Foam Source

Hey, you guys that cut foam wings. Where is the best place to buy some good quality virgin foam for cores? Gotta get my stuff together on this Hughes racer and I've convinced myself that the foam wing is the way to go...but I ain't got no foam!

Help!

LAST EDITED ON Jun-24-03 AT 03:41 PM (CDT)
 
Ted,

Hmm, I don't know about where you are. But here (Tacoma, WA) I go to an industrial foam insulation place over in Lakewood. If it's foam, they have it. I've got everything from that grey, carvable, structural foam to Rohacell to model carving foam to the superlight, white stuff.

Just look for someplace that does industrial foam insulation. The folks here are pretty cool about poking around and asking questions. I just picked up some really weird, carvable, cream colored stuff that is quite heavy and very dense that I plan to use to make molds for the fuselage on my next plane. Very neat stuff.

Ted,

Don't overlook your local home warehouse type store (Home Depot, Lowes, Builder's Square, etc.) or lumber yard. They often carrry sheets of various types of foam both white beaded and blue/pink. Even if you don't find exactly what you want for the final product, you can practice with what's available to get the hang of it.

LAST EDITED ON Jun-24-03 AT 04:07 PM (CDT)
 
Ted, Lone Star Balsa used to have good stuff. Blocks cut to your requested dimensions. They have an 800 number.

>Hey, you guys that cut foam wings. Where is the best place
>to buy some good quality virgin foam for cores? Gotta get
>my stuff together on this Hughes racer and I've convinced
>myself that the foam wing is the way to go...but I ain't got
>no foam!
>
>Help!
>
>Ted

Dunno where Keith Bryant gets it, known as Airacobra on here, but his stuff is first rate and he feather cuts some nice stuff!

>Hey, you guys that cut foam wings. Where is the best place
>to buy some good quality virgin foam for cores? Gotta get
>my stuff together on this Hughes racer and I've convinced
>myself that the foam wing is the way to go...but I ain't got
>no foam!
>
>Help!
>
>Ted
...just a word of caution: the foam from "Home Depot" , et. al. is not consistant quality. not only from board to board but also has density variations and "hard spots" within a single piece. Remember thier stuff was made for insulation not aerospace structure. The density changes and hard spots will cause the hot wire (if that's the technique you plan to use) to "snag" or slow down locally causing minor (sometime major!) deformations in the cut... particularily around small radius curves like the leading edge.

Just a comment from an ex-vari easy builder...

LAST EDITED ON Jun-25-03 AT 08:55 AM (CDT)
 
Ted,
How much do you need? Chris and I got a half billet of 1# virgin cut into 4" thick pieces. E-mail me.
Alan

>Ted,
>How much do you need? Chris and I got a half billet of 1#
>virgin cut into 4" thick pieces. E-mail me.
>Alan
Alan,

Thanks. I'll drop you a note when I get home. NASA computer isn't user friendly for that sort of thing.

LAST EDITED ON Jun-25-03 AT 04:00 PM (CDT)
 
>>The density changes and hard spots will cause the hot wire (if that's the technique you plan to use) to "snag" or slow down locally causing minor (sometime major!) deformations in the cut... <<

Well, this is why I look for foam at industrial supply places. You can dictate the density and quality.

Randy Powell

Edit: I just found a place locally that sells closed cell foam. Both the Styrofoam type "blue" and "pink" stuff and the stuff I was looking for, "Divinycell". They make surfboards and similar modelling stuff from this. Should be great for making molds for molded balsa blocks and such. This is a structural material and is pretty stong and can be carved and shaped. I suspect you could make foam wing structures too, but you'd have to hog it out quite a bit. Divinycell comes in numerous densities from 3lb to 70lb (yikes!). Not cheap and not easy to find unless you know where to look.

I found it under industrial insulation sales in the phone book.

Ted,

While Randy did not mention it, and I can assure you that foam from Mr. Resinger is of the highest quality, the really cool thing about buying foam from the processor is seeing it produced.

I've always gone to a plant in the Kent valley, they've got a mold that looks to be about the size of a railroad box car. Pellets get tossed in, they got all fluffed up by hittin' 'em with steam, out comes this monstrous block of foam. Which they soon slice into sheets using pretty normal-looking--even if industrial strength--hot-wire setups.

I don't believe we ever saved any money at all in going to the plant; but we did get exactly what we wanted, van loads of the stuff, and it was fun to see the processes used.

By the way, I am super impressed--NOT!--that you were able to make just a few passes in order to come up with suitable cores. Rush has a much, much higher rejection rate than that, he's cutting Combat cores and he's got just about the coolest foam cutter you are ever likely to see in anyone's basement.

Shucks, Dirt. By the time my wings get six pounds of paint on them the foam is pretty much an afterthought!

Lumber yard foam varies a lot from area to area, because in many cases, the foam comes from a local source. If the local factory makes good foam without regrinds, that's what you get, otherwise it can be pretty ratty. I've had foam with sawdust in it, hard spots, etc.

Also, don't forget to check your foam for straightness. Cutting straight wings out of bent foam can be a problem. Wet foam is also another problem - when the foam comes out of the mold, it is saturated with water (since they use steam to expand the beads). Foam has to be allowed to cure (to let the water to leave) before being used.

The absolutely bestest foam I came across was from a drywall company. They sell foam for EIFS use (you stick the foam on the outside of your house, then plaster it over) and the foam was absolutely uniform, no regrinds, flat, AND 1 lb. cu. ft. on the dot. Not only that, it was actually cheaper than the stuff from the lumber yard. Problem was you had to buy a whole bundle at a time. This foam actually had a brand name, so it didn't come from the local styro-factory.

LAST EDITED ON Jun-25-03 AT 05:10 PM (CDT) by LNeumann (admin)
 
>
>
>If you have a 800 number post it. It seems that I cannot
>find it.
>(edit by forum host. The rest of the above quote was deleted as it >was the post itself since it made some negative comments by an >anonymous user. This will no longer be tolerated. Hopefully, the >remainder of this thread will make sense.)

Info: (972)218-9663
Order: (800)687-5555
Fax: (972)218-921
http://www.lonestar-models.com

Yes, that was awfully difficult.

Just Happy,

I don't care if you are a friend, an acquaintance or a family member. You are casting aspersions on a man and his company, neither of which has ever done anything but the right thing by me.

Worse, you hide behind the veil of the internet while tossing your bombs. Don't even bother me with your tale of woe while I am enjoying the next Regionals. You have no credibility. Sorry to be so blunt about it, but I have zero patience with actions of the type you have taken, those who commit them.

For what it's worth I have never experienced anything but the highest level of service and satisfaction from Lone Star. This includes a couple of almost immediate phone calls to me with questions about on line orders, same day shipping, and a very good product.
Again,I have never had a problem but I expect Riley would like to hear of any and would do his best to correct it.

Just a Thought,

You very much need to think again.

Which shoe is on which foot has nothing to do with my comments. Were I to have had problems with Riley and/or Lone Star, I would say so. And, most importantly, I would sign my name to the missive, whatever form it might take. As it is, I have never had a problem in any way with Lone Star or Mr. Wooten, I said so. And signed my name.

I might toss a bomb once in awhile. But at least everybody knows exactly where said bomb came from. Huge difference in that approach and one we have seen demonstrated on this thread.

If you are going to bitch, please post your full name and give the details . instead of just bla, bla... Often the details look different to others and they can make their own judgement . Thanks. Mike Ogren

RE foam; The home depot white foam is the lightest at .8#per sq. ft.
The virgin foam is 1.0#per sq. The virgin cuts nicer tho and if you core out the wings, virgin is the way to go. If you dont core out, the home depot is 1-2oz lighter on a typical 400-450in wing .
MM:P

> If you are going to bitch, please post your full name and
>give the details . instead of just bla, bla... Often the
>details look different to others and they can make their own
>judgement . Thanks. Mike Ogren
>
> RE foam; The home depot white foam is the lightest at
>.8#per sq. ft.
> The virgin foam is 1.0#per sq. The virgin cuts nicer tho
>and if you core out the wings, virgin is the way to go. If
>you dont core out, the home depot is 1-2oz lighter on a
>typical 400-450in wing .
> MM:P

Mogren,

Thanks, that sounds like a good place to start. Does Home Depot handle the "virgin" foam as well? I know the first wings I cut (the only ones, actually!) for the original Trivial Pursuits I got what I later learned was "non-virgin" and, as you suggest, it didn't cut consistently. Had to cut several to get two good ones.

I was a little surprised to find out there aren't dozens of combat types with special sources for good foam. Does this mean that the Czech airplanes have pretty much eliminated that particular market for foam?

LAST EDITED ON Jun-25-03 AT 12:26 PM (CDT)
 
>I was a little surprised to find out there aren't dozens of
>combat types with special sources for good foam. Does this
>mean that the Czech airplanes have pretty much eliminated
>that particular market for foam?

Dozens of combat types? I guess that's right, if we include
Mexico and Canada. Not on this forum, though.

Superior, Sig, Lone Star, and CST all sell it,
but most people find a local source, 'cause it costs a lot
to ship. In the Yellow Pages, look for the EIFS,
an external wall cladding sometimes referred to as Arificial Stucco.
Iskandar discovered the stuff. In his experience, it's very flat
and straight, exactly 1 pound/cubic foot, and cuts like a dream.
Also cheaper than lumber-yard foam.

Finally, looking at Mejzlik's catalogue, I notice he no
longer sells Fast or FAI planes. Czecho planes are a thing of the past!