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AEtherScythe

AEtherScythe

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These won't be for sale, but the part will be downloadable (for non-commercial, personal use). Thing is most common 3D printers can't handle printing flexible materials and this needs to be made from something like TPU with a shore hardness rating of 80-90A or it can't be coerced into place. That is why I'd suggest printing through a third-party that can do SLS in TPU, like the one I found for ~16 a unit and $10 flat rate delivery. I just don't want to point someone to that printing service until I've inspected the sample I've ordered (and that will be a few weeks).
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AEtherScythe

AEtherScythe

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At present I am waiting for the rain to clear so I can film the installation of the part so people know what they're getting into and whether they really want to go down this path.
 

Edgar

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These won't be for sale, but the part will be downloadable (for non-commercial, personal use). Thing is most common 3D printers can't handle printing flexible materials and this needs to be made from something like TPU with a shore hardness rating of 80-90A or it can't be coerced into place. That is why I'd suggest printing through a third-party that can do SLS in TPU, like the one I found for ~16 a unit and $10 flat rate delivery. I just don't want to point someone to that printing service until I've inspected the sample I've ordered (and that will be a few weeks).
Please let me know when we can download it for the Netherlands or EU marked. it's a great idea!
 

jparduhn70

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A few weeks back at the #NationalMustangDay event in Detroit, @JWW mentioned an incident with a basketball led to hyper-extension of his MME charge port cover and made a dent just forward of the charge port cover. I immediately set to looking for a preventative solution. Unfortunately, before I could complete my quest, our MME suffered a similar, but less dramatic fate. We don't even know how it happened other than perhaps it was very windy one day when we using a DC fast charger. We're going to need to get the dent fixed, but I wanted to make sure that we had a solution to prevent a re-occurrence, before taking any action.

Fast forward to now. I have developed a 3D model for an insert that adds a small wedge on the inside of the charge port arm to prevent it from opening too far.
Sure you could still body slam it and overcome the wedge, but you'll probably break the cover off before that happens.

I'll post the 3D model later, but for now here are the pics of the finished design. This has to be printed in TPU or similar flexible material with a shore hardness rating of 85A-90A or it can't be finagled into position. Installation has to be done with the charge port cover closed as much as possible, while working the wedge into place, then after that it's pretty easy to insert the upper and lower retaining wings. If there is ample interest, I'll post a video on the installation, later.
ECB0172B-36BE-4DF4-B896-4E49965A4199.jpeg
93E3DAE9-8E48-4A44-AC57-75CE1A106D03.jpeg
672F8F13-54D9-4D96-BF05-99D840DA56AD.jpeg
This is a great idea, and I would definitely be interested in the file if you post it or can send to me in a DM. I would have to send it out for fabrication. When I took delivery of the car, it had this damage and the dealer worked with me to get it fixed. The PDR guy that did the work didn't think at first that the charge port door did the damage, but I felt otherwise. When I picked up the car, he changed his tune. He ran into an instance where a fuel door opened on another vehicle he fixed going through a car wash. While I go through a touchless one to clean mine, there could be instances where something else happens causing that door to open past its intended arc. The PDR guy went on to say that the aluminum they're using for the fender, the body line, and the location can make for a difficult repair. It also weakens the paint and thins the clearcoat when it needs to be corrected. I don't care if it's red, black, or aqua, because you can't see it anyway with the door closed. I just want something to protect the fender. Thanks for sharing!
 


Raybdc97

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You know, just a wild idea here, but someone might be able to make a bit of change to cover the cost of materials, the cost of a flat rate USPS box, and a bit on the side, by making these to order. In black 9the universal match everything/nothing.

I'd sign up. Just crazy talk I know. ;)
I'm in...
 

theo1000

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This needs to be added to the pick-up check list if its not there already.

Yah! I'll need one, about 6 months from now the way the waitlist is going....
 

IMDIDOC

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A few weeks back at the #NationalMustangDay event in Detroit, @JWW mentioned an incident with a basketball led to hyper-extension of his MME charge port cover and made a dent just forward of the charge port cover. I immediately set to looking for a preventative solution. Unfortunately, before I could complete my quest, our MME suffered a similar, but less dramatic fate. We don't even know how it happened other than perhaps it was very windy one day when we using a DC fast charger. We're going to need to get the dent fixed, but I wanted to make sure that we had a solution to prevent a re-occurrence, before taking any action.

Fast forward to now. I have developed a 3D model for an insert that adds a small wedge on the inside of the charge port arm to prevent it from opening too far.
Sure you could still body slam it and overcome the wedge, but you'll probably break the cover off before that happens.

I'll post the 3D model later, but for now here are the pics of the finished design. This has to be printed in TPU or similar flexible material with a shore hardness rating of 85A-90A or it can't be finagled into position. Installation has to be done with the charge port cover closed as much as possible, while working the wedge into place, then after that it's pretty easy to insert the upper and lower retaining wings. If there is ample interest, I'll post a video on the installation, later.

ECB0172B-36BE-4DF4-B896-4E49965A4199.jpeg
93E3DAE9-8E48-4A44-AC57-75CE1A106D03.jpeg
672F8F13-54D9-4D96-BF05-99D840DA56AD.jpeg
Thanks for the warning. I just picked up my FE and don't want anything to happen to it. I'm not familiar with 3D printing, but a company I work with is. Is there a standard file format that I can download and get it to them?
 

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Ford should note this.
 

Valkyrja

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Very cool!

One of the printers I have is the CR10v2 with a few upgrades that I bought to print PPE at the beginning of the pandemic. I think I still have some TPU in the cabinet and am looking forward to doing a print even though I will not see my electric pony for a number of months.

Did you put this together in something like blender? Hmmmm, if I can import it into blender or something similar it would be neat to put a pony logo on it (for personal use).
 

BDC

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I'll post the 3D model later, but for now here are the pics of the finished design. This has to be printed in TPU or similar flexible material with a shore hardness rating of 85A-90A or it can't be finagled into position.
Any thoughts on something a little harder, like 98A? I've never tried flex materials before, but I have a spool of 98A I got for some project that I apparently never did (still sealed).
 

TheVirtualTim

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I'm totally clueless when it comes to 3D printing. Are you saying you couldn't make the piece using the same filament as the pony statues?
IMG_8087.jpeg
The Pony is printed on a resin type printer ... vs. the filament-type printers that most people who own 3D printers would be using. Resin printers are messy and ... you don't want to breathe in the fumes while it is printing (toxic). The only people I know who own resin printers put them in their garage instead of in the the house.

BUT... the material (once the print job is finished) is "hard" ... not a flexible material.

Installing the part requires a bit of bending (he's making a video). That's why he picked TPU. If the Pony were printed in TPU it would be rubbery (with that thickness it would be a little more structural than a rubber band ... think "pencil eraser"). There are a couple of big tabs on Leon's part that have to be folded around the door hinge and pushed down into a couple of slots. Most 3D materials are "hard" and would break if you tried to bend them like that. But not TPU.

Most people who own 3D printers don't own printers with "direct drive" print heads. Most inexpensive home 3D printers use the "bowden drive" design. The "bowden" design puts the feed-gear and motor on the same of the printer frame and the filament is pushed through a narrow teflon tube (PTFE) into the printer head where it is heated (melted) and extruded out of the nozzle and onto the part. But since TPU is flexible ... and compressible ... it bunches up when pushed into the PTFE tube and is very difficult to control the extrusion. The print jobs generally fail.

A "direct drive" 3D printer puts the feed gear and motor directly on the print head itself. The path from the feed-gear to the heater block is usually just a couple of centimeters ... so the TPU doesn't have time or space to bunch up very much and you get better flow control. These print jobs tend to succeed.

The reason most 3D printers put the feed motor on the side of the printer instead of on the print head is to reduce the weight on the print head. This lets the print head accelerate faster without creating excessive vibration as it prints ... those vibrations would result in poor surface quality of the parts. Direct drive printers either have to print slower ... or they need beefier construction of the gantry tower to control the vibration to have a quality print. But that usually raises the cost of the printer a little and the vendors who make 3D printers are trying to build them for as little as possible to be price competitive. That's why most home-use 3D printers tend to use the bowden-tube design.

For TPU printing ... speed isn't an issue. TPU has to be printed VERY slowly anyway. When people print with PLA they are probably using print speeds of around 45mm/sec ... or maybe even as fast as 60mm/sec (depending on the printer). When you print with TPU... the print head is moving more like 15mm/sec (so 1/3rd to 1/4th of the speed). Vibration from acceleration forces aren't an issue when you print that slowly ... but you have to print TPU very slowly (the gummy nature of the material can't handle higher printing speeds.)
 

Valkyrja

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I find the best way to explain TPU to non-3d printing folks is to explain my very first use of it:

printing rubbery feet for the bottom of some electronics :)

For the fractal pony, if I were to print something similar I think I would go with Silk PLA. It can be absolutely gorgeous.

What do you think of using PETG? That is used for outdoor signs and can be shaped by heating without having to worry to much about damaging the structure of the print. PETG will absorb moisture, but I live in a pretty dry environment. Not sure I would use it for some place like Florida.
 

HuntingPudel

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Wow, I guess the charge door design on my Fusion was a better idea than the hinged door design on the MME. I will definitely be in need of this model whenever my MME GTPE is ready.
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