Curiosity
duck given prosthetic foot made from 3d printer (PHOTO)
Duck Prosthetic Foot Made From 3-D Printer (PHOTO)
A duck living in Nashville, Tennessee has found a best friend in Mike Garey, who has ingeniously used a 3-D printer in order to fashion a new foot for the fowl who is missing one. Buttercup the duck had to have her inverted foot amputated and was able to get around lamely using a wooden replacement leg.
But Garey, an employee at a local wildlife sanctuary, had a better idea when he approached a Nashville printing company about using their 3-D printer to fashion a new plastic leg for Buttercup.
“I just kind of thought let me think out of the box and come up with why can’t I just make him a real foot?” he said.
Garey first created a correct image of a duck foot using another duck as a live model. He reports that printing out the plastic foot model was a slow and painstaking process that took almost 14 hours to complete. A flexible plastic version of the model was created in order to slip over Buttercup’s stump of a foot just like she was wearing a tiny boot.
“The printing of his foot that I needed to make the mold took 13 and a half hours to print. So it’s a pretty slow process,” said Garey.
Garey says Buttercup’s new foot is different than typical prosthetics.
“This version will have a stretchy silicone sock instead of the finger trap, which will roll up on his leg, be inserted into the foot and then have a fastener in the bottom,” Garey said.
This lucky ducky is set to receive his brand new foot in the next two weeks.
When word of Garey’s efforts to help the crippled duck reached the news media, he and Buttercup were invited to appear on NBC’s “Today” morning show to demonstrate just how the amazing 3-D printing process was able to help Buttercup walk like a normal duck again.
“Buttercup’s unique, he’s unique, like the rest of them, and you know it’s worth doing. It’s worth doing to help him out,” he said.
You can keep up with Buttercup on his Facebook page.
Young Buttercup before he had his foot removed
On The Web:
Mid-South man uses 3D printer to make duck second foot
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/52341637/ns/local_news-nashville_tn/
3D printer helps fix duckling’s ugly deformity with new webbed foot
http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/06/28/3d-printer-fixes-duckling-ugly-deformity-with-new-webbed-foot/#ixzz2XbFXDAYg