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Shades of Del Cannon in Brown's movies.
Yes, PLEASE post photos...even the "wrong" ones.
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pontoon feet? lol
Walkin' on Water Huck, you got it.
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I am going to make a big rectanglular box that is these dimensions and buy a pour foam kit in 2lb density from uscomposites.com and make my own huge block of foam. From that, carve/shape my SUP blanks.
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I don't think I would go with 2 lb. The 4 lb. density sounds much more suitable for your application. From the website:
Our 2LB density marine foam is recommended for void filling in nonstructural applications. This product can be poured underneath decks and inside cavities where a lightweight flotation foam is needed to provide buoyancy.
3 LB Density Urethane Foam
Common Applications: Can be used as a lightweight foam for carving or sculpting as well as some limited casting applications Gives better detail than our 2LB density foam. The 4LB density should be used for better quality castings and improved strength.
4 LB Density Urethane Foam
Common Applications: This 4LB density foam is suited well for most flotation applications that require more support than the 2LB offers. This foam is recommended to be used when supporting gas tanks and some deck areas. Choose this density if you feel that the foam will be required to withstand minor to moderate loads. The 4LB density also works well in floating decoy or taxidermy applications as well as many other sculpting, casting, carving and other filling applications.
Because of all the cautionary posts, I would proceed very tentatively. I would do one board first, perhaps a small boogie-board size, or a shortboard, to completion, meaning all the way to glassing / riding. Get to know the properties of the materials before taking on something so ambitious as several SUP blanks. And I would definitely forget the December deadline for the project. That's just me.
Looking forward to your pictures and progress reports!
I'm not sure the product here, but I'm guessing this is probably a similar pour-foam, and likely represents the color and texture you can expect
“If a substance’s relative density is less than one then it is less
dense than the reference; if greater than 1 then it is denser than the
reference. If the relative density is exactly 1 then the densities are
equal; that is, equal volumes of the two substances have the same mass.
If the reference material is water then a substance with a relative
density (or specific gravity) less than 1 will float in water. For
example, an ice cube, with a relative density of about 0.91, will float.
A substance with a relative density greater than 1 will sink.”
Time and Temperature will also play an important role besides the chemical challenges.
Will you run heating coils in your mold?
Copper tubing, heating element, thermostat?
Of course SG is a key factor. How do you plan to control this!
You will have two parts in your kit: A & B -
Will you mix them to a specific gravity factor?
100 CL Water vs 100 CL PU mixed = SG
Do you know the perfect number?
I hope you have enough enclosed real estate to pull this off.
You will need the right Ambient Temperature.
By all means “PLEASE POST PICS!”
This will be great entertainment!
Kind regards,
surfding
Don’t take no for an answer FFJ, you can do it; nonetheless, there is wisdom in the advice given by the peanut gallery.
The thing I amire most about firefighterjay is that this man is determined.
Like ghettorat says, “Don’t take no for an answer FFJ, you can do it!”
Keep us posted and PLEASE post pics of your process.
STEP by STEP
Very Kind regards,
surfding
Thank you! I appreciate your words, very kind I do intend to do it. Perhaps they will not be ready for Chritmas but they will be done! I will start off doing a small scale pour and glass/pigment and shaping to get used to working with the materials and see how it really comes together. One thing I have forgot to include for those curious as to why I won’t buy EPS or drive to Vancouver bc then down to fiberglass supply is:
-eps foam sheets for 1.5inch thick by 8feet long and 2 feet wide are $22 each. Takes 5 to make a SUP (already have made one like that. Not to mention the crap ton of glue to keep the sheets together.
-Vancouver is a $65 one way ticket from Victoria (am on the island). I would then need to get a passport ($80 odd bucks) and gas! We pay roughly $4.50 a gallon of regular!! My truck blows on gas too.
Hopefully that helps people understand as to why im
Venturing into the abyss of building my own PU blanks.
I will post all photos of small scale attempts then provided that works, the sup will follow.
Another point- to build 4, sup using EPS with 2 layers top and bottom of 6oz e glass and epoxy with little pigment and all the glue and such= $2000. Build my own PU and use poly res-4 boards= $900.
Thank you all for your input!!
Do you know if the foam formula has a TDI or MDI base ? If it is TDI, gloves, resperator an absolute must and make sure to have templates ready to carve out duck feet like Del Cannon made in the “Slippery when wet” movie.
I watched the top tier of Clark’s business after the great fall, with the formula, chemicals and expertise, still not be able to blow the same blank.
Lots of luck, you’re going to need it
I'm glad to see some of you encourage FFj. Over the years I've heard people talk about Pour foam but few did anything with it this creative. I say let the boy run. It'll be an interesting and informative thread.
I hate to encourage some one into a venture that is a bottomless hole that their money will be sucked into, the molds that need to be about 4 layers of 3/4"ply thick. Urethane is so adhesive, that it would be captive within its plywood coffin, that is if the coffin stayed intact, which, if it has a lid, is in most likelyhood, impossible.
My father used to prod me to start blowing my own foam, I had worked at factories that did make their own blanks and saw the problems expert foam guys ran into on a daily basis.
I would have had to make multiple molds, learn how to make all the mistakes myself, At least I knew enough to not even try
If it ain’t rocket science, it’s a goddamn close second to it
If it ain’t rocket science, it’s a goddamn close second to it
Well Jim that’s where it started with some guys who worked in the aerospace industry, and since it is still used by them, your argument seems to hold up pretty well. Gordon Clark really had it down, manuals for everything, and not just different formulas for the weight of the the foam, but for the time of the day.
Nobody said it was going to be easy, ask Harold Walker-about the second time around. I miss the Wilmington daze. I even miss his pesky little dog Charlie, who really didn’t like the postman.
First off, thanks to ghettorat, McDing, Surfding and whoever else sides on the “do it” side! Your words of encouragement are awesome!
I bought a two liter kit of 2lb. PU pour foam yesterday while we had down time at work. However, Part A has leaked thru original seal and dried! Back to return it on Monday. Im too excited to try this out!
On the lable it states: “faom generated at air or surface temp. below 70 degrees will be denser with less volume.”
It also says: “caution should be used when filling cavities with limited escape vents for excess foam…Structual integrity may be compromised if cavity is designed to restrict this process.”
I wonder about those that have tried such a project with failed attempts becuase they may have forced the product to not expand with the intention of making it a denser foam? The foam comes in predetermined densities (2,3,4,8,16lb). Uscomposites guy said DO NOT force the expanding foam into an inclosed area. And, With LITTLE backpressure of a lid with air/foam escape holes the foam will fill the cavity (big rectangle sliced into halves for ease of working) and will fill up to its predetermined density (2,3,4,8,16lb).
With this 2 lb kit, i will pour half of it in a small rectangle mold (roughly 1/4 scale of real SUP) and let it do its thing at roughly 15 degrees celcius (59 F) and the other at 75 F. Regardless, 1 Cu. Foot is buoyant to 60lbs. Just depends on how dense the final product is.
I have the camera ready and will be taking photos of this process or Maybe a video and throw it up on youtube so everyone can see in real time. How the hell does one do that though? lol.
There are youtube videos that show people using similar foam and making stuff…may give those who say Nay against my adventure a bit of an idea as to what It may look like. Also, i discussed the mold for the final big block of foam with uscomposites…he says no thicker is needed than 1/2" plywood all around and for the base and lid. Line it with poly wrap or use their mold release wax. Plus, he says he has guys to whom he sells the pour foam who make their own blanks. Sales pitch? Perhaps 
I know it isnt Clark foam, hell, i have never seen Clark foam so I have no basis for comparison. As for the yellow the finished foam is, I am going to cover with pigmented resin during glassing. And if shes real ugly…hot coat then spray with acryilic and clear coat 
Or learn to love the ugly duck for what she is As long as i am on the water tasting the spray of ocean water, I am in heaven.
What I do know is that I am going to carry through. I may fail, and that is fine. But I will never fully know what this foam and I are capable of if I don’t do it. If it works… then smack my arse and call me Charlie! lol
Pics to come Monday December 5th night i hope.
If they said that about the Wright brothers and how impossible flight was then, or Hughes and the Spruce Goose… where would we be today? One life, grab er by the bal…horns!
previous to the Wright Bros. powered flight, there had been glider flights and Howard huges was also a sucessful aeronautical engineer.
I’m no naysayer, just the suppliers of the chems make it sound soooooooooooooo easy, when I have first hand experience over 50 years of “oh fuck” how did that go so wrong ?
Its gonna be a exciting week, starting with some foam pouring on monday, then pipeline masters on thursday:)
I say: go for it. if you do this step by step approach, you don’t have much to loose. I had an idea about hotwiring the dome of an eps surfboard and shared it here. everybody disliked it, i tried it, and it worked perfect. Bottom line: if you have an idea, follow it. cheers florian
Aren’t real blanks made in concrete molds with huge concrete lids that have to be clamped down to resist the expanding forces of the foam?
No was in the Homeblown uk factory a few weeks ago watching them blow blanks in fibreglass 2 part molds
So I mixed the tins of the the PU foam i have in a small container and poured it into my plastic box of a mold. The box was a small drawer that I deemed perfect for this little test. It had 90 degree angles where the sides and bottom met and weird triangle like angles in the four corners. The foam rose perfectly and into all the corners with no room spare! I did all this on the ground ontop of garbage bags. I goofed...In my excitement i didnt line the drawer with garbage bags so it will take some time to get it out. But where the foam leaked onto the garbage bags it detached easily and perfectly! This was a 2lb density pour foam. I cut off a chunk about 4 inches thick and stood on it-held my weight (200lbs) without collapsing. So far everything seems to be going according to plan. There are also no airpockets. It also sands very easily!
I will be cutting small slabs of it to test glassing it and trying pigmented resin and then resin swirls. Id like to get an idea how it all works before throwing it on a final big blank.
If that goes well, I will be making myself a SUP using this foam!'
As for making a mold to seriously compress this stuff... i see no need to this far. I have yet to go further and still, it may all be a bust. But for now she worked better than i thought :)
Given the stiffness of the foam in the 2lb density, and with 2 layers of 6 oz that i will put, im sure this density will work just fine.
Pictures to go up tomorrow or tuesday