Carving through expanding foam

[pmatos]

Hi all,

To build a waterfall for a paludarium I stacked several pieces of styrofoam together using silicone and covered it with expanding foam so that I can easily carve it... however, I would like any suggestions on the best way to carve expanding foam.

Cheers,

Paulo Matos

[beckdg]

steak knives, soldering irons, a rasp for smaller details or edges, hot cutting wire all work well for styrofoam. for expanding foam heat does not work so well.

[jehitch]

Definitely steak or other serrated knives. We also use Stanley Surform tools. They work great, but create a lot of tiny foam scraps like sawdust.
Stanley Hand Tools :* Surform Tools & Blades

___
Jim

[beckdg]

yuppers... and most likely can be found in the hardware section at walmart for a decent price.

[Goanna]

I find a sharp, non serrated blade to work well for Great Stuff. I usually just use whatever pocket knife I have on me, which is most often either a Kershaw leek or a Meyerco Ceramic pocket knife (Either of which is sharp enough to shave with, lol). They slice right through Great Stuff foam without making little foam shavings to clean up.

[froggsong]

You can also use dry wall sandpaper (it is actually screening coated in fine sand), it can cut as well as create an optimum surface for applying silicone (silicone doesn't stick permanently to the skin of the GS, so it should be roughed a little all over).

[Lasher]

I had my first go with the stuff this weekend, I found a Surform mini plane and coarse sandpaper(40) worked well enough.

Good fun, but what a mess... still havent got all the dust out the living room which for some reason is attracted to my black trousers >_<

[beckdg]

rofl... black trousers. there should be a disclaimer so here goes. if it's black it's magnetically conductive to foam and should be sterilized after exposure... or vacuumed very well.

[Lasher]

Id also add that its like beach sand, by the time your done you'll have foam dust in places you didnt know you had!