Where do I...????

[Guest]

Hi guys and gals.

I found my way here via Wonwinglo's website which dispite my need to get on with some work today kept me staring at the screen for over 2 hours.

My boss isn't going to be happy. :darn:

Anyway, I am after some advice. I want to make a compsite material seat unit for a racing bike and I want to make a foam mock up that I can use to do a proof of concept and then make a mould from. Problem is that I can't seem to find anywhere that does blocks of blue foam big enough. I've tried searching on the internet but all I keep getting is people selling upholstery foam for chairs, etc, or thin sheets of the stuff. I'm clearly not searching for the right thing or not wording my searches properly.

Does anyone know where I can get decent sized blocks from?

Regards

Ian

[Guest]

Try Yellow Page or similar for Sheffield Insulations, there should be a depot near you. They sell industrial/builders grade in 3 densities. B1 is the fine grade. Not compatable with polyester resins, coat with barrier of brown paper on white water-based wood glue. OK with epoxy. Comes in 8 X 4 ft sheets about 4" thick. Glue slabs with wood glue to make blocks. Hope this helps.

[wonwinglo]

Hello Ian,Duncan has answered the question about supply admirably,just a few things about using this material-A few useful tools are a large bread knife to hack through the blocks of foam,you can use surforms,very coarse grade sanding paper,a keyhole saw is also useful.

Be careful of hot wire unless you have proper ventilation,I looked in horror at the recent 'Art School challenge' programme on TV at the Chelsea college of art and design,as students ( and tutors ) were obviously not aware of the cyanide fumes that are given off with this material,as they cut blanks of blue foam with no form of extraction.

Blue foam certainly has its uses in big bulky jobs like you are doing there,best of luck with the project.

[Guest]

Missed the Beeb programme. Where were their Health and Safety team ? Fumes also dust. Lowering standards, any swearing/nudity/violence/sex in the programme ????

[wonwinglo]

Missed the Beeb programme. Where were their Health and Safety team ? Fumes also dust. Lowering standards' date=' any swearing/nudity/violence/sex in the programme ????[/quote']***Duncan,it was Clarissa-Dickson-Wright who was cutting out some lip shapes with one of those hot wire cutters,she was right above the fumes,as we know a lot of wing cutter companies will not use blue foam because of its toxity,it is fine to sand and inert as such,but a warning here go outside and do it ! the dust gets everywhere and will stick due to the static and the lightness of the material.

I am really surprised that the college did not take some precautions,the room must have been filled with fumes.

[Guest]

Many thanks for the replies guys. It's been really useful and now know where I can get some blocks from.

It does seem to be the case that a lot of modelling sites talk about blue foam but hardly any refer to the hazards of this material. Having seem the mess left aftershaping on wonwinglo's site I'm reconsidering my options as to where to carry out the prototyping.

Hot-wire cutting would seem to be the least messy option but keeping a steady hand and a constant movement looks like it may be too difficult, especially with the size and shape that I am going to be working with.

By the sounds of it I can treat this material like I would a block of wood, shaping with a saw, sand/glass paper, etc.

Do you have any recommendations for keeping your work area clean, or how to clean up after shaping blue foam?

Cheers

Ian

[wonwinglo]

Many thanks for the replies guys. It's been really useful and now know where I can get some blocks from.It does seem to be the case that a lot of modelling sites talk about blue foam but hardly any refer to the hazards of this material. Having seem the mess left aftershaping on wonwinglo's site I'm reconsidering my options as to where to carry out the prototyping.

Hot-wire cutting would seem to be the least messy option but keeping a steady hand and a constant movement looks like it may be too difficult, especially with the size and shape that I am going to be working with.

By the sounds of it I can treat this material like I would a block of wood, shaping with a saw, sand/glass paper, etc.

Do you have any recommendations for keeping your work area clean, or how to clean up after shaping blue foam?

Cheers

Ian

***Ian,it is not all doom and gloom on blue foam,the warnings are given because yes you are correct in saying that many people are just not aware of the cyanide fumes including the BBC,but provided you sand outside and just wear some sensible clothing ( the static makes it stick to wool etc ) then you should be fine,there is just no other material that has the bulk of foam from which to prepare patterns apart from large blocks of wood which are both expensive and difficult to work.

As you can see from the photographs the tiny beads and sanding mess will just get everywhere and proper clean up is impossible,it does sand well with a belt sander but once again kicks it several feet into the air,as a responsible group of people I think it only sensible to mention these points,but go ahead if you have an empty garage or somewhere to work that does not have too much clutter then that will be fine,the trusty Dyson will get to work sucking up the debris afterwards.