Thread: foamboard question

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so i love to carve foam, youall know that already. but now i have a question, hoping to get help/advice/opinions


THIS is what i have always dealt with in the past:


http://www.homedepot.com/Building-Ma...atalogId=10053


pink foam. 1/2 inch thick. peel off clear plastic. totally carveable if you're careful. fairly cheap and works well.


well, i always had a sheet or 2 at a time BITD, small scenes, like a single room. now i'm on an EPIC scale with our new trail. i need like 20 or so sheets, right? so i'm price comparing.


then i came across THIS


http://www.lowes.com/pd_41503-23946-...rd_lis_ord_nbr


it's cheaper, but has a silver backing that the guy said probably wouldn't peel off. it's $1.70ish cheaper than the 1 i know will work. not much difference, until you consider 20+ sheets: $34+/- difference! and we're on such a tight budget...

so here's the dilemma:

has anyone used the 2nd one? does the silver peel? if it doesn't peel does it add rigidity? mostly, is it even carveable?

i have to work today so i can't go see it for myself... HELP!!!!

i've cross-posted this all over for maximum help-i want to spend my $$$ as wisely as possible! =)

I havn't used that stuff yet, but I used to work at a lumber yard that sold similar stuff. I'm pretty sure that sheet is glued on with some pretty strong stuff, and if you try to peel it off it will take a good amount of foam with it. Although since it is meant for insulation, it might come off easy.

What I like to do at hardware stores if I'm not sure, is just give it a try. Go to Lowes and find a sheet, give it a lil tear to see what it does (nobody will ever notice ) There might be some new tech. out there we don't know about, and you may have just found the next best alternative for stones and many other projects (if nobody has used it yet lol)

After seeing that it's only a 1/2" inch thick, peeling the aluminum sheeting off might leave you with only a 1/4" to work with, cause now that I think about it a lil more, I believe that aluminum sheet is wrapped around the entire piece. And I believe it's the yellow foam underneath also, but I may be wrong on that as well

so a field trip tomorrow (when i'm off work) may be in order, lol!
TY for your help!

I know the stuff you're talking about.

The silver stuff is on there and won't peel off without ruining the whole thing. It's like a really strong foil and you won't be able to carve it as far as I would think. The foam is a different consistency too if that makes any sense. It doesn't feel the same, so it may not carve the same even if you could get the silver layer off.

If it was me, I'd either rethink the idea you're going for to try to reduce the amount of panels to be carved, or else come up with a different approach. (or just go for the pink stuff and deal with the price).

It's going to come down to which one you value most: money or time. Workarounds are going to require much more time to build, but be cheaper.

Have you contacted this group?
http://www.wholesalebldgproducts.com...Insulation.asp

interesting... very interesting. thanks y'all. i will update with what we decide to do.

Check http://crazedlist.org

It's craig's list but let's you search multiple areas. I found this in atlanta: $14 for 2" sheet
http://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/mat/2263760876.html

Here's all the listings in the state of Georgia:
http://crazedlist.org/index.cgi?area...&submit=Search

Depends what you are carving.. High detail or low details , and what kind of carving are you doing, relief carving or just basic..I just use the white stuff makes a bigger mess however is much cheaper , if you take your time the detail with the white stuff can be made into any thing as well this is all from white foam carved / sanded

ok that ^ is pretty darn amazing!

i didn't make it to check out the backed foam today, we got 2 loads of pallets in and worked on the trail instead... possibly tomorrow, hubby has an eye doctor appointment, maybe i can sneak out (doctor is near Lowes, lol)

I am not going to suggest that you purposely "break" any sheets, but I would go to Lowes or Home Depot and look for some sheets that might be damaged. Esp. ones that might have been on the end of the stack. A careless forktruck operator can be your best friend.

A few years back when we were doing a mine theme, I got all of the wood I needed to build my facade and the mine trusses for about $1 - $1.50 per board. I found the manager for the lumber area and told him what I wanted the wood for and that I would be willing to take anything he wanted to get rid of. I gave him my wish list and he went from pile to pile filling my order with what I needed. They were glad to get rid of some of the "bad" boards and to be honest what he deemed as bad wood was really not that bad at all.

I have also gotten slightly damaged foam sheets from another local lumber yard . I think they end up pitching most of that stuff and I think they are happy to get something for it.