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3D Printing Freitag Foundry and derivatives Journals/Blogs
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Frequent poster 505 posts GNNPNUT Frequent poster 505 posts
GNNPNUT

"Model Railroader" had a two part series in the April and May 2009 issue on the general methods Dean Freytag used to build "Freitag Foundry". 

I stumbled across these articles when I started searching for scale drawings to make my own crane for my IH Farmall West Tractor Works.  I already have one Walthers crane on the layout, and I was looking for a more modern crane than what is represented in the Walthers kit. 

That article search led me to the MR article.  Not only was the crane of a style I was looking for, but the whole Freitag Foundry complex fits quite nicely into an area that I was planning to use for a silicon foundry facility.  Quite honestly, this building looks far more interesting. 

Arbe built this foundry using traditional methods back in 2015, and a fine looking building resulted. 

https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/22614

The above link also has information on where this foundry is located, and some history. 

Unfortunately, the crane is too big as utilized in the Freitag Foundry setting.  No problem, with 3D printing, I can use everything I draw in Fusion 360 and scale it down in Prusa slicer.  The only item I will need to keep the same size as Freitag will be the operator's cab, and the ladder up to the operator's cab.  Everything else scales down quite nicely into a lower tonnage and smaller footprint crane. 

Here is what I've designed and printed to date for the foundry:

Overall view:

_overall.jpg 

Here is a close up of the trolley::

0Trolley.JPG 

Now let's see how it looks reduced to 61.74% of size and test fit at the tractor plant:

0overall.JPG 

The length of the craneway was determined by the length of three 52' 6" flat cars.

Here is the trolley detail

ose%20up.JPG 

The nice thing with the 3D printer is while something is printing, I can go off and do other productive work on the railroad.  Below are the utility lines that I installed at my garden tracks.  I'm adding additional details to them as the mood moves me.  The trusses were 3D printed. 

0overall.JPG 

ose%20Up.JPG 

I try to design in Fusion 360 every day to ensure that I continue to learn more about the program, and make sure I keep my skills sharp.  Here is an overall shot of the 3D model for the Freitag Foundry to date.  I still have a lot to design.

d%20size.jpg 

One limitation I've run into with Fusion 360, which is probably a function of limited RAM on my computer is the ability to create repetitive patterns in the program.  I wanted to 3D print the corrugated walls, but after about 4 inches of the pattern equivalent to 0,040 Evergreen corrugated siding, the program locks up.   So for now, I will 3D print the building core, and use Evergreen siding over the form. 

This design will also spawn at least two open top loads. 

Regards,

Jerry

 

GNNPNUT's blog
Reply 5
James Willmus JamesWillmus Super User 310 posts
James Willmus JamesWillmus

Looks fantastic!

Those prints came out really well!  I also use Fusion 360 and it is a combination of GPU and RAM limitations.  With the way computer components have skyrocketed in the past year I opted instead to buy the best laptop possible.  Fusion works on it but I've got to make sure that's the only program open and running otherwise things get hot very quickly.

Ideally, it would be great to have 64GB of RAM, a 4k gaming quality GPU and a processor that can be overclocked into oblivion but such a machine would cost northwards of $2k.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

James Willmus

Website: Homestakemodels.com (website currently having issues)
Reply 0
johnsong53 Regular poster 162 posts
johnsong53

Good Job!

I knew Dean and he would love what you are doing with his designs. He was one of the most helpful modelers I have known. When I has modeling the steel industry on a previous layout he provided me with blueprints of everything I need to model  and even turned some bottle cars on a lathe (before plastic was available) and shipped them to me in Texas. We lost one heck of a modeler when we lost Dean.

0_152644.jpg 

 

My blog index

pewaLogo.jpg 
Reply 1
nogoodnik Regular poster 126 posts
nogoodnik
johnsong53, I really like that Aliquippa gon in the background. I too, miss Dean and his models; him, and Art Curren.
Reply 2
GNNPNUT Frequent poster 505 posts
GNNPNUT
Came here to browse prior to my 66th operating session which I am holding at 10:00 AM today.  Yup, retirement is wonderful.  😁

Was surprised to see this thread resurface.

Here is a status update on the foundry and the small crane for the IH McCormick West works.

The facility is installed on the railroad and earning it's keep as a customer for the Spokane Southern.  Everything shown in the photo except for the C&O covered hopper and the rail is 3D printed.  The parts in white were printed over the last month.  Design and printing is continuing for the rest of the complex.  Between this and other projects for myself and friends, I put on over 1000 hours on my Prusa Mini over the last year.  I upgraded it with a Bontech extruder and hot end in January 2022.  I estimate I have now logged over 2000 hours on the printer over it's entire life. 

IMG_6949.jpg

IMG_6950.jpg

I did the blower and housing as a one piece print.  Came out great, but still have to do some post process work before painting.  Overall, I'd say that between the blower deck, roof, and blower housing assembly, everything went together within 0.010" of the design dimensions. 

IMG_6951.jpg

The International Harvester plant complex is now finished.  I'm going to leave this crane very clean as it is a new installation.  The plant was an old WPB plant used to make amtracks during the war, and was purchased by IH post war and converted for tractor manufacturing and assembly.  It sits in my town of Conrad, WA. 

IMG_6952.jpg

Regards,
Jerry

GNNPNUT's blog
Reply 4
Glenn Butcher ggbutcher Frequent poster 542 posts
Glenn Butcher ggbutcher
GNNPNUT wrote:

One limitation I've run into with Fusion 360, which is probably a function of limited RAM on my computer is the ability to create repetitive patterns in the program.  I wanted to 3D print the corrugated walls, but after about 4 inches of the pattern equivalent to 0,040 Evergreen corrugated siding, the program locks up.   So for now, I will 3D print the building core, and use Evergreen siding over the form. 

This design will also spawn at least two open top loads. 

Regards,

Jerry



I don't generally recommend OpenSCAD for modeling, too tedious.  However, scripting for pattern work is where it shines, using loops to iterate repetitive structures.  I've done bricks and siding; corrugated siding would be interesting, hmmm, maybe an extrusion of a sine wave...


I'll play with such later, report back on the results.
Reply 1
Glenn Butcher ggbutcher Frequent poster 542 posts
Glenn Butcher ggbutcher
Okay, FWIW...

Was a bit easier than I thought.  Early on, I found an OpenSCAD library called Round-Anything; it's basic routine takes a list of points and rounds the corners.  Very handy for modeling steam locomotives with all their rounded surfaces.  So, no sine wave required.  Here's what I got:

corrugated_siding_openscad.png

So, pts is defined as a zig-zag line with the radius value, using an OpenSCAD for-loop.  That list of points is passed to Round-Anything's beamChain(), which makes the siding profile out to the desired width, in turn passed to OpenSCAD's polygon(), which make a full 2D shape of the profile, finally that is passed to OpenSCAD's linear_extrude() to pull the profile out to the desired height.

This sort of thing can be used to generate a .stl file of the siding, then AFAIK used in other programs like Fusion 360 as a part.  And, for those who don't want to mess with OpenSCAD, such a script can be put into Thingiverse as a customizable shape.
Reply 0
RedDogF5 Regular poster 224 posts
RedDogF5
When I ran into this issue using Fusion, the "fix" I found after searching around was to make one feature in the sketch, then make a pattern of the 3D element.  Apparently 2D sketching is a huge memory hog in Fusion compared to the 3D components it generates.

GNNPNUT wrote:

One limitation I've run into with Fusion 360, which is probably a function of limited RAM on my computer is the ability to create repetitive patterns in the program.  I wanted to 3D print the corrugated walls, but after about 4 inches of the pattern equivalent to 0,040 Evergreen corrugated siding, the program locks up.   So for now, I will 3D print the building core, and use Evergreen siding over the form. 
Reply 0
GNNPNUT Frequent poster 505 posts
GNNPNUT
I should have re-read my original post better.  What I ended up doing is what RedDogF5 described.  I did 3D print the sand preparation and cupola building walls.  

Since the size of these buildings was within my X-Y constraints of 180mm, I was able to print nice square buildings.  The limiting visual factor however turns into the height limitations of my printer, which is also 180mm.  There is a visual gap between building halves.  

About a month ago, I replaced by bed plate, and re-squared the machine.  Prints are now adhering better to the bed plate.  Since I'm also doing most of my printing with a 0.25mm nozzle, I also overdrive the first layer by 40%. 

Regards,
Jerry

GNNPNUT's blog
Reply 0
nogoodnik Regular poster 126 posts
nogoodnik
Jerry,

By all means share more Foundry photos. Apparently, the thread isn't that old since you had new progress photos to share. Generally, whereabouts are you located - PNW by any chance? If so, I'd personally make it a point to try and squeeze in a visit.
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