I wish Ken at Segway was still doing his thing…
I need a block of foam 8" x 8" x 12’ long.
Would prefer XPS but EPS works too.
Does anybody know where I can find something like this in California?
Ama for a boat?
EPS will be easier to glue and less likely to delam after glassing.
Geofoam rep in California:
Maybe they can hook you up with a drop of some kind. I like 1.5 PCF, some people like 2 PCF.
1 Like
Yes it’s an ama for an outrigger canoe.
Thanks for the info, I’ll contact them
There are at least three EPS companies in Arizona. A little further away, but easy freight into California. One of them is the originator of the former “White Hot”. Geo Foam America, Insul Foam and Universal Construction Foam. Consider the possibility of giving Marko a call. They sell all kinds of foam and make all kinds of foam products. If you were able to create a file or give them something to scan, they could cut an ama. If you go that rout; Get ahold of me and I will give you a cell#. They may have cut one for somebody else. In which case they may have a file that they can share.
Chrisp,
The suggestions above are good.
If you want to use 8” wide strips of 2” thick XPS housing insulation sheet, I would not use XPS insulation foam with less than 25 psi minimum compressive strength. DuPont and Owens-Corning both make sheet XPS insulation with this property (last time I checked it was about $30 for a 2” x 24” x 96” sheet).
For glueing 2” x 8” x 96” strips of XPS together, 3M 78 spray adhesive is likely to be much more effective than Gorilla Glue.
My guess is you have plenty of scrap XPS now that you could test the 3M 78 on. The XPS bodyboard I made for the grandkids 6 years ago from the cheap 15 psi XPS housing insulation and 3M 78 spray adhesive is still glued together — and I rode it at 185 lb 6 years ago. (I glued together three sheets of 1” thick XPS.). But don’t use less than 25 psi for your project.
For big canoe i would use 15kg/m3 eps core, no more, with an hand lam 6oz biax carbon between 4oz surfglass. I know a guy that build his long ocean canoe for fishing like that with succes.
Thanks for all of the responses!
JRandy, Geofoam needed a $1000 minimum. =(
OSS1, I will contact Marko…
Stoneburner, I do have XPS chunks laying around and will give the 3M a try. I don’t have any 3M 78 though, I will have to look for it. I have 77 and the permanent stuff (99?) but I suspect those might melt the foam? Hmmm
Lemat, thanks for the tips. I fully trust your expertise in glassing EPS. I put 15kg/m3 into a calculator and it came back as 1 pound per cubic foot. Does that sound correct? That’s pretty lightweight foam. I was assuming I should get 1.5 - 3 pound foam (24kg/m3 - 48kg/m3). Also, I have a bunch of 2mm cork and my vac pump… I was debating about putting cork on the top after glassing. For dent resistance and maybe traction since I’m sure I will stand on it at some point.
I saw that USBlanks does block cut SUP blanks. I contacted them to ask if they could cut me a block. Waiting to see what they say.
Another option is to buy a SUP blank, have them cut it in fourths lengthwise. I have a stringer already. I figure I could glue something up from that…
Just thinking out loud…
That minimum buy is no fun.
I like the idea of reaching out to Marko or someone making SUP’s.
We once got ahold of a 6" x 4 x 8’ sheet of 1 PCF EPS sold as roof insulation by a construction supply outfit (not a box store). It dented easier than 1.5 PCF but got us into 2 blanks without have to glue up for thickness when we were first starting out.
If you could stand it being in 2 pieces, I wonder if Greenlight would be an option (shipping might cost more than the foam but you could probably get some pre-shaping of the ama as part of the package)
1 Like
That’s not a bad idea.
I’m thinking about reaching out to some friends that work for large construction companies and see if they could get some…
My fingers are crossed that USBlanks or Marko can line me up.
They are both a few hours south of me and send shipments to my local blank shop bi-monthly
3M 77 will melt XPS/EPS foam. I suspect 90 will too.
78 is specifically formulated for XPS.
1 Like
Chrisp if i understand what you build, it’s lot of volume, hi density foam with light skin don’t work here, too much weight penalty and not enough skin stiffness. Look how are build race paddle.
15kg/m3 is 1lb foam max you should use is 20kg/m3 (1.25lb). Sandwich where you need most of stiffness (cockpit) multiaxial glass carbon for all skin.
Look this project: