Has anyone out there ever finished styrofoam? If cuts really good and clean with a hot wire saw and we would like to put on a really good finish.
Kevin Landry KnL Signs
Posted by Doug Allan (Member # 2247) on :
This one's coming out of left field, but the surfboard manufacturers are starting with hot wire cut styro, and with some fiberglass & resin, they end up with a finish that could be great for a sign.
Posted by Garrickc (Member # 2352) on :
We coat styrofoam with stucco, among other things, gives it a durable and textured finish. I want a cnc hot wire. Anyone got one for sale cheap?
Posted by John Arnott (Member # 215) on :
Kevin, I just finished a set of styrofoam letters that I rounded the whole face over with a grinder, rasp, then sandpaper. I finished them by rolling on 2-3 coats of semi-gloss latex enamel. They look great!
John Arnott
Posted by Arvil Shep' Shepherd (Member # 2030) on :
hey, are you guys talking about "Styrofoam " or "Urethane" ? If you are going to apply Fiberglass to styrofoam You MUST seal with a Latex barrier coat FIRST With urethane you can use almost anything.....
Posted by Rob Larkham (Member # 2105) on :
I have done some carvings in the blue insulation foam. I then coated with three coats of a two part apoxy which I bought at a boat manufacturing shop. It worked great. It looked so nice that some punks stole the sign a month later. The apoxy took paint real well. This is a cheap way to get around sign foam.
Posted by Mark Neurohr (Member # 2470) on :
I made a Noah's Ark for my daughter 2 years ago for a Pinewood Derby Race. I found out that if you sand the styrofoam with a high speed sander, it melts into a really smooth finish (REALLY EASY TO SHAPE INTO JUST ABOUT WHATEVER YOU WANT).
Lost the race.... BUT TOOK BEST OF SHOW!!
Posted by Bill Biggs (Member # 18) on :
I have manufactured styrofoam letters for 20 years, I usually cut and route with a table top router(not cnc)I make my patterns on my computer setup. The best thing to paint styrofoamŪ with is Sherwin Williams DTM (direct to metal) acrylic. I usually use 3 coats. Styrofoam is a cheap and very good medium(I use 2# foam)and very durable if you coat it right. Urethane is subject to deteroriation by the sun, and once it starts to go it just dissloves. Styrofoam is effected by the birds if it is not well coated. Bill
Posted by Michael Clanton (Member # 2419) on :
Used to work at a sign shop that made styrofoam letters and such. We used templates made out of thin paneling type material for the letters and cut the foam out with with a hand held router. Then rounded the edges with a table top router. Depending on the application, we painted with a latex or acrylic-latex enamel finish. This past weekend i just drove by some styrofoam signs that we installed Summer of '88, and they still looked great!(did that rhyme that time?)
That was a great tip on using a sander to smooth the foam before finishing, I will have to give that a try.
I am working on a how-to for a project that I created earlier this year. I used 4" styrofoam and carved several large chunks of rock "tablets", the applied acetone to give it "texture", then sprayed latex to finish. They ended up as display signs inside a local church. Hopefully I will have that "how-to" finished before to long and post it.
Posted by Felix Marcano (Member # 1833) on :
I do a cardboard template, attatch it with a gazillion pins, then run it through a homemade hot wire thingy.
