3D Printed Ford Battery Case Help

[WarbirdPhotog]

Originally Posted by Karl Wescott

Warbird, It looks like you are making great progress. Are you doing your 3D work in a parametric model?

Karl, You are correct, it is a parametric model. That way I can make this down to the .01MM (everything is in MM when it comes to 3D printing). I'm going to be printing this on a Bamboo Labs A1. It's not quite big enough to do the entire cover and longer side walls in one piece, so I'm going to have to split those up for my own printing unless I send those pieces out. The Bamboo is actually pretty fast. While I'm going to slow it down for this build to get a better surface, I think it might just take a day, or perhaps two, to build.

[WarbirdPhotog]

As for an update... things have been a bit slow (and will be slow as I have a busy few weeks coming up), but I did manage to finish measuring the entire original battery. And I measured it down to the third decimal point on every little bit. I even made some trace rubbings with a pencil so I have actual size references should I need them.

My thoughts:
- The battery is VERY un-uniform. There are many places where things are not perfectly sized the same. I think the original casting of the battery was imperfect, and it didn't need to be really. So that gives me a bit of wiggle room, if I need, to fudge some things as in reality, some things were off a good .15 inches depending on where you measure it. When you get down to the decimals, most things were off .01-.08 between the different sizes. That being size, I tried to find averages in those cases to come up with a number that works while also noting the differences between the various points.
- The seams, as mentioned in my previous post, are perfectly aligned down the skinnier sides of the battery. This means that having a seam there for putting parts together will actually mimic the REAL thing.
- The star texture throughout the side walls is not in any pattern that I can see. they seem random and chaotic, sometimes almost overlapping. Where the seams are the stars are NOT aligned to continue from one side to another. Another great thing for 3D printing.
- The tar on the top of the cover is pulling upwards where the two terminals are. I assume this is from the repeated lifting of the battery by the terminals with the original (rare) battery handle they loaned me with the battery to move it. I took this into consideration and only measured the middle cell top as that one seemed to be still in its original place.
- The bottom of the battery has 'The Richardson Company' and 'Made in the USA', along with 'Patent Pending'. There's also a '4333 F' in a circle at the bottom. I'm not going to replicate those, but I did take photos and a pencil tracing just to have them.

I shot about 100 detailed shots of the battery in a mini studio-type setting. Here's a few I'll share for anyone who comes across this thread looking for photos of an original 1940 Ford Battery.







It's hard to see in this photo (I have better ones of it), but the caps on top, the FORD logo has a rounded edge rectangular impression surrounding it from the stamping process. One of the caps has this raised, the other has it indented. It's about a .005/.01 inch depth:


Here's the seam I was talking about and how the star texture does not align on either side:


I do want to mention again that I'm not going for a concourse battery here. That being said, I imagine this will be the most accurate battery, when done, made when I get all the details dialed in. Looking at all the repros that were out there, each one of them is missing major details compared to this battery. Like the U.S.A. in the large FORD logo, the star texture, the seams, etc.

[glennpm]

Very good and interesting project.

Glenn

[WarbirdPhotog]

Quick update! Decided to do the first test print. I hope to do one of the plugs and see how it would go with the default nozzle on my Bamboo Labs A1 which is .4mm. Overall I'm impressed, not only is it exactly the same size as one of the original caps but I can even screw it in to the original case. That being said, the lettering is not as clear as I'd like it to be. And I'm pretty certain it's because of the .4mm nozzle. So I ordered a .2mm nozzle. That should do the trick. Not everything on this case needs to be as finely detailed as the plugs and caps, so it's mainly for those.

And from what I've seen, these plugs look better already than most of the repro cases out there. Even with the slightly fatter lettering due to the .4mm nozzle.

Here's an original plug with the 3D printed one.


Here's the 3D-printed one screwed into the original case.


A look at the threads. The 3D printed one has deeper threads, which I could shorten a bit. But they worked just fine screwing into the case.

[Karl Wescott]

Caps look good.


One of the issues with printing fine text (and screw threads, and holes, etc) is the filament tends to overprint slightly on an edge. The consumer grade slicers (bamboo is derived from prusa, which is derived from sli3er) don't seem to be able to compensate, you may need to try to thin your text (and opening up the holes in p's and g's) on the cap for better results.

[ford38v8]

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Your results are very impressive. Clearly, my slim knowledge about 3D printing is long outdated. I think that's an excellent start on a Concourse quality reproduction. Best of luck on completion!

[Floyd]

I have a set of original green script "Ford" caps.

[Kens 36]

Floyd, I'm nowhere near as old as Alan, so I'm not familiar with green script caps. When were they used?

Ken

[ford38v8]

Originally Posted by Kens 36

Floyd, I'm nowhere near as old as Alan, so I'm not familiar with green script caps. When were they used?

Ken

Ken, I don’t know how you equate GREEN Ford script caps with my age, but then perhaps I’m getting forgetful in my old age? In any case, for you young whippersnappers, Ford Script battery caps are not correct for either the HF or the LF battery. The Do Not Remove caps are correct for both.

[WarbirdPhotog]

Originally Posted by ford38v8

Ken, I don’t know how you equate GREEN Ford script caps with my age, but then perhaps I’m getting forgetful in my old age? In any case, for you young whippersnappers, Ford Script battery caps are not correct for either the HF or the LF battery. The Do Not Remove caps are correct for both.

I was going to point that out as well. You beat me to it!

And yes, I thought about also trying to make the letters skinnier because the filament will be pulled in on the edges to make things either slightly smaller, in the case of holes, or slightly larger in the case of letters. That being said, the .2mm will help negate that a bit more. I am trying another print with the text reduced in size. We'll see how that turns out. I should get the .2mm nozzle tomorrow. I've also reduce the depth of the threads to match the original a little more. Not necessary since it will be screwed in, but for my own curiosity!

[WarbirdPhotog]

After trying thinner letters, it's still turned out pretty much the same. So I think the .2mm nozzle will make the difference here. But I did spray paint one of them with a satin black, which ended up being way too shiny. So I did a lusterless dead flat black, which might be a little too flat. So I'm going to look into a regular flat black, which often isn't as flat as a lusterless dead flat.

Here's a photo of the original cap on top, the newest printed one on the bottom left with the smaller text, and the painted one on the right. The newest printed one didn't come out as clear as the other two I printed, so I need to go back and check what settings I've changed. But at any rate, making slow progress! I'm going to work on the caps next.

[ford38v8]

Can you come up with a color infused solution to eliminate the paint altogether? As you know, paint is short lived, while the older a battery case gets, the more authentic it looks.

[WarbirdPhotog]

Originally Posted by ford38v8

Can you come up with a color infused solution to eliminate the paint altogether? As you know, paint is short lived, while the older a battery case gets, the more authentic it looks.

The paint helps to hide any micro texture from the 3D printing itself. I don't mind the paint, especially since as it wears, it'll give the battery an authentic look. If the paint is done correctly, it should last a long time as I don't plan on handling the battery all that much once it's built.

But yes, I can go out and get different black filaments of various finishes. But paint, in this instance, will help me achieve a better, closer look to the original.

[WarbirdPhotog]

Another quick update, I thought I'd show how I am constructing things like the Ford script on the caps. So, it starts with the high-resolution photos I took of the original case I'm borrowing from the Early Ford Parts Store. From there, I manually trace the Ford script and turn it into a path.



It takes a while (and checking the photos and the original case to get all the lines right).



I then can turn it into a shape and export that through a program as a .SVG file.



Then, I can import it into my 3D program and set it to the correct size and height based on my measurements.



I even added a raised/lowered surrounding area around the FORD to mimic the raised and lowered stamping impressions on the original caps.



Next, I'll be doing a test print once I get the .2mm nozzle! Coming along, slowly, but getting there. Hopefully, I'll have this all done by next month.

[glennpm]

What a great project!

[1952henry]

Hats off to you!

[corvette8n]

You progress looks good, what 3D printer do you have?, I’ve been thing about getting one to play around with.

[Floyd]

Sorry to mess up your thread on 3D printing, but to answer Ken 36 question, I don't know where I got them as I have busted open and gutted several old Ford cases in order to put Optima batteries in them. They may even be from the repro cases made back in the day as they have a more modern looking plastic thread bottom. Anyway cool looking and available.

[WarbirdPhotog]

Originally Posted by corvette8n

You progress looks good, what 3D printer do you have?, I’ve been thing about getting one to play around with.

Bambu Labs A1. I'm sure a resin 3D printer would be better for size and details, but those are crazy expensive and huge for good ones. If I could go back and get a different printer, I might go get the bigger Bambu Labs printer just to be able to print larger things. With this project, I have to break up the sidewalls, The top cover, and the bottom tray in order to print them.

[35fordtn]

what is you layer thickness? .12mm?

If you want a slightly larger printer that doesnt break the bank, I'd highly recommend the Qidi brand.

You're doing a EXCELLENT job!