Post #436188 by kountzyro on Tue, Feb 24, 2009 5:31 PM

On 2009-02-24 17:02, seeksurf wrote:
foam must be a bitch to cut into?

On the contrary, foam is quite easy to carve. The real hassle is all of the mess that it makes! Much worse than sawdust! Bead particles get EVERWHERE and they have an annoying static charge that makes them love to cling to stuff. A good shop vac and an air nozzle from a compressor are a must for cleaning up.

I use a variety of tools easily found at your local hardware store: snap-off blade box cutters of various sizes, wire brushes, shaping rasps, and sand paper. Larger sculpts can see me using reciprocating saws or even chainsaws. And nothing beats a good band saw for getting basic component shapes knocked out.

Also I use hot wire kits that melt the foam away. Always with very good ventilation and a respirator as the fumes are highly toxic.

Here's a hot wire foam cutting kit:

http://hotwirefoamfactory.com/product.php?productid=16139&cat=0&bestseller=Y