Premium Members Rob Vuona SOC Posted November 6, 2008 Premium Members Report Share Posted November 6, 2008 Hi Rob--you're still welcome to come over, but I don't do my own foaming, I have my cases made at Innerspace. I don't need to foam out cases often enough to get into the custom thing myself. Fine . . .then we'll just come over and drink your wine and drool over your renovations Off to Innerspace with me . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Amando Crespo Posted November 12, 2008 Premium Members Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 Hi Rob--you're still welcome to come over, but I don't do my own foaming, I have my cases made at Innerspace. I don't need to foam out cases often enough to get into the custom thing myself. Fine . . .then we'll just come over and drink your wine and drool over your renovations Off to Innerspace with me . . . Karate lessons are wellcome to cut foam.... :ph34r: :ph34r: :ph34r: :ph34r: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Peter Hoare Posted February 1, 2009 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 Mm interesting idea. Ive used hot wire cutters to cut polystyrene etc, but never considered it would cut foam so cleanly. I think Charles is right about the pick n pluck foam, it does tend to fall apart after a while. Anyone know where you can get foam like this from? Id like to replace all my pick n pluck cases with properly cut foam if possible.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Daniel Erbeck Posted February 2, 2009 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 Go to http://www.foamdistributing.com/, great site. I just brought a couple sheets from here myself about 3 weeks ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Peter Hoare Posted February 2, 2009 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 If your in the UK, theres a company thats local to me in High Wycombe called GB Foam. I went there today and had a look at some of their stuff. The foam I have picked is perfect, quite stiff but soft and springy, and its black. Despite everyone at the foam suppliers telling me it wont work, it cuts perfectly with a hot wire. Its not too expensive, but it takes four days for them to cut it for you so you have to order it and then come back. If anyone wants some, they are round the corner so let me know. They can cut it to whatever size you like, whatever thickness. Maybe I can cut it for you too if you need it. Im getting pretty hot with a hotwire :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Peter Hoare Posted March 2, 2009 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Just a quick update regarding cutting foam. Its a LOT harder than it looks. ive gone through several differnt setups, the main problem is finding a wire size and tempreature that will stay hot enough to cut, without breaking. The thin wires cut very cleanly but snap after about three inches, and as you push the foam through, the wire stretches and the cut is not parallel through the foam. The thicker wires dont cut, they just burn whats infront of them, and the fumes give you major headaches. You also have to build in some kind of springy thing to take up the slack, as the wire expands when it heats up. My latest foam cutting device (made from 5inch steel box section) seems to do ok. The weight under the table is hanging off the wire, and this is what keeps it tight. It is powered with a car battery charger. I have made a temp regulator by winding some wire up and down a peice of wood. One end of the wire connects to the cutting peice, then the you connect the other side of the power supply to the regulator wire. The closer to the connected end the power supply wire is, the hotter the cutter. Its a fine balance between cutting, and melting. Also as you move the foam through the wire, it looses heat and starts to slow down. Then ou have to sit there and wait for it to warm up again, by which time its melted a big hole. More experiments to follow.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Afton Grant Posted March 2, 2009 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Nice work, Peter! After many similar experiments of my own, and putting well over $200 into parts for the cutter and pieces of nice foam that I inevitably destroyed, I made a call and realized I could get an entire piece of foam, precision cut with a water jet to fit my sled perfectly for $170.....delivered. I don't want to discourage anyone that wants to tinker, but I kind of wish I had made that phone call before nearly setting my house on fire and inhaling who knows how much toxic smoke. Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members JamieSilverstein Posted March 2, 2009 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Afton; I have to redo the foam in my sled case too. Where did you get it cut? What type of foam did you use? Call me if you'd rather not use up all of your finger typing power. Jamie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Afton Grant Posted March 2, 2009 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Hey Jamie, The company is South-Pak (www.south-pak.com) located down in GA. They're the same guys that did Ramon Engle's custom Magliner (see here). The foam is 1.6# closed cell polyethylene. It's quite firm - I definitely wouldn't recommend anything firmer. My old case, which I would mimic if I had to do it again, had a 1" layer of the firm stuff on top, just to prolong the life through repeated back-and-forth of the equipment. Beneath that was something a bit softer. I've had no complaints or problems with the firm stuff so far, and no real reason to suspect it won't do just fine. I'm all for DIY whenever possible, provided the results are at (or extremely close to) the same level as hiring it out. In this case, it was just far cheaper and far faster, with a far better result to leave it to the pros. The biggest job on my end was to get them the drawing. Cheers, Afton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Peter Hoare Posted March 2, 2009 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Hmm yes, thats defiantly some nice foam. I quite like the challenge of doing it myself. I havnt spent anything on the cutter, the foam is dirt cheap. I think it will look pretty good. If not, i already have contacts at a case foam company that would do me cheap foam anyway... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Peter Hoare Posted March 2, 2009 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Ah HA i think I have worked it out. They key is a really hot wire and fast movement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Peter Hoare Posted March 2, 2009 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 cracked it. Cut from an MDF template which i hacked out in 10mins with a jigsaw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Peter Hoare Posted March 5, 2009 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 5, 2009 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katerina Kallergis Posted August 11, 2009 Report Share Posted August 11, 2009 I know this is an older post but I figure I suggest something. How about an electric knife? You know, one that you would use to cut Pot Roast. I was given the idea by a friend and just tried it out to make some mods on one of my cases. Seems to do the trick just fine. -Kat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.