My Story

Hi, my name is Ben. I'm a 17 year old T1D since I was 3 years old. I've been using an insulin pump for most of my life. When I discovered the Tandem t:slim I knew it was the pump best suited for me. The one thing I struggled with immediately was balancing the cartridge while removing excess air and filling with insulin. This often resulted in damaged needles, excess effort and more difficulty removing all the air from the cartridge. So by the first week of starting on the T:slim pump in 2018, I began designing and producing the Third Hand Cartridge Stand. I used the Fusion 360 CAD program to fine tune my design until it perfectly fit the Tandem T:slim cartridge. I then used Cura to slice it and my Ender 3 Pro to manufacture it right here at home. Every single stand gets quality inspected by me, I test each one for fit with a spare cartridge.

I'm currently a senior in high school. I love mountain biking on our local trails, volunteering at the humane society, hanging out with my friends, going to the gym and working part time at a local bike shop. I thrive on being busy and one of my favorite projects has been working on the Third Hand Cartridge Stand and hearing the amazing feedback from you all! Seeing photos of your stands being used all across the globe has been so heartwarming and rewarding. If you have ordered one please keep in touch.. and if you feel inspired to share this project with fellow diabetics, please do! This is currently a small and growing operation and every bit of support helps!