Whenever foam color doesn’t matter and you need a blank with unusual dimensions (exemple : a thin foam blank to be used as a core for a sandwich building approach), has anyone ever tried to build his own foam blanks. I figure we could use cans of expanding polyurethane foam to fill in a plywood “box”. Pierre
Whenever foam color doesn’t matter and you need a blank with unusual > dimensions (exemple : a thin foam blank to be used as a core for a > sandwich building approach), has anyone ever tried to build his own foam > blanks. I figure we could use cans of expanding polyurethane foam to fill > in a plywood “box”. I’ve tried this twice with not-so-good results. The foam was not very dense and you get large holes inside it. Why not use EPS as a core instead with epoxy? -H
I’ve tried this twice with not-so-good results. The foam was not very > dense and you get large holes inside it.>>> Why not use EPS as a core instead with epoxy?>>> -H I’ve hot-wired EPS/extruded as well (and with 1cm to 4 cm of sealed balsa in between, I’ve even used polyester). However I was just curious to know if I could cut down cost by blowing polyurethane blanks (instead of purchasing EPS). And I thought that if it’s feasible, then it’d be funny to give it a try (as I’m writing these lines I just remembered the scene from the movie Barefoot Adventure !) What did you use : spray or canned product ? Pierre
If you have time, you should check out this web page. On the left side under the volume 2 heading, the very last link is “From wood to foam”. It is a great account of evolution of foam technology, including stories of Hobie Alter blowing out a wall in his garage from an out of control foam mold. And how Greg Noll and his father (a chemist from Dow Chemical) got Grubby Clark drunk in order to get much needed information about is foam formula. If you like history, especially surf history it’s great. http://www.legendarysurfers.com/
What did you use : spray or canned product ? Canned. Came out extremely yellow. -H
that story about greg noll and his dad stealing foam recipes can also be found in Greg Noll: Life Over The Edge… good little book there too