an as-need basis to families across the country and around the world.

e-NABLE’s global network of volunteers has provided 1500 hands for people in over 40 countries, working mainly with children to give them the ability to perform simple tasks, such as holding a water bottle or riding a bike. With the help of Voodoo, e-NABLE is building a sustainable manufacturing pipeline to begin meeting growing demand.

“We want to help e-NABLE focus on what matters most for their organization while we handle the manufacturing,” said Max Friefeld, CEO and Co-founder at Voodoo. “When Jon reached out to us about Autodesk University, they had a deadline quickly approaching, so we put enough 3D printers on the job to get all 150 hands made in less than 5 days.”

e-NABLE hands are body powered and designed to open and close using the flexing of the wrist or elbow to create the tension that pulls the fingers closed. Voodoo will be printing the Raptor Reloaded hand, a model designed by a team of e-NABLE volunteers group of volunteers for people who lack fingers but still have functional wrists. These hands can be made with or without thumbs and will be printed in a variety of sizes, both left and right.Families work directly with e-NABLE on a one-on-one basis and its matching system handles connecting individual requests with volunteers. For those in more remote areas of the world where technology and resources are at a minimum, hands are bulk-printed and distributed to clinics and other non-profit groups.

“We are fortunate to have Voodoo join our community and delighted to have them become a consistent provider of e-NABLE hands,” said Jon Schull, President of the Enable Community Foundation. “Their generous donation allowed us to provision the Autodesk University showcase and has opened the door for other opportunities for collaboration. A manufacturing partner with their capacity is a huge advance for us.”

After this one-time donation, Voodoo hopes to continue offering their services in order to help get free prosthetics out to all who need them.

“e-NABLE’s cause represents the power of 3D printing in a way that I’ve never seen before ” Friefeld says, “The largest businesses in the world have started to notice what e-NABLE is doing, they can all learn something from how successful e-NABLE has been with 3D printing at this scale.”