I have recieved my goodie box from the foam company. Carbon/fiber sleeves have also arrived!!!!

Today I spent some time at Home Depot gathering supplies to make the jig to pour the foam.

I am somewhat concerned about how this stuff is going to "spill over" out of the pvc so the bucket seemed to be my answer there?

I have uploaded the photos and ask that you folks give me some advice here once you see what I did. Am I on track? What do you see as issues going forward?

Thanks much,

Terry LaValle

The foam expansion process released heat and CO2, it also generates pressure so I don't know if the plugs like that will work or not but it probably will. As far as pouring in a bucket....I plan to do the same thing but using a plastic tote sprayed on the inside with release agent for cleaning....My rig is a little similar to yours but a six pac.

Given a mix time of 25 sec or so with a comparable pour time my setup might be a little optimistic.

Derek L. McMaster
Rohnert Park, CA

Born to Fish, FORCED to Work

Just put some newspapers down on the floor and try not to mix nor pour too much in there. Remember, urethane foam sticks to itself extremely well. If you come up short, you just mix up some more and pour it in on top of what you have there. No weak spots will result - you will end up with a one piece core just as strong at the junction of the two pours as if you'd done it all at one time.

The only problem that I see with your "bucket" station is that if you do get a lot of spill over, you are going to have a bucket with 4 PVC tubes sticking out of it, forever. Don't think the urethane won't stick to the inside of the bucket or the outside of the PVC - it most certainly will. Get that stuff a couple or more inches deep in there and your set up will be "permanent."


.........................



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/01/2008 09:52PM by Tom Kirkman.

I didn’t see a mandrel to create a hole in the middle of the core. It would be a lot easier to cast the grip with a hole in the middle than trying to accurately drill it out of a solid rod.

Very true. Note the article showed the mandrel in there to form just such a bore into the finished core.

You don't have to hold the top half by hand - a rubber band or even a thin strip of tape will suffice for holding the mandrel centered in the top of the PVC tubing. Just leave enough room to pour around and to allow for expansion should you get too much foam in the tubing.

.....................

Ok made a larger diameter plate. Picture shows the mandrels inside. What am I missing? Ready, aim, fire?


Stay tuned!

This topic of overlow has been baffled. I guess my cartune bubble has this this foam worm growing and growing ang growing much the way that snake fire work behaved when as a kid we would light them on the driveway.... What is it that I should expect? I guess I am looking for the process once the 2 parts are mixed together and poured down the tube.... Immediate foam? slow growth? Yeah I know just try it one might say.... trying to caluclate my risks here, I guess.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/01/2008 11:29PM by Terry LaValle.

Just a thought on creating a hands free way to center any rod used in making the handle "blanks." It can be done the same way that many of us made our self centering chucks for rod dryers...Three or four equally spaced thumb screws around the top of the forming cylinder and using rubber bands to hold the steel rod. But then again, doing that may take away from the working and pouring time of the foam. Unless the pourer does one at a time. Keep in mind that I haven't given this a try yet.
Like I said...just a thought.
Happy New Year
Chuck

Chuck,

If the foam ever gets up to the thumbscrews, well... Consider them permanenty affixed to your tube.

..........

Terry,

When you mix the foam (about 25 seconds) you then have another 20 seconds or so to do your pouring. For just a few more seconds, the foam will appear to be doing nothing - but don't be fooled. A few more seconds and it will start to expand and push its way up the tube. Remember what the article says about expansion - just 2 ounces of each part mixed together at more than 70F will create a core that is 1-1/2 inches in diameter and 3 feet long. Lower temps will create less expansion so depending on where you're working you'll just have to experiment. The expansion will take place over a couple minutes or so and then you'll need to let the core cool for about 10 or 15 minutes before you attempt to remove it.

My only advice here is, get the stuff mixed and poured in those first 45 seconds. Waiting longer and thinking that you're okay because nothing seems to be happening is going to result in voids and air pockets in your core.

.............

Tom,
I figured that was understood by anyone following this post and that read the article. :o) You mention the release agent as well and its low cost. When I try my hand at these,I will probably use a slightly longer tube as well. BTW...Your articles are very detailed and informative. Your use of the camera to demo each step of any article is worth its weight in gold.
Best wishes,
Chuck

I sort of figured you were onto that with the thumb screws, but I never know about the next guy. So...

....................