Heat Bending Foam ...

Canvas covered foamies (Thrifty Alternatives...)

Moderator: eaglesdare

Re: Heat Bending Foam ...

Postby atahoekid » Wed Sep 03, 2014 10:40 pm

OMG!!!! The answer is that simple?!?! :? :? :? If I knew that in advance, the Road Foamie might look A LOT different... I need the details... Please...
Mel

"Believe in your abilities... Remember amateurs built the ark, professionals built the Titanic"

"Indecision may or may not be my problem" Jimmy Buffet

Image

The Road Foamie Build Thread: viewtopic.php?t=45698
User avatar
atahoekid
Platinum Donating Member
 
Posts: 1773
Images: 158
Joined: Sat Jul 24, 2010 2:49 am
Location: Incline Village, NV

Re: Heat Bending Foam ...

Postby RAYVILLIAN » Sat Sep 06, 2014 8:06 am

Well that was only 1/2 inch foam and I've never tried it with the thicker stuff, but that is actually a 6" bend and it didn't break. Seems that the cloth holds the surface tension and keeps it from cracking.

Gary
Where ever we raise the hatch is home.
Darn blank states keep getting further away and we keep traveling slower ain't never gona get this map full.
111961Image
User avatar
RAYVILLIAN
Lifetime member
 
Posts: 1434
Images: 109
Joined: Thu Aug 05, 2004 9:33 pm
Location: Rayville MO

Re: Heat Bending Foam ...

Postby Mrs Rayvillian » Sat Sep 06, 2014 11:37 am

Trudy said breakfast was ready so had to go eat. I seem to remember that I tried that when I was first experimenting with paint and bed sheets so that was probably done with tightbond primer and bed sheets. Like i said I've never tried it with thicker foam but I'd think that you couldn't get that much bend with the thicker stuff but you might get enough for a good curve.

gary
111961121521
User avatar
Mrs Rayvillian
Teardrop Master
 
Posts: 157
Joined: Thu Aug 20, 2009 7:43 pm
Location: Rayville, MO
Top

Re: Heat Bending Foam ...

Postby GPW » Sat Sep 06, 2014 4:34 pm

A 3’ radius wouldn’t be asking too much , and would solve a lot of problems making trailer noses and rear curved hatches ... Just to do that alone would be really SUPER ... :thumbsup:
My friend at the guitar factory mentioned heat blankets again .... the commercial ones that get hot enough to do the job ... Only problem is they’re a bit too expensive for the casual foamie builder (like us) , I just want something that we can do at home ... affordably too ... and NOT make a big mess...

Now if I were doing this commercially , I’d surely build full size bending /cooling forms forms , acquire the foam in the proper sizes and bend up all the parts at once, using the heat blankets ... or something similar and easy ...
That would only work if you were making a good many Foamy trailers ... which could be a good business if done right ... :thinking: A mobile “cottage industry” ... :roll: :lol:
There’s no place like Foam !
User avatar
GPW
Gold Donating Member
 
Posts: 14911
Images: 546
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2006 7:58 pm
Location: New Orleans
Top

Re: Heat Bending Foam ...

Postby atahoekid » Sat Sep 06, 2014 11:37 pm

It appears that primer,which as GPW has mentioned is essentially a latex glue and bedsheets or in our cases canvas allows us to heat foam and bend it without kerfing it or breaking it. The question is how to heat it????? If you could do it reliably, I would think that using a heat gun would be the easiest to do...
Mel

"Believe in your abilities... Remember amateurs built the ark, professionals built the Titanic"

"Indecision may or may not be my problem" Jimmy Buffet

Image

The Road Foamie Build Thread: viewtopic.php?t=45698
User avatar
atahoekid
Platinum Donating Member
 
Posts: 1773
Images: 158
Joined: Sat Jul 24, 2010 2:49 am
Location: Incline Village, NV
Top

Re: Heat Bending Foam ...

Postby jgraham698 » Sun Nov 16, 2014 2:14 pm

I'm new to the forum and this is my first post. I have some work experience steam bending wood and it
occurred to me that a compression strap as sometimes used for that would work for foam bending. My
teenage children helped me post a youtube video titled "how to bend styrofoam with a compression strap"
back in February that shows my first experiments. I am bending without heat. The foam bends well but
requires something glued to the inner surface to hold shape. I'll stop here and see if I can post this. I 'm
not much good with computers.
jgraham698
Teardrop Inspector
 
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Nov 16, 2014 4:38 am
Top

Re: Heat Bending Foam ...

Postby GPW » Sun Nov 16, 2014 6:01 pm

There’s no place like Foam !
User avatar
GPW
Gold Donating Member
 
Posts: 14911
Images: 546
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2006 7:58 pm
Location: New Orleans
Top

Re: Heat Bending Foam ...

Postby Jst83 » Sun Nov 16, 2014 7:11 pm

GPW wrote:Something like this ? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92m2G3jbHYI


:thinking: That was white foam bent how would the pink stuff work :oops: not sure of the proper names
Image
User avatar
Jst83
3000 Club
3000 Club
 
Posts: 3606
Images: 215
Joined: Thu Jul 20, 2006 7:33 pm
Location: Indiana, Greenfield
Top

Re: Heat Bending Foam ...

Postby jgraham698 » Mon Nov 17, 2014 10:03 am

Thanks for watching my video. The foam used was 1" insulation from Lowe's. The first piece is a 1 1/2
Thick by 1 wide piece and the last piece bent was a food tray. My strap materials were aluminum
flashing, luan and vinyl sheet. The expanded foam bent much easier than expected and my choices of
straps were overkill. Poster board would have worked. I have started a trailer build and got my roof made.
I'm doing a 5' wide design so I made a form half that and made two pieces each with luan interior glued
to 2" extruded polystyrene. I used luan for my strap. For the thicker, more rigid xps foam I had to
strengthen my end blocks and use ratcheting cargo straps to get the bend. I epoxied the halves together
and covered the top with epoxy and polyester fleece material from JoAnne fabrics. Waiting for warmer
weather to continue. I'm satisfied with my results so far but would do things different if I could start over.
2" eps foam bends so much easier and while it's not as good as xps I think it's probably good enough and
I found a source for 5' wide by up to 12' long esp foam any thickness. I would try to find a way to bend
like I did in the video without a form and use a strap that would be the outside finished surface. I need to
move ahead with other parts of my build for now, hopefully some of you can try this and make advances?
jgraham698
Teardrop Inspector
 
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Nov 16, 2014 4:38 am
Top

Re: Heat Bending Foam ...

Postby bespurcell » Sun Nov 23, 2014 7:10 pm

Can't wait to see pics of your trailer. :D
bespurcell
Teardrop Inspector
 
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2014 3:56 am
Top

Re: Heat Bending Foam ...

Postby WizardOfOdds » Sun Nov 23, 2014 11:58 pm

Can't wait to see pics of your trailer. :D


Me too! Even if you only have parts done at this point.
WizardOfOdds: Chalet shaped rag roof clam shell TIER drop for 4 cylinder tow
Tip Top Tier Drop thread http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=56232
Unusual Designs thread http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=64495
Tale of 2 Trailers thread http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=61451
User avatar
WizardOfOdds
Teardrop Master
 
Posts: 276
Images: 43
Joined: Tue Jul 25, 2006 6:23 pm
Location: Virginia
Top

Previous

Return to Foamies

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 9 guests