Post #92436 by TikiGardener on Sat, May 22, 2004 12:07 AM

Gecko, does the foam you use dry stiff, or does it dry with some give to it?

The problem with some of the injection foam is that it dries extremely stiff. If there is no "spring" to the foam it will transfer almost all of any shock caused by dropping the package.

No problem for solid wood tikis, big problem for ceramic mugs.

I'll look and see if I can find the Craters Handbook for museum grade packing and shipping.

Theres a formula involving the weight and mass of an item, but it basically boils down to the foam should compress fifty percent AND return to its original form after the shock has been absorbed.

Soft foam good!

Sitff foam or StyroFoam BAAAAD!!!

And don't get me started on pelspan!!! ( styro foam peanuts and the like )

I'm enetertaining the idea of using my access to museum grade materials to box up some of my more precious mugs to protect them from the predicted 6.5 earthquake. With my luck, I'll pack them up and nothing will happen. I leave them on the shelf, California slides into the Pacific.

TikiGardener