Now, if I could just manage to get a hold of that molicule.
One molicule away from a Vette. []

 

before you add that molecule you better chill the margarine and form it in the shape of the vette you want. once it's plastic it would be harder to mold, eh?

Plastic really is an amazing medium to work with. anything that can be imagined can be fabricated from plastic. some have extreme qualities unlike any other products. I deal with some sheet foams that a 4'x8' sheet weighs less than 10lbs but can hold a screw better than wood and withstand the wight of a 3ton forklift without crushing. really amazing stuff.

 

Mold it first, and then..........add the moicule, got it!

So for what applications do you use the sheet foam?

 

well how much time do you have?...I'll keep it short. I use lots of different density foam for fabricating "patterns"(plugs) that would be to difficult to do with wood. I also use it in the construction of finished fiberglass parts as a stiffener(core). I even use two part pour foam to acquire certain shapes that the sheet foam will not work for.the race boat on my website with the F16 canopy is fabricated with pour foam.As a matter of fact I was going to use sheet foam glued together to shape your "wing" from, then build a mold of it to make your fiberglass parts with and then for stability fill the hollow shell of the wing with pour foam. surf boards are made with a high quality styrofoam covered with epoxy resin and 4-6oz boat cloth fiberglass. actually...Hobi was the firstcivilian to take fiberglass and build a board and then boat with it. it was originally invented for the army. all of the clay models that the auto industry uses for mock-up are clay over styrofoam cut with a 5 -7 axis router.

 

So......you use it to make a casting template. You don't neccessarily use it in the structure, that's where you use the pour foam instead.
Would you ever use it as a stand alone fabricated part?
(we're goin' to do that wing yet! )

 

Plastic? I didn't use a credit card. I paid cash.

 

Interesting about the sheet foam. Learned alot, I'm always interested in learning new things. Now for more important issues, what is this molecule you are talking about and how can I get it. An will any margerine do?

 

I use it for structure as a stiffener. Placed between laminates as a core material in any spanning area such as hull sides, transoms, fore deck, top surface of wings, etc.

 

O.K.,......now I got it!
You form the foam and then cover it with fiberglass. Right?
Do you use an adhesive, to atach pieces of foam, end to end, edge to edge?
If so, what?

 

in finished part construction sheet foam and pour foam are used as a core to keep the part ridged. There are specialcore putties made just for this.In plug(pattern) work I use it as a starting point and shape it to the desired configuration than add fiberglass to the outside and do all of the finish work on that, Ie: filler and paint. Thats how all of the Micky Mouse Statues among others are produced at Disney World. Sculpted from foam. some with a wire mesh sub structure and the foam poured or sprayed on the outside, glassed, finished and molded.

If you were doing a one time project that had no need for structural integrity you could do the same thing.
Lets say we were going to build your wing and really didn't have a need for a mold. we just wanted to build the one. we could use Styrofoam. Glue the appropriate sizes together with epoxy resin. do all of the forming remembering to make it undersized slightly to accommodate the thickness of the fiberglass we were going to put on the outside. after we had laid the fiberglass as to make the wing one piece without any seams. we would pour acetone inside on the Styrofoam and melt it out. we could then put whatever stiffeners or wire ways we wanted inside. perhaps an aluminum pipe with a plate welded to the bottom to use as a stanchion in mounting it to the car. we would drill holes through the pipe, place it in it's appropriate position and pour two part PVC foam around it. The holes on the pipe would allow the foam to flow through and hold the pipe in place. This could also be accomplished with bolts protruding from the pipe if area allows.It is fairly easy to accomplish pretty much any shape you can think of and is always fun and very gratifying when something from your imaginationbecomes a reality.

Depending on what type of foam it is you can use any number of adhesives. if it is PVC foam you can use resin, bondo, core putty, epoxy, contact cement, etc, most any type of glue. The chemical solvents in these products will not melt PVC foam unlike Styrofoam. if it is Styrofoam you can use contact cement, wood glue, epoxy, others may work but I would do a little testing first.

I hope I explained it OK. My communication skills leave a lot to be desired. LOL.

So what type of project are you looking at, Dave? Cheers