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imdying
13th June 2007, 20:49
You might have seen this foam in your travels... it's some sort of high density foam, which you can sand relatively easily. It's commonly used for making plugs for taking molds off... sand it into shape, seal it, take a mold off.

Not sure what it actually is, or what its true application is. If you've seen it commercially available somewhere, or even know what its proper name is, please post it up :yes:

jonbuoy
13th June 2007, 21:07
Been trying to find something similar myself. I was told to look out for the green type of foam flower arrangers use for dried flower displays (pretty embarrasing to ask for....) I got blank looks in most of the places I tried then I gave up and went another way. Be interested if you find it.

Milky
13th June 2007, 21:15
We - fsae - have used the stuff you are talking about for making plugs etc in the past, but I can't remember the trade name off the top of my head. Will see if i can find out for you.

As a matter of interest plugs for the 07 car are being made from polystyrene - maybe not the best for smaller scale jobs as it is harder to cut/shape, but you could give that a go.

Colapop
13th June 2007, 21:17
Is it a Vita product?

erik
13th June 2007, 21:24
I think redr1 might know what it's called/where to get it. I'll point him toward this thread...

imdying
13th June 2007, 21:25
Been trying to find something similar myself. I was told to look out for the green type of foam flower arrangers use for dried flower displays (pretty embarrasing to ask for....) I got blank looks in most of the places I tried then I gave up and went another way. Be interested if you find it.Stay tuned here then... if I find it, I'll post it. Good luck with your project.

We - fsae - have used the stuff you are talking about for making plugs etc in the past, but I can't remember the trade name off the top of my head. Will see if i can find out for you.

As a matter of interest plugs for the 07 car are being made from polystyrene - maybe not the best for smaller scale jobs as it is harder to cut/shape, but you could give that a go.Awesome. I've been using polystyrene, but it is hard to get a smooth enough surface to avoid copious amounts of filler. A friend has a father who works in polystyrene profile cutting. If I fail to find what I want, I still might turn to that. Let us know how you get on.


Is it a Vita product?Theirsite is lame, can't tell :no:

Sam I Am
13th June 2007, 21:29
I've seen similar stuff in boat building yards they use it for sandwich hull construction and comes in varying densities, unfortunately i dont know where to get it from sorry.

jester67
13th June 2007, 21:39
Have a yak to the guys at High Modulus about Efoam and the like. They use structural foams and stuff for building trick racing yachts (Xana/Konica Minolta etc) They may not know exactly what you are talking about but may be able to put you on the track.
Another option is make your own - Forman Insulation sell 2 pack insulating foams that are bound to be adjustable for density / finish. It won't be cheap as one of the parts comes in a 9kg LPG bottle but it may fill your need.

Madness
13th June 2007, 21:47
Para Rubber?

I needed some low density foam a while back, everyone I asked said Para were the best. Problem is the nearest Para Rubber store to me is Palmy North.

I improvised.

imdying
13th June 2007, 21:53
Para rubber charge like a wounded bull. If I have to be tucked on the price of foam, I'd rather someone else did it :lol:

spudchucka
13th June 2007, 21:59
Divinycell.

http://www.diabgroup.com/americas/u_products/u_prods_2.html

imdying
13th June 2007, 22:34
Worth a look :)

Kickaha
14th June 2007, 06:42
PM Eurodave he'll be able to tell you

Kflasher
14th June 2007, 07:11
Hey just a thought, I have used an expandable foam from a can over an existing panel to form cheap mould.
Highly polish and use of releasing agent you can apply foam and spread out with spatular, set in pre-cut carboard ribs for extra strength.
All depends if you have a good panel to start with.

imdying
14th June 2007, 10:15
Cheers for the tips. Bling will be distributed when the daily blingometer trips over. Currently I have nothing to start with, it's all from scratch.

spudchucka
14th June 2007, 15:49
Worth a look :)

Its used extensively by manufacturers of windsurfing boards.

http://www.carbonart.co.nz/#

You could always give Jimmy a call for advice.

imdying
14th June 2007, 15:54
Ah ha! I'll ring a local shop first, see where that takes me :yes:

imdying
15th June 2007, 09:53
Apaprently I want Rigid Polyrethane Foam, 32kg density, available from Forman Building Systems, 0800 45 4000 :)

imdying
15th June 2007, 10:56
Yes, Formans have it, although not in stock. You just need to tell them what size you want it cut to, and they'll get it. They also have a higher grade (F or H or something) polystyrene which is cheaper than the Polyurethane.

Crisis management
15th June 2007, 11:17
Be aware of the differences between polyuretane and polystyrene...polystyrene is a whole heap of little balls stuck together while polyurethane is a "solid" foam.
Depending on the finish, you want you may be better off with the polyurethane. It will sand to a better finish while the polystyrene tends to leave a rougher surface as it "sands" by losing balls out of the surface rather than abrading material off a solid mass.

Does that make sense?

A cheap option may be a scrounge around a commercial building site, there is usually tons of offcuts lying about. Ask and you may be rewarded!

imdying
15th June 2007, 11:41
Yep.. the rough surface left by those balls is my problem... takes too much body filler to get it smooth again! (I've been using polystyrene).

jade
16th June 2007, 14:05
go to a boat building yard for some high density foam - or hi mod

IamCornholio
29th June 2007, 13:49
Hey just a thought, I have used an expandable foam from a can over an existing panel to form cheap mould.
Highly polish and use of releasing agent you can apply foam and spread out with spatular, set in pre-cut carboard ribs for extra strength.
All depends if you have a good panel to start with.


imdying quote as well (because I read it all before I posted...) "Yep.. the rough surface left by those balls is my problem... takes too much body filler to get it smooth again! (I've been using polystyrene)."


I thought Kflasher had some good advice friend. :yes: Some of the spray can stuff can very quickly form a 'workable' mold for building up panels and such stuff... So long as you use the releasing agent correctly you can easily build up a mold with this stuff if you have a sort of pattern to go off of for building up your mold...

As far as the polystyrene stuff... Are you shaping it with a sander or a knife or what? Let me know exactly what you are trying to build here so that I can help you out if I can friend...

Tell me a little about your project here soas that I can help if possible... I saw your name on the thread and had to try... :scooter:

You are a friendly and helpful fellow here at KB imdying. If I was a girl, I would give you some pu**^... Sadly, I can't really DO all that so I will just do my best to help you with your project instead... :yes:








IamCornholio

Kflasher
29th June 2007, 14:06
You can use this spray expandable foam for heaps of uses apart from it's intended use.
i.e. To build a custom air box I placed a rubbish bag on top of engine, placed tank back into position and then slowly filled rubbish bag with foam. This gave me a pretty good mould of the space I had available to use.

IamCornholio
29th June 2007, 14:32
You can use this spray expandable foam for heaps of uses apart from it's intended use.
i.e. To build a custom air box I placed a rubbish bag on top of engine, placed tank back into position and then slowly filled rubbish bag with foam. This gave me a pretty good mould of the space I had available to use.

I had a feeling that you had already done some cool stuff with all that... :yes:

Searching your post's now to find some pics of your skills... Very cool! :Punk:
I saw your 'quote' below your post... Here is one of my 'special' simpsons avartars that I use at times. You can 'borrow' it here at KB for a while if you wish friend... :rockon:


Awesome people hangin out here for sure IMO! :scooter:



IamCornholio

Chrislost
29th June 2007, 17:28
for polystyrene just get a HOT WIRE(eg short a car battery) to cut it, usually can sand a little but of smothness into that before you start to loose your balls.
My dad used it to make a plug for a RC sail boat a few years ago.

degrom
28th September 2007, 14:07
Yep.. the rough surface left by those balls is my problem... takes too much body filler to get it smooth again! (I've been using polystyrene).


What did you use in the end?

imdying
28th September 2007, 14:11
MDF :yes:


10 fuckin chars

classic zed
29th September 2007, 19:57
we use a commercial insulation foam for this, I carved every bit myself:clap:

it was for the power rangers:woohoo:

they look very different after the moulds are made and final bodywork is produced

Thenaughtebucket
29th September 2007, 22:46
While the style of the bike looks incredibly cheesy,looks great, the work that youve done to produce that must have been huge!

How long did it take you?

classic zed
30th September 2007, 01:30
While the style of the bike looks incredibly cheesy,looks great, the work that youve done to produce that must have been huge!

How long did it take you?

as I said they were for the Power Rangers and you dont get much cheesier than that.

took about 8-10 weeks, but thats start to finish, there is a lot of brackets under the fibreglass to hold them on, the stunt riders just abuse the life out of them.

here is a quad we built too:done:

classic zed
4th October 2007, 11:56
This will make you laugh too, look what we have done with a brand new KTM Super Motard

:innocent: