make my own ground foam

O

omrick

New Member
Jan 31, 2008
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0
1
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Hi again. I have searched the forums, but have not seen what I want. I have an older piece of foam rubber from a car seat. I have tried grinding it with various tools, but can't get the effect I want. I think that if the foam rubber was a bit harder it would work. I remember in the long ago, having some of this that had almost crystalized. I wonder how to make my current foam rubber harder. Any ideas for quickly deteriorating this material?

ps: omrick means "Old Man Rick"
 
I have heard of people using a blender, but have never tried it myself. You can probably pick up an old blender for cheap at a thrift store.

Kevin
 
You can grind it in a blender, but be sure to tear it up first, and put enough water in so that it "flows" through the blade properly.

I have done this, but found that dyeing the result a useful colour is the hardest part.

Andrew
 
I worked for a commercial model shop and foam in blender was the standard procedure. Make sure that your blades are sharp. You will have to experiment with colors.
 
Thank you all for the information. I did read the postings from 2005 about the blender method. My thoughts were to find a way to crystalize the foam rubber. I have in the past seen this material in large chunks that had become semi-hard and were easy to crush up with bare hands. I don't know how it occurred, but thought someone else might know the process. Maybe it was early Japanese rubber. It took them a while to get it right, but now their rubber is as good as ours. When my wife isn't paying attention, I will try the blender. Many thanks.
 
I forgot to mention the "wife" situation. It might be better to find a blender at a yard sale. Yes the foam does deteriorate when exposed to sunlight, high temps and just plain old age. I remember some of the early padded dash boards that would sag after the foam disappeared.
 
Sawdust is what I use. I use different size strainers to get the different results. I just add a few drops of paint in a container and mix it and dry it on a cookie sheet. If (and most of the time it does) it clumps up, then I put it in a blender to break it all up. I've only used it as ground cover though, never on trees because it's too fine.
 
Trainiac77 said:
Sawdust is what I use. I use different size strainers to get the different results. I just add a few drops of paint in a container and mix it and dry it on a cookie sheet. If (and most of the time it does) it clumps up, then I put it in a blender to break it all up. I've only used it as ground cover though, never on trees because it's too fine.
Click to expand...

Good stuff i put an order in to my dads shop/garage for a grocery bag of dust from under the table saw.
 
Thank you all for your replies. I am going to search the thrift stores and hopefully, only buy a blender. I stopped at one place and came out with a coffee grinder. I am fighting a forty five year habit as a pack rat. It is harder to kick pack ratting than it was to quit smoking. lol
 
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