I had poured my own and then bought rigid foam from some other guys including one at the Expo a couple years running. they always seemed to have holes and voids. At the most recent Expo a gentleman whose name I forget was selling foam squares. I bought some and got to turning yesterday. These were almost perfect inside No voids and very, very, very few pinholes if any at all. What were there were smaller than a match head and few in number. Very consistent and great quality. Just wanted to mention this. Good foam is available. Can't remember the gentleman's name that had them but he was on the far corner down next to Lamiglass. Good stuff. Best foam I've seen in several years.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/11/2012 04:48PM by Ken Finch.

That was Sammy Mickel of Mickels Custom Rods he has a link to the left

I've got to know, how do you pour your own foam?

Urethane foam can be sourced in liquid form. Two equal parts are mixed and pouted into a mold. Sets up in about 10 minutes.

RodMaker Volume 10 #6 has the details.

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2 part foam is pretty easy to pour. to avoid the voids and pin holes just pour slowly and hit the base of the mold a few times as the foam is expanding. helps get the air bubbles out.. uscomposites has pretty good pricing.

Regards,
-Justin

Thanks for the tip!

I poured 30 or 40 cores. Some time later I wanted to finish up my liquid before it went bad. I did the baking pan thing (make sure you use lots of mold release). Then I cut square stock on the band saw. Those are my best cores ever!

_________________________________________
"Angling is extremely time consuming.
That's sort of the whole point." - Thomas McGuane

Just ordered 2 gal of pour foam for a boat restore I am working on. It is only 2lb, too light for rod building but if it is good stuff I would look into the heavier stuff as the price was right. 87.00 for 2 gal yeilding 8 cubic feet. I will let you know how it works out.