# Some tricks I've learned with foam lately.



## BioHazardCustoms (Aug 5, 2009)

I've been working with EPS a lot lately, and I've learned a few handy tricks. I thought I would share them.

1. Great Foam makes a better glue than Liquid Nails. It cures faster, has a little bit of flex to it, and takes paint a lot better. Granted, you have to put something on top of the two pieces of foam you're gluing together, but you have to do that with Liquid Nails, too. Plus, it usually costs less than Liquid Nails ($3.98 as opposed to $5.98, here.)

2. A SurForm Shaper is your best friend. I have three different blades for mine. One is for rough work, one is for shaping, and one is for fine detail. Arguably the best $7 I've ever spent on a foam carving tool.

3. A fine tooth jigsaw blade, like the one used to cut metal, leaves very sharp lines. If you can afford one, a hot knife is great, but if you can't, this blade is usually a couple of bucks.

4. Sandpaper is great, but green scouring pads work just as well, and can be cleaned and re-used.

5. Monster mud looks just like stone when applied properly. When not applied properly, it looks like crap.

If anyone has any other tips you'd like to share, please feel free to post them as well. I'd like to hear from others who do a lot of foam work.


----------



## austenandrews (Aug 22, 2010)

Probably not news to the folks around here, but I've had great luck with a sanding tip on my Dremel. Makes for fast cleaning of rough edges.


----------



## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Did you mean "Great Stuff" in the first comment?

We pretty consistently use gorilla glue for attaching one foam piece to another. Expands like the other items you mention and weighting during the drying time is recommended to ensure a good seal.


----------



## Buzz (Aug 26, 2011)

BioHazardCustoms said:


> 2. A SurForm Shaper is your best friend. I have three different blades for mine. One is for rough work, one is for shaping, and one is for fine detail. Arguably the best $7 I've ever spent on a foam carving tool.


Where can I find this tool?


----------



## TroyO (Sep 7, 2011)

If you want to rough up and make foam less "Foamy" and more "Stoney" you can fill a spray bottle with acetone and spritz it.

Here are some foam blocks I am making fence columns out of using that method... they were failrly "toy-block-ish" and not rough old falling apart stone blockey so I hit the edges and all the joints with the acetone spray. (Well ventilated, don't drink it yadda yadda)


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

By the way... they are all glued with Great Stuff expanding foam which was WAY cheaper in this kind of volume than Gorrila Glue would have been. (I think I used 5 cans @ $3 each for 9 of the pictured columns and two massive monoliths to boot.)

EDIT: PS, I'd like to know where to get the sureform tool too... looked by paint and the tool dept in Lowes and didn't see it. I easily could have missed it though.


----------



## Jaybo (Mar 2, 2009)

You can find the Stanley Surform Shaver on Amazon.






Lowes and Home Depot have it at times, but it is impossible to find in the store. It's never in the same place.


----------



## Dixie (Feb 18, 2009)

I didn't know the surform shaver had different blades (grits)? Have to look for that. I also call it a SurfoAm Shaver. Because I'm special like that.

This year I learned that if you coat your foam with Monster Mud and do it too thick, it will chip off in storage. I also noticed that the ones that I put on much thinner are fine. I also noticed that its better to put a bit more latex paint in monster mud to coat foam than normal, and that if you add sand to that batch of monster mud, its cool too. Not too much sand though - or we go right back to the chipping thingee.


----------



## Allen H (Feb 13, 2010)

Foam is great, I end up doing several projects out of foam every year, here are a few from my monster museum. The castle started losing panels because the great stuff ate the foam- it isint good for longevity. Nocturne Keep is still going strong (after the great stuff repairs) for six years. 
I built these out of foam-








and this is a part of my castle I made- its all foam too








and a fuller shot


----------



## BioHazardCustoms (Aug 5, 2009)

RoxyBlue said:


> Did you mean "Great Stuff" in the first comment?
> 
> We pretty consistently use gorilla glue for attaching one foam piece to another. Expands like the other items you mention and weighting during the drying time is recommended to ensure a good seal.


Roxy, Yes I meant great stuff. Lol, sleep deprivation makes me stupid sometimes.



Buzz said:


> Where can I find this tool?


I found mine in Home depot, I think. It was over by the hand tools. I've also seen them in the hardware department at Wal-mart.



Dixie said:


> I didn't know the surform shaver had different blades (grits)? Have to look for that. I also call it a SurfoAm Shaver. Because I'm special like that.
> 
> This year I learned that if you coat your foam with Monster Mud and do it too thick, it will chip off in storage. I also noticed that the ones that I put on much thinner are fine. I also noticed that its better to put a bit more latex paint in monster mud to coat foam than normal, and that if you add sand to that batch of monster mud, its cool too. Not too much sand though - or we go right back to the chipping thingee.


Dixie, I found those by accident in the hand tools department at Home Depot. I'd never seen them before, either. On the note of monster mud chipping, we never put it on very thick. Usually we just dry brush it on after our sealer coat of paint.



Allen H said:


> Foam is great, I end up doing several projects out of foam every year, here are a few from my monster museum. The castle started losing panels because the great stuff ate the foam- it isint good for longevity. Nocturne Keep is still going strong (after the great stuff repairs) for six years.


Allen, Ive looked at a lot of your foam projects, and have to say that you are one of my favorite artists on youtube. I'm really liking a lot of the things you build, and have seen your videos a couple of times each. Learned a lot from you, as well.


----------



## Ghoulbadan (Dec 28, 2015)

S


BioHazardCustoms said:


> I've been working with EPS a lot lately, and I've learned a few handy tricks. I thought I would share them.
> 
> 1. Great Foam makes a better glue than Liquid Nails. It cures faster, has a little bit of flex to it, and takes paint a lot better. Granted, you have to put something on top of the two pieces of foam you're gluing together, but you have to do that with Liquid Nails, too. Plus, it usually costs less than Liquid Nails ($3.98 as opposed to $5.98, here.)
> 
> ...


So how DO you apply monster mud to EPS foam properly? I'm a complete beginner here ☺


----------



## jonniewalker (May 10, 2021)

BioHazardCustoms said:


> 3. A fine tooth jigsaw blade, like the one used to cut metal, leaves very sharp lines. If you can afford one, a hot knife is great, but if you can't, this blade is usually a couple of bucks.


These soft material jig saw blades I got from Amazon are AMAZING, and theres no mess like a toothed blade. They don't have teeth, they're made like a knife blade.



https://www.amazon.com/Bosch-T313AW3-3-Piece-Special-Materials/dp/B001J0U1HC/ref=pd_bxgy_sccl_1/145-6592354-7262337?pd_rd_w=qo2yj&content-id=amzn1.sym.7f0cf323-50c6-49e3-b3f9-63546bb79c92&pf_rd_p=7f0cf323-50c6-49e3-b3f9-63546bb79c92&pf_rd_r=WDN64G128K0VA1A1MCK6&pd_rd_wg=FZyyy&pd_rd_r=d82476bd-a433-45ca-8085-f08765c16873&pd_rd_i=B001J0U1HC&psc=1


----------

