Tools for foamies!

[squatch]

I haven't seen this mentioned so thought I'd throw it out there. I used to mess with foam a bit making theatrical scenery many years ago. Some of the techniques were very similar to the way you folks here are doing your Foamies. It's only a matter of time before folks start getting artsy on the shape of these Foamies as the basics get sorted out.

Anyway my favorite tool for working styrofoam is a Surform plane. AKA a cheese grater. The come in big, small, flat, round, and 1/2 round styles. They chew through foam like hot butter and are easy to control once you get the hang of it. Great for precise shaping and joinery. Just like wood cut your joints tight and hand shape them with the file.
Some pics.
http://www.google.com/products/catalog? ... CFgQ8wIwAw

http://www.google.com/products/catalog? ... CFwQ8wIwBA

http://shop.pitsco.com/store/detail.aspx?ID=2712&bhcp=1

No affiliation with the above just web pics to show the tools.

Here is another great shaping tool. a 4 way rasp. It has a flat and round side in both coarse and fine.
http://www.google.com/products/catalog? ... CFcQ8wIwAg

I saw a pic of someone making both side match on their Foamie. These tools could be a big help in that kind of work.

All these are also great on wood. But the above are all RASPS and should be considered rough shaping tools. Especially on wood. A little sanding after these do their job is often needed for finish work.

Like anything else test on a scrap piece till you get the hang of it.

Also a word on saws and foam. Any dull blade will cut foam. Use an old one. Both for power and hand saws. Styrofoam is tough stuff with a zillion tough little cells of plastic. These will dull in new high quality blade in moments. So don't waste a good one use your old stuff. The exception might be sabre saw blades. Those are pretty much disposable anyway.

I having thoughts on making a simple doweling jig out of wood. Like you would use for putting pieces of a wooden tabletop together. That way for making sides that are larger than 4x8 you could end dowel these pieces together. It would help alignment and shear strength. Maybe use a 1/2" x 12 drill bit. Just something for straight edge drilling of foam panels say maybe 4" - 6" deep. Same for doweling window and door frames in place.
Something like this made out of 1x plank.
http://www.google.com/products/catalog? ... CFoQ8wIwAQ

I hope this info can be of use to someone. Feel free to add your tool tips to this thread.

[Conedodger]

I have found the best thing to cut a long straight line is a putty knife or spreader.

Sharpen one of the sides and pull it along like in the picture

[GPW]

Foam is so nice and easy to work with ...

[eaglesdare]

i think it was me that was trying to get both sides the same. i was using a block sander, wide enough to get both pieces. home made of course.

cool stuff.

[GPW]

We used the old belt sander for matching and rounding too ....Very Carefully ... Homemade block sander works every time , and allows you to make mistakes more slowly than with power tools ...

[eaglesdare]

i am glad though i figured out the jigsaw. that was a great tool for the foamie, rather than the steak knife. the knife left too much roughness behind, then sanding was required. but that was the way i did it first. did not know better. love the jigsaw now. that is all i have worked with.
hopeing to try out a router one day with foam.

i like that one site that we have marked as a sticky. love the eagle there. so on my list of things to do: an eagle made similiar to that will be done.

i have found my router, but can't find any bits. don't know why they all aren't together.

[GPW]

Eagle I could really see routing the kerf cuts in foam , especially with a simple edge guide made to register in the previous route... That would be quick and easy .... Bit dangerous as all routers are... Gotta' be careful !!!

[depatty]

Been lurking for a while now but you Foamies have gotten me to thinking about building another camper. Looked at the perforating tool but being cheap decided to make my own. Drilled a 1/4" hole through a 6" long piece of broom handle. Turned it true on the outside on the lathe. Cut a piece of leather to fit around it and punched a couple of hundred holes in that. Put 7/8" carpet tacks in every other hole, coated the roller and back of the leather and tack heads with contact cement and once tacky put the covering on the roller. Put a short (cut off) nail in one end and using beading wire secured the end to it and then wrapped around each tack from end to end, then put in another nail at the other end and finished it off. Used a roller handle to try it out. I may make another one for it to support from both sides but it works ok as it is. Thinking about covering the leather with epoxy. Gonna test a couple of small pieces of foam out once I get some fresh GG. All of mine has gone bad. Couple of pictures below.

Note that the piece of foam has been run over SEVERAL times with it while testing it out. Will try to get another picture with just one pass on another scrap when I get home.

Thanks for all the great ideas folks!

[GPW]

Dave , That's just too COOL !!! You guys are just remarkable in your resourcefulness ... Those perfs should really hold anything down really well !!!

[Ratkity]

OMG!! That thing looks like a medieval torture device!!!

LOL, good job at thriftiness. How many holes did you put in your fingers with those tacks? I hate those prickly things.

Hugs,
Ratkity

edited cuz I kant spel

[mikeschn]

Dave,

That looks good! I'll have to take a picture of mine.

Your nails come straight out, whereas mine come out on an angle...

Check back later, I'll take some pics...

Mike...

[eaglesdare]

hmm, makes me think i should be thankful for all the dents and dings in my foam. no need to smooth the foam out.

[GPW]

Eagle , fear not !!! We still know the secret to re-attach the canvas should it come loose by itself , which I kinda' doubt since mine's sat in this tortuous HEAT , in the Sun , and even the black paint parts are still tight as a drum ... It's so hot if I touch those parts , it WILL burn my hand ...

96F here Inside my Studio ... HOT HOT HOT!!... I'm having to "mist" myself in front of the fan ...

Really concentrating now on getting the AC for the Foamie ... Got to !!!

[depatty]

GPW, Thanks! I'm looking at using layers of foam so need to really hold it together and don't really want to have to remove the membrane or sand it all. Figure the perfs will allow much better bonding between layers.

Ratkity, Exactly what my wife called it! Actually didn't draw blood even once. Tough hands, and verrrrry careful.

Mike, Thanks! All I had to go on was the picture at the link GPW posted. Not sure what difference the angled nails would make in poking holes in the foam. In the tests I have done the holes are more slots so the angle may make the holes come out round rather than the slots I am seeing.

Found one bottle of GG that I was able to break the top open on and scrape enough out to do a quick and dirty test with. Coated one piece with the GG spread on real thin and the other piece with water. Put them together and clamped them. Will rip them apart after it cures to see how the perfs facilitate bonding. As the nails have about 3/8" exposed there should be about a 1/4 inch deep hole in each piece so hope to get a real good bond. Will see.

Below are pictures of the holes with a ruler to see spacing, one of the two pieces, glued, dampened, and ready to put together, and one of them in the clamp, since I know how y'all likes the pictures.

[GPW]

WOW!!! That should Never come apart ...