Cutting foam

[ddavisborg]

I have been using one of those electric knives - the kind that you use to cut meat. I found that I get more control if I make sure to have a part of the foam that I am not cutting resting on the table. It doesn't wiggle around so much and I get a better line. I have used the other type - the one that melts with battery power - on styrofoam and when making props out of blue foam (reticulated foam?). I never have tried it on puppet foam though.

 

[Buck-Beaver]

I think most people are referring to your Dad's "household chainsaw." Some people do use the heated-metal-filament-thingie but I don't recommend it. When foam melts (even a little bit) it releases all kinds of nasty chemicals in to the air.

 

[ScrapsFlippy]

I've only ever sculpted puppet heads and bodies out of block foam, except the one time I built a full-body puppet.

I used a serrated steak knife for big cuts, a super sharp x-acto knife for fine cuts, and a pair of "Fiskers" like scissors for most of the sculpting. It took soooooo many little snips to even out a surface. At the end of my work, I'd find myself sitting in a pile of foam "chips."

I want to work more with sheet foam after looking over your Tumbles P. Bear project, Buck. My way of sculpting out of big blocks is time-consuming, wasteful, and expensive.

--Scraps

 

[Buck-Beaver]

I know a builder who swears by her fish-filleting knife. It actually works really well too. Easy to keep sharp as well.