I've just purchased a small clamshell type case for storing a portable
disk drive, etc. Nothing fancy, just a plastic casing with a thick wodge
of foam shaped to fit each half.

I've always had limited success cutting the foam in the past, but this
is a bit former and looks to be OK if I use a nice sharp knife.

However, there is one thick piece of foam in each half, rather than the
two thinner ones I'm used to. So, how do I cut a neat rectangular hole
in the foam, limiting it to (say) half the depth of the foam? (i.e. how
do I do the horizontal cut?)

I thought of slicing the foam in half horizontally, then cutting the
hole in one half. But even doing that horizontal cut neatly is a puzzle.

I have no sophisticated tools; is there some easy way that I've missed?

Thanks
--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

On 4 Apr 2007 21:19:21 GMT, "Bob Eager" wrote:

I've just purchased a small clamshell type case for storing a portable
disk drive, etc. Nothing fancy, just a plastic casing with a thick wodge
of foam shaped to fit each half.

I've always had limited success cutting the foam in the past, but this
is a bit former and looks to be OK if I use a nice sharp knife.

However, there is one thick piece of foam in each half, rather than the
two thinner ones I'm used to. So, how do I cut a neat rectangular hole
in the foam, limiting it to (say) half the depth of the foam? (i.e. how
do I do the horizontal cut?)

I thought of slicing the foam in half horizontally, then cutting the
hole in one half. But even doing that horizontal cut neatly is a puzzle.

I have no sophisticated tools; is there some easy way that I've missed?

Thanks

The guy in the local foam shop cuts it with a newish large wood saw.
The sort with the wide blade you cut planks with or a tenon saw for
smaller cuts.

You can apparently use a hot wire like used on polystyrene, but I have
never seen it used on foam personally.

For a large horizontal cut through the centre it would be worth making
a guide of some sort up like a jig.

In article , Bob Eager
writes
I've just purchased a small clamshell type case for storing a portable
disk drive, etc. Nothing fancy, just a plastic casing with a thick wodge
of foam shaped to fit each half.

I've always had limited success cutting the foam in the past, but this
is a bit former and looks to be OK if I use a nice sharp knife.

However, there is one thick piece of foam in each half, rather than the
two thinner ones I'm used to. So, how do I cut a neat rectangular hole
in the foam, limiting it to (say) half the depth of the foam? (i.e. how
do I do the horizontal cut?)

I thought of slicing the foam in half horizontally, then cutting the
hole in one half. But even doing that horizontal cut neatly is a puzzle.

I have no sophisticated tools; is there some easy way that I've missed?

I'm so glad you're doing this one first, I've got a couple to do and was just
mulling over the cases on CPC to find the best one. Where are you getting
yours from?

When I was working with military stuff the transport case inserts were
made of pre-cut layers of Plastizote foam of an inch or so bonded together
to avoid this sort of difficulty. There is a foam supplier round the corner
from my office so I may buy layers to stack up and solve the problem, do
you have any near you?

Assuming you have to cut, hot wire is definitely good for polystyrene and
more rigid foams but I imagine the insert is the soft stuff so may not take
this too well (dep practice on scrap). Google has many tips for hot wire
and wooden guides.

Cutting with a new scalpel is usually easy but impossible to do neatly for a
long and wide cut. Would it be possible to use a razor sharp sabatier type
knife to make the horizontal cut?
--
fred
Plusnet - I hope you like vanilla

On 2007-04-04 22:19:21 +0100, "Bob Eager" said:

I've just purchased a small clamshell type case for storing a portable
disk drive, etc. Nothing fancy, just a plastic casing with a thick wodge
of foam shaped to fit each half.

I've always had limited success cutting the foam in the past, but this
is a bit former and looks to be OK if I use a nice sharp knife.

However, there is one thick piece of foam in each half, rather than the
two thinner ones I'm used to. So, how do I cut a neat rectangular hole
in the foam, limiting it to (say) half the depth of the foam? (i.e. how
do I do the horizontal cut?)

I thought of slicing the foam in half horizontally, then cutting the
hole in one half. But even doing that horizontal cut neatly is a puzzle.

I have no sophisticated tools; is there some easy way that I've missed?

Thanks

For a future reference, in case you have need again...

I use several Peli cases for equipment of this size and larger

http://www.peliproducts.co.uk/cases.htm

Several suppliers and price variation.

These are stout polypropylene and very tough - suitable for handling
by the monkies employed by the airlines.

There are normally several layers of foam insert - some full sheet and
others vertical square fingers of foam joined at a few places. You
can pop out the fingers to the shape of the object and also cut them
easily to length with scissors. I glue pieces together with spray
mount adhesive.
If I need to make a change of equipment I just alter the foam. it's
possible to buy spare sheets as well.

On Wed, 4 Apr 2007 22:17:49 UTC, EricP wrote:

I thought of slicing the foam in half horizontally, then cutting the
hole in one half. But even doing that horizontal cut neatly is a puzzle.

I have no sophisticated tools; is there some easy way that I've missed?

The guy in the local foam shop cuts it with a newish large wood saw.
The sort with the wide blade you cut planks with or a tenon saw for
smaller cuts.

Sounds like a possible solution.

Thanks.
--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

On Wed, 4 Apr 2007 22:28:54 UTC, fred wrote:

I thought of slicing the foam in half horizontally, then cutting the
hole in one half. But even doing that horizontal cut neatly is a puzzle.

I have no sophisticated tools; is there some easy way that I've missed?

I'm so glad you're doing this one first, I've got a couple to do and was just
mulling over the cases on CPC to find the best one. Where are you getting
yours from?

CPC...! This one is SG32411 (03)

When I was working with military stuff the transport case inserts were
made of pre-cut layers of Plastizote foam of an inch or so bonded together
to avoid this sort of difficulty. There is a foam supplier round the corner
from my office so I may buy layers to stack up and solve the problem, do
you have any near you?

I don't know of any. In this particular application a small, cheap case
was all I wanted, so I don't want to go to great lengths.

Assuming you have to cut, hot wire is definitely good for polystyrene and
more rigid foams but I imagine the insert is the soft stuff so may not take
this too well (dep practice on scrap). Google has many tips for hot wire
and wooden guides.

This is actually surprisingly rigid.

Cutting with a new scalpel is usually easy but impossible to do neatly for a
long and wide cut. Would it be possible to use a razor sharp sabatier type
knife to make the horizontal cut?

Good idea. May have something there.
--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

On Wed, 4 Apr 2007 22:39:50 UTC, Andy Hall wrote:

For a future reference, in case you have need again...

I use several Peli cases for equipment of this size and larger

I considered Peli, and would use them for something more demanding. Not
cost effective for this situation, though.

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

Bob Eager wrote:

I've just purchased a small clamshell type case for storing a portable
disk drive, etc. Nothing fancy, just a plastic casing with a thick wodge
of foam shaped to fit each half.

I've always had limited success cutting the foam in the past, but this
is a bit former and looks to be OK if I use a nice sharp knife.

However, there is one thick piece of foam in each half, rather than the
two thinner ones I'm used to. So, how do I cut a neat rectangular hole
in the foam, limiting it to (say) half the depth of the foam? (i.e. how
do I do the horizontal cut?)

I thought of slicing the foam in half horizontally, then cutting the
hole in one half. But even doing that horizontal cut neatly is a puzzle.

I have no sophisticated tools; is there some easy way that I've missed?

Thanks

I've had to do this sort of job for a number of items of equipment and
haven't yet found the ideal solution for me.

The solution to avoid at all costs is the pre-cut diced foam, where you
tear out bits to leave a hole. You end up tearing out additional bits
every time somebody puts the item into or out of the case.

I made a couple of hot wire cutters out of guitar strings ( steel - not
nylon ! ) and an old 12v lighting transformer fed by a dimmer. It's
possible to set the current to an appropriate amount so that it cuts
freely without burning.

Guiding such a cutter is quite a challenge. The best I've found was 3mm
mdf cutouts, but the results weren't as perfect as I had hoped.

I also made a hot wire cutter that had a horizontal wire to trim down
the waste material to a different thickness so that it can be put into
the bottom of the hole that you've just cut out.

Being in the audio business, I've still got some single-edged razor
blades. They make neat cuts in thin foam. A scalpel will do the same.

Thick foam that's moderately rigid can be cut neatly with a serrated
bread knife - I use one with a finely scalloped edge and it works well.

Some tool shops also sell a scalloped jig saw blade and mention their
suitability for foam. I've never used one, but it looks like it might
work.

In article ,
Bob Eager wrote:
I thought of slicing the foam in half horizontally, then cutting the
hole in one half. But even doing that horizontal cut neatly is a puzzle.

I have no sophisticated tools; is there some easy way that I've missed?

I'm told the best microphone foam windgags are made by freezing the foam
before machining. Dunno to what temperature, though. But you could try
putting the bit in the freezer first?

Other way is a hot knife to melt rather than cut.

--
*If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 2007-04-05 01:00:48 +0100, (Roly) said:

I've had to do this sort of job for a number of items of equipment and
haven't yet found the ideal solution for me.

The solution to avoid at all costs is the pre-cut diced foam, where you
tear out bits to leave a hole.

Nonsense

You end up tearing out additional bits
every time somebody puts the item into or out of the case.

No you don't if you stick the pieces together. A suitable heavy duty
spray mount adhesive does this perfectly, and the pieces don't pop out
unless you go out of your way to yank them out fairly hard.

In article ,
Roly wrote:
Being in the audio business, I've still got some single-edged razor
blades.

Saw them in Lidl the other day, strangely. I've still got a few boxes so
didn't buy them.

--
*You never really learn to swear until you learn to drive *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Thu, 5 Apr 2007 00:00:48 UTC, (Roly) wrote:

Thick foam that's moderately rigid can be cut neatly with a serrated
bread knife - I use one with a finely scalloped edge and it works well.

Following another suggestion, I'm going to try that.

Some tool shops also sell a scalloped jig saw blade and mention their
suitability for foam. I've never used one, but it looks like it might
work.

Difficult for a large horizontal cut, though.
--
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poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

On Thu, 5 Apr 2007 00:22:47 UTC, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

I'm told the best microphone foam windgags are made by freezing the foam
before machining. Dunno to what temperature, though. But you could try
putting the bit in the freezer first?

Can't do any harm. I'll try that.

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

On 2007-04-05 01:22:47 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
said:

In article ,
Bob Eager wrote:
I thought of slicing the foam in half horizontally, then cutting the
hole in one half. But even doing that horizontal cut neatly is a puzzle.

I have no sophisticated tools; is there some easy way that I've missed?

I'm told the best microphone foam windgags are made by freezing the foam
before machining. Dunno to what temperature, though. But you could try
putting the bit in the freezer first?

Other way is a hot knife to melt rather than cut.

Bit of moisture first.?

So they're called windgags. I've always wanted to know the proper
industry name for them.

Why are there sometimes foam ones and other times those grey fluffy ones?

I'd have expected them to attentuate the high frequencies more than
they seem to do....

In article ,
Andy Hall wrote:
I'm told the best microphone foam windgags are made by freezing the
foam before machining. Dunno to what temperature, though. But you
could try putting the bit in the freezer first?

Other way is a hot knife to melt rather than cut.

Bit of moisture first.?

So they're called windgags. I've always wanted to know the proper
industry name for them.

It's one name. Other one is pop shield. The last being more appropriate to
a close vocal mic - although it's doing the same job, preventing wind, ie
breath, getting to the diaphragm.

Why are there sometimes foam ones and other times those grey fluffy ones?

The 'animal' is for extreme conditions. It fits over what is known as a
basket which is a windgag for less severe conditions. It also waterproofs
the combination. If you dismantle one you'll often find the mic inside has
a foam gag too. Bad practice as any gag effects the top response but
quicker in a situation where the basket has to be removed often - ie drama
where you'd not want it inside. If the mic isn't moved and indoors you can
get away without any windgag at all. But swinging it around in a boom will
produce wind noise.

If you want the neatest looking mic 'in shot' so no windgag you use an
omni-directional where the diaphragm is only 'open' on one side - these
are far less sensitive to wind noise. Cardiod or indeed any directional
types route sound to the back of the diaphragm and use cancellation to
give the directivity pattern, and anywhere sound can go, so can wind...

I'd have expected them to attentuate the high frequencies more than
they seem to do....

The fluffy or animal comes with a hair brush, and giving it a good working
over helps reduce top loss, as does a good wash every so often. But every
windgag does to some extent. The least worse are the gauze screens you'll
see used in a recording studio for close micing vocals.

--
*There are two sides to every divorce: Yours and **** head's*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 2007-04-05 09:46:17 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
said:

In article ,
Andy Hall wrote:
I'm told the best microphone foam windgags are made by freezing the
foam before machining. Dunno to what temperature, though. But you
could try putting the bit in the freezer first?

Other way is a hot knife to melt rather than cut.

Bit of moisture first.?

So they're called windgags. I've always wanted to know the proper
industry name for them.

It's one name. Other one is pop shield. The last being more appropriate to
a close vocal mic - although it's doing the same job, preventing wind, ie
breath, getting to the diaphragm.

Why are there sometimes foam ones and other times those grey fluffy ones?

The 'animal' is for extreme conditions. It fits over what is known as a
basket which is a windgag for less severe conditions. It also waterproofs
the combination. If you dismantle one you'll often find the mic inside has
a foam gag too. Bad practice as any gag effects the top response but
quicker in a situation where the basket has to be removed often - ie drama
where you'd not want it inside. If the mic isn't moved and indoors you can
get away without any windgag at all. But swinging it around in a boom will
produce wind noise.

If you want the neatest looking mic 'in shot' so no windgag you use an
omni-directional where the diaphragm is only 'open' on one side - these
are far less sensitive to wind noise. Cardiod or indeed any directional
types route sound to the back of the diaphragm and use cancellation to
give the directivity pattern, and anywhere sound can go, so can wind...

I'd have expected them to attentuate the high frequencies more than
they seem to do....

The fluffy or animal comes with a hair brush, and giving it a good working
over helps reduce top loss, as does a good wash every so often. But every
windgag does to some extent. The least worse are the gauze screens you'll
see used in a recording studio for close micing vocals.

Thanks. That's one more item for my curiosity list.

Andy Hall wrote:

There are normally several layers of foam insert - some full sheet and
others vertical square fingers of foam joined at a few places. You
can pop out the fingers to the shape of the object and also cut them
easily to length with scissors. I glue pieces together with spray
mount adhesive.

The ali attaché case I use for my smaller Router is filled like this -
works very well. I seem to recall that was a fairly cheap case from CPC
(promoted as a video equipment case - but in reality works well for lots
of things)

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

In article , Bob Eager
writes
On Wed, 4 Apr 2007 22:28:54 UTC, fred wrote:

I'm so glad you're doing this one first, I've got a couple to do and was just
mulling over the cases on CPC to find the best one. Where are you getting
yours from?

CPC...! This one is SG32411 (03)

Thought it might have been ;-)

I have them on my list, your size 1 would be perfect for mine on its own but
I want to put the ac adaptor and leads in there too so it will have to be size
2 which is a bit more of a handful.

When I was working with military stuff the transport case inserts were
made of pre-cut layers of Plastizote foam of an inch or so bonded together
to avoid this sort of difficulty. There is a foam supplier round the corner
from my office so I may buy layers to stack up and solve the problem, do
you have any near you?

I don't know of any. In this particular application a small, cheap case
was all I wanted, so I don't want to go to great lengths.

I wasn't meaning anything special, this shop just sells replacement stuff for
sofas and most big towns seem to have one squirreled away somewhere.
Might be handy if you mess up the supplied stuff.

Cutting with a new scalpel is usually easy but impossible to do neatly for a
long and wide cut. Would it be possible to use a razor sharp sabatier type
knife to make the horizontal cut?

Good idea. May have something there.

I'll def try Dave Ps freezing trick on mine and the dimmed lighting
transformer/guitar string technique of Roly's sounds like a a winner if I ever
need to use hot wire for anything.
--
fred
Plusnet - I hope you like vanilla

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in
:

In article ,
Roly wrote:
Being in the audio business, I've still got some single-edged
razor blades.

Saw them in Lidl the other day, strangely. I've still got a few
boxes so didn't buy them.

See eBay item 160100677164 and larger quantities in the seller's
'shop'. I'm going to buy a few but haven't got a round tuit...
--
Richard Perkin
To email me, change the AT in the address below
richard.perkinATmyrealbox.com

It's is not, it isn't ain't, and it's it's, not its, if you mean it
is. If you don't, it's its. Then too, it's hers. It isn't her's.
It isn't our's either. It's ours, and likewise yours and theirs.
-- Oxford University Press, Edpress News

On Wed, 4 Apr 2007 22:28:54 UTC, fred wrote:

In article , Bob Eager
writes
I've just purchased a small clamshell type case for storing a portable
disk drive, etc. Nothing fancy, just a plastic casing with a thick wodge
of foam shaped to fit each half.

I've always had limited success cutting the foam in the past, but this
is a bit former and looks to be OK if I use a nice sharp knife.

However, there is one thick piece of foam in each half, rather than the
two thinner ones I'm used to. So, how do I cut a neat rectangular hole
in the foam, limiting it to (say) half the depth of the foam? (i.e. how
do I do the horizontal cut?)

I thought of slicing the foam in half horizontally, then cutting the
hole in one half. But even doing that horizontal cut neatly is a puzzle.

Cutting with a new scalpel is usually easy but impossible to do neatly for a
long and wide cut. Would it be possible to use a razor sharp sabatier type
knife to make the horizontal cut?

Thanks to everyone who suggested things. It's done.

I put it in the freezer for a few hours; no appreciable chage (guess if
I'd wet it first...).

I stood it on end, gently nipped into the Workmate jaws. Sliced down,
freehand, using a long Kitchen Devil knife. This was fine serrations on
one edge, big scallops on the other; I used the fine serrations. It cut
with no trouble at all. I could have made a jig to get it "Andy Hall"
perfect, but of course any slight irregularity is only visible if that
surface is visble overall. Since the two cut sides go back together
after I've cut holes in the top slice, it's fine for me.

Only problem was that the knife was barely long enough.

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

In article ,
Bob Eager wrote:
I put it in the freezer for a few hours; no appreciable chage (guess if
I'd wet it first...).

I guess it has to go very much lower than a domestic freezer, then. Liquid
nitrogen, anyone?

--
*If you can't see my mirrors, I'm doing my hair*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Bob Eager wrote:
I've just purchased a small clamshell type case for storing a portable
disk drive, etc. Nothing fancy, just a plastic casing with a thick
wodge of foam shaped to fit each half.

I've always had limited success cutting the foam in the past, but this
is a bit former and looks to be OK if I use a nice sharp knife.

However, there is one thick piece of foam in each half, rather than
the two thinner ones I'm used to. So, how do I cut a neat rectangular
hole in the foam, limiting it to (say) half the depth of the foam?
(i.e. how do I do the horizontal cut?)

I thought of slicing the foam in half horizontally, then cutting the
hole in one half. But even doing that horizontal cut neatly is a
puzzle.

I have no sophisticated tools; is there some easy way that I've
missed?

Electric carving knife works well.


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257