Carpenter Richard Van As was the victim of a terrible accident in his workshop back in May 2011, when his saw slipped and diagonally sliced through the four fingers on his right hand. The way a true carpenter’s mind would work, and before even hearing whether or not his fingers could be stitched back together, he began considering ways to fix his own hand. While searching the Internet and learning many of the prosthetic fingers were going to cost him a good fortune, van As reflected on a moment that he had in the hospital.

 
“I was in a position to see exactly what happens in the human hand. I got the basics of what it’s all about and thought yeah, I’ll make my own.”

 
Eventually coming across a video posted by Ivan Owen, a mechanical effects artist from Washington, the two paired up to develop a mechanical finger for van As. Called Robohand, and made via 3D printers, the affordable mechanical prosthetics are open sourced; available to anyone who needs to print out fingers, hands, and even arms. For those who cannot afford the multi-thousand dollar investment of prosthetic body parts, Robohand can be functional within five minutes of the person getting it fitted. This is because Robohand is “anatomically driven by the wrist, elbow, or shoulder once fitted; meaning the movements are controlled by the user”.

 
The process is called additive manufacturing, where the specialized 3D printers use thermoplastic material Polylactide (PLA). Once the body part is printed, stainless steel and aluminum are added to form a tailored prosthetic for the customer to assemble by themselves. Ordering is as easy as completing a measurement form, in combination with 3D scans of their hand. Because not all places have 3D scanning available, such as South African countries, a hard mold can be made instead.

 
Officially launched in 2012, Robohand was made available to the public, and has already helped more than expected. In fact, the simplicity of the ordering process has led to such a high demand that Robohand can hardly supply. Over 143,000 downloads of the software have been counted; and people in need from all over the world are reaching out. Van As says a full adult hand only costs $2,000, takes 5 and ½ hours to print, and 10-15 hours to assemble. But because of the current high demand, the company now has an eight-month waiting list.