Working with Foam - Page 7

flomas · 12-16-2006, 02:50 AM

Hybrid,
Are you willing to sell a couple of those molded parts?
Would love to purchase a few from you, please let me know..
I have the 05 corolla screen mount dilema and it's driving my crazy...
If I could get my hands on a couple of your molded pieces I might have a better chance...
I say a couple just for saftey sake, the Lillput 7" Touch screen I have is supposed to be for double din application it's size is 4.5" Tall and 7-5/8" wide. I'm wondering if I should have gotten that one ... well, live and learn I guess .. let me know if your willing to sell some of your corolla molded parts.. Oh, Are there two differant styles you made or does your screen pop out some that's why it looks differant in the pic's.
Thanks!

GoHybrid · 12-16-2006, 10:01 AM

flomas: PM sent.

MrMackey · 12-19-2006, 05:27 AM

Great and great info thanks for sharing!!

parksgm · 12-19-2006, 11:42 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Giuliano

The RenShape 440 is indeed much denser - if I press hard with a fingernail, it barely makes a mark.

The RenShape 440 is $250 for a 2" x 20" x 60" (5 foot) sheet, and can be shipped UPS (non-hazardous).

So, the cost of material breaks down to:

2" x 20" x 12" = $50.00
2" x 12" x 12" = $30.00
2" x 2" x 12" = $5.00
1" x 1" x 1" = $0.10416~

I can think of a lot of parts I can make masters of out of a 2" x 2" x 12" bar of foam...

Got it...breaking the cost down that way is more illustrative, and given the results that GoHybrid achieved, certainly reasonable. It's just the initial cost of the large sheet that's a killer for those of us interested producing only one or two parts. :-)

Giuliano · 12-19-2006, 11:51 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by parksgm

Got it...breaking the cost down that way is more illustrative, and given the results that GoHybrid achieved, certainly reasonable. It's just the initial cost of the large sheet that's a killer for those of us interested producing only one or two parts. :-)

Yeah, it can get expensive to buy a huge sheet.. more so if you buy the 8 foot long sheets.. those have to ship via freight due to the size, costs about $90 in freight charges alone for an 8 foot sheet. The five foot sheets can ship by UPS, for about $10.

If you only need a small block, you can call them up and ask for a sample bar.

It's 2" x 2" x 4".. I got two of them for free.

If you need something larger, then perhaps either myself or GoHybrid can help.

I'm almost certainly going to be buying a 5' long sheet of the RenShape 440 in the next few months, and I'm sure I'll have more than I need.

The stuff can be easily cut on a tablesaw, too.

NiSlo · 12-28-2006, 07:05 PM

After having no luck trying to get soma suitable foam from anywhere around where I live, I was wondeirng if the foam used in surfboards would be suitable? It's pretty highy density, and obvisouly can be shaped and whatnot ...

GoHybrid · 12-29-2006, 01:22 AM

i've seen surfboard blanks made of polyurethane as well as polystyrene. I think the polystyrene ones are more common. I would try to get a polyurethane foam before polystyrene, but i don't think for the casting process it makes a lick of difference.

I just know the polyurethane surfboard foam will stand up better to resins and paint finishes that may be applied prior to casting to achieve a particular surface from the finished part.

From what I could find, surfboard foams are typically in the 1-3lb range which is a pretty lightweight foam compared to what i've used here which is 15lb. That also means it should be easier to shape. Just make sure you keep a light touch with that stuff.

shotgunefx · 12-29-2006, 02:38 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by GoHybrid

i've seen surfboard blanks made of polyurethane as well as polystyrene. I think the polystyrene ones are more common. I would try to get a polyurethane foam before polystyrene, but i don't think for the casting process it makes a lick of difference.

I just know the polyurethane surfboard foam will stand up better to resins and paint finishes that may be applied prior to casting to achieve a particular surface from the finished part.

From what I could find, surfboard foams are typically in the 1-3lb range which is a pretty lightweight foam compared to what i've used here which is 15lb. That also means it should be easier to shape. Just make sure you keep a light touch with that stuff.

But surfboards are pretty hard, no? I mean once they layer over it.

GoHybrid · 12-29-2006, 06:35 PM

surfboards are hard because of the layers of fiberglass and resin. Surf board manufacturers typically do a FAR better job of eliminating air pockets and consolidating the laminates than we typically do for automotive fiberglass work, so they tend to be quite strong too.

The reason to use the lightest core possible is obviously better floatation. The reason they don't just use an air core is because leaks and punctures do happen

Yevmeister · 01-11-2007, 10:25 AM

bumping for crowd

NiSlo · 01-11-2007, 07:44 PM

I needed to make this:

Which will fit snugly inside the double din hole in my dash which the screen will sit flush up behind. I had no luck finding suitable foam, but based on what I've read in this thread, I made it out of balsa wood. Easy to shape and get super smooth (by using model dope, mixed with talcum powder and painting it on) and now I've got to where I'm happy with it.

My silicone, casting resin, resin pigment all arrived in the mail the other day, so I'll be ready to do it this weekend hopefully, using the methods described by GoHybrid.

I'll post pictures when I'm done...

blk02si · 01-15-2007, 08:38 PM

Foam is sweet stuff. I have TONS of this stuff at my shop in 15 and 18 lb density. Its known as HDU or High Density Urethane in my business. Never even thought of using this stuff for a bezel but after thinking about it, this would work well. Not for structure though, just as trim. When you go thin it gets brittle and will crack if enough pressure is applied to it. But for trim work its almost a perfect solution, Great Idea man!!

GoHybrid · 01-16-2007, 01:33 AM

yeah, i think whenever i can afford to make a mold from a foam plug and cast in plastic i would, but the foam itself is so cheap and easy to work into several iterations to decide what you want to do.

blk02si · 01-16-2007, 07:26 AM

well your corolla bezel looks great man! I mean really professional. How did you hook up your mini to the eclipse? Great work I may try this out just cause I have foam laying around, I lucked out because my car has a DD aftermarket trim kit mass produced.

GoHybrid · 01-16-2007, 10:07 AM

the mini is connected to the eclipse through the little $30 DVI->NTSC adapter that Apple sells, and then the sound goes through the auxiliary input. The picture isn't the sharpest it could be, but since Front Row was designed to be viewed on a TV, it doesn't look any worse for it. I had to ground the parking brake sensing wire from the eclipse though to keep the video inputs on while moving.

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