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Cutting Foam Board

31K views 42 replies 30 participants last post by  Acebird 
#1 ·
I purchased a 4' x 8' sheet of 2" thick Dow Corning Foam Board. What is the best way to cut this foam to get a nice edge? I am going to place this under the telescoping cover and above the inner cover on each of my hives.
 
#5 ·
Table saw with a carbide tipped finishing blade makes a very clean cut.

Keep your hand on the piece next the fence, cause the blade can catch it and make a nasty gaouge in it.
 
#7 ·
The telescoping covers are the Mann Lake units. Probably about a 2" edge. I am going to place the insulation on the inner cover, then wrap the hive with 15 lb. felt/tar paper and fold it over the top of the foam. Then I will place the telescoping cover over that.
 
#10 ·
My POS jigsaw won't cut a square edge on wood worth a darn but it goes through EPS board like butter.

If you're cutting a lot of it though, want a nice edge, don't have a saw already, then here's the way to go that doesn't require storage space. This is the cheap version mind you :)
http://www.harborfreight.com/130-watt-heavy-duty-hot-knife-66182.html
 
#17 ·
We cut A LOT of this type of insulation when we built our house.
1. Use a long metal straight edge and a carpet knife with a SHARP/NEW blade.
2. Score the insulation as deeply as you can.
3. Place your sheet of insulation so your weight is on the main part of the sheet.
4. Let the part you want to remove hang over the edge of something - a saw horse, a table edge, etc.
5. Use a 2x4 to put pressure on the edge you want to remove until it breaks along the score.
Ta dah!

PS - We didn't have luck with a table saw or a circular saw - too dangerous, too.
 
#18 ·
Utility knife or a carpet knife will work as described but it is a broken edge. This edge could be squared off by using a sanding block with coarse sandpaper. This is a bit messy.
As mentioned before a hot wire does make the best cut because it seals the edge. Getting the current in the wire and the wire feet rate takes a little practice to get the best cut.

When I was building cardboard airplanes I cut a lot of this foam for the ribs of the wings and actually built a pentagraph for the application. I was lucky enough to get my hands on some nitenel wire for the cutting blade which is an exotic metal that worked perfect.
 
#28 ·
When I was building cardboard airplanes I cut a lot of this foam for the ribs of the wings and actually built a pentagraph for the application. I was lucky enough to get my hands on some nitenel wire for the cutting blade which is an exotic metal that worked perfect.
Geeez, and I thought I was the only one who was so cheap to build giant sized R/C planes out of cardboard with foam ribs. :thumbsup:
 
#19 ·
Most online RC hobby supply places will have it. Inconel is commonly used but you probably could get away with stainless steel as you would not need a long length exposed. I have cut wing cores for RC planes as Acebird mentions and was cutting 30 inches deep so the inconel can be stretched tighter in that case. The wire needs to be somewhat shy of visibly red so you have to play with resistances and power supply depending on your wire size.

I have cut lots of foam on the table saw and sure got a surprise when I got violent results. Thanks Blueribboncookies. I will still cut it on the table saw but not without a long splitter to be certain neither the sheet or the off cut can move sideways against the side of the blade.
 
#22 ·
You can always cut the board about 1/8 big and then clamp a straight edge on both sides of the foam so you can slice it to perfect size with a sharp carving knife. Foam slices very easy when the waste piece is thin. It doesn't grab a thick knife.
 
#23 ·
There have been many options, but have not heard what I use. Depends on how much cutting you need to do, but I take a hacksaw blade, without the handle, just the blade. First I draw the lines using a Sharpie pen, black so it shows easily. then just take the hacksaw blade in your hand and cut halfway down through the board on your first cut. On your second pass cut all the way through the board. It gets as close to a perfect cut as possible without a big mess.

I have used this method many times to perfection.

good luck!!!
 
#26 ·
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