Polyfoam Practice

[Gonzo's Hobbit]

Hey guys, I had a quick question. Does anyone here use something to practice patterns on polyfoam? And if so, what do you use? I'm playing around with a puppet shape but I don't want to use up all my foam doing rough drafts if I can help it. Does anyone have any advice?

 

[Melonpool]

I usually use 1/2 inch regular upholstery foam for practice. And by the time I'm done with my initial patterning, it's quite a Frankenstein. After that, I cut it down as best I can into one or two flat sheets, combining what I can. Sometimes, I have to pattern 2 or 3 times to get it just the way I want to. I also use regular contact cement at this stage, I tried using hot glue, but it never sticks quite enough and I end up refining it so much that hot glue becomes a hard mess.

Hope this helps!

 

[Gonzo's Hobbit]

How much does upholstery foam cost? Right now I use 1/2 inch foam that I get by the yard at Joanns. It's usually $10/yard. Do you think that's gonna be as cheap as I'd get any other material like this?

 

[larz21]

If you can find 1/4 inch foam, you can build half-size patterns. I don't have a good local source, but you can try any online foam place. I have used foam backed headliner material from a fabric shop, it's pretty thin, so I made my patterns at 33%.

http://www.usafoam.com/opencellfoam/poly.html

 

[Gonzo's Hobbit]

If you can find 1/4 inch foam, you can build half-size patterns. I don't have a good local source, but you can try any online foam place. I have used foam backed headliner material from a fabric shop, it's pretty thin, so I made my patterns at 33%.

http://www.usafoam.com/opencellfoam/poly.html

I never thought about that. Thanks for the tip. I've been endeavoring to try and make smaller versions of the patterns I'm trying but yea, the 1/2 messes with it eventually. Thanks, I'll have to check that out.

Thanks also for the advice Melonpool.

 

[Melonpool]

Joann's is one of the more expensive places I've found foam -- and it's basically upholstery foam. I'd check your phone book or online for foam suppliers. I used to get 2 x 4 sheets of 1/2 upholstery foam for about $6 a few years ago at a place called Foam Mart.

I used to use this to make patterns for years -- and even to make regular puppets and it worked great. I just checked their site and it looks like they still sell stuff that's comparable. They also sell off cuts at a discount that work great for puppet building (who else would want a 1 x 1 x 1 foot block of foam?).

Even so, Foam Mart isn't the best deal in town, but they are better than Michael's or Joann's. And if you can find a similar place that's local, you can save on shipping.

http://site.iwebcenters.com/afoammart_2/polyurethanefoam1.html

 

[Gonzo's Hobbit]

Great Leaping Richards Hunts! That is cheap foam. Sweet, thanks for the tip. At any rate I can't find a single place in town that will sell me a block of foam for a decent price so I'll check them out for that at least. But also thanks for the advice that their half inch foam is a good price.

 

[Goochman]

I order my foam here. http://www.foamdistributing.com/products/poly.html

The quality is great and it costs about 1/4 of what Joanns charges. This way I don't mind testing out my ideas with it. I always end up using it anyway.

 

[Gonzo's Hobbit]

Nice website Goochman, thanks. I might use that to get the 1/4 stuff somtime.

 

[Goochman]

they're really good! Cheap and fast shipping too