Hello Again Gang,
It’s been a while since I posted last Hope EVERYONE is well. Getting Started at the subject at hand lets start by saying that the layout i had before ( The one in the garage) is gone[:(]. So, I have since build almost all the benchwork new in one of the rooms in the house( kids wanted to bunk together)sooooooooo,
What is the best way that i can make risers out of foam( yes the white stuff ) to get a nice level plain to work with. I could by the woodland scenics foam risers but have to go all the way to San Antonio to get them and heck i have left over foam from my base.
THanks for the input
Chris
I would think getting clean cuts would be a hopeless problem, even on a table saw with a tapering jig. If you learn how, there will be those who are interested, but they will probably opt for extruded foam. I will watch this with facination.
Chris
I purchased a #81628 Foam Factory from Micro-Mark currently on sale for $142.45. It is an expensive outlay unless you are going to do a lot of foam cutting. I have found it to be the best way to cut foam. With a little practice you can make very accurate cuts. It is simple and easy to use with NO mess. The only drawback is the very slight odor when melting the foam, however I have not found that to be much of a problem. I have tried all the ways to cut foam and I like this method the best.
Art
I get VERY clean cuts with this system and I have never broken a wire yet. I also made a tapering jig for the scroll table that works very well.
Richard
I made a simple ramp out of the 2-inch pink foam, maybe 3-inches wide by whatever length I wanted. Then I mounted this on trestles made from 1x2’s, which attached to the benchwork cross-pieces. This is just like cookie-cutter construction. I did not have to do any fancy angle cuts, just a straight block. Varying the height of the trestles produces the incline.
I also tried making a true ramp, a long, thin triangle, out of pink foam. It was very difficult, and more work than it was worth. I ended up with lots of shims and filling. After that, I stuck with the first method.
Thanks alot guys for all your input on this. I Have used the woodland scenics stuff works good but, you have to have a mile to use the whole thing properly (as sold) so, i was trying to come up with another idea since i am starting all over again . would like to make this better than the last since i think my last was pretty good [:)]. Welp, to the drawing board i go
Thanks again
C.C.
Actually, you can get very clean cuts with an electric knife. My wife showed me that trick. Where she learned it I don’t know and didn’t ask.
Tom
Try this one Chris, I started looking for this as soon as I read your post, I remembered seeing this Video a few months ago, and I thought it was on this forum, so I went looking. Search turned up nothing. (what do you search for if you don’t know a title or posters Name?) I sort of remembered a layout update, so I went back page by page to try to find it. Here it is (back about 77 pages). Watch this Video and maybe you can email ennout or maybe he will chime in if he reads this to tell you how he did it. Although he did use Pink foam (not white) It is denser and probably better suited for what you want to do.
Then I got distracted by this guys site. http://s12.photobucket.com/albums/a235/ARTHILL/ Nice work Art,
It can be done.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCxSWCJFl_E
Good luck;
John