Styrofoam

[jpratte]

Candy Haus and others,

Where do you get those great big hunk of styrofoam?

The styrofoam we glued up last year held too much water.

Thanks, Jeff (going to hell)

[Candy Haus Frau]

Hi! We got the styrofoam from a place in Winchester, Virginia. I've forgotten the exact name of the place, but will try and locate it. Basically we went online and searched for places that sell styrofoam for floating docks. We had to get two large pieces as I recall. We also bought special foam glue (because normal glue dissolves the foam?). Anyway, I know that stuff is available at most hardware stores and goes by the name, "Hold the Foam."

Good luck this year! I'm sure the third time will be the charm!

[Elliot]

(because normal glue dissolves the foam?)

Confirmative. What we usually refer to as styrofoam will be "melted away" by many common chemicals such as paints and glues. Be sure to ask the folks where you buy the foam. As a rule of thumb, you may need to use latex paint -- common house paint. And to attach fiberglass, you may need to use epoxy resin instead of the more common polyester resin. If not absolutely sure, test the chemical on a scrap of foam first. If it is a mismatch, the foam will literally disappear before your eyes. Do not breathe the fumes!

It is also possible to melt foam with too much heat. Resins heat up while they harden. So apply thin coats, and do not let the resin pool in any low spot.

I speak from experience.

[Tom]

Frank of the Make Believers team informs that they get their foam from Bill Little of

F.V. Vleck Co.
2300 Sinclair Lane
Baltimore, MD 21213
410-276-8500
http://www.fvvleck.com

Their team has had excitement over the 9 years they've raced, but I've never seen them have any problems with buoyancy!

[DJpowerhaus]

I just spoke with Universal Foam out of Hunt Valley, MD.
http://univfoam.com/products/styrofoam/ ... and-sheets

They can pretty much get anything, but have a minimum order of $250 and shipping is something like $100 from their plant in Winchester, VA. I need some foam, but probably not the minimum amount and really wouldnt like to pay all that shipping. I was curious if any other teams wanted to go in together on a big order and we can all pick it up in Hunt Valley rather than driving to Winchester to pick it up.

Our team needs a 7'x3'x1' block + another size yet to be determined.

Please contact me soon if you want to go in on this together: 410-861-7369

Thanks,
Mike Bowman
mike@projectzerog.com
http://kinetic.projectzerog.com

** Edit: I ended up driving down to Mid-Atlantic Foam's plant in Winchester, VA. We got a 1'x 3' x 7' block of "high recycled content" foam for $27. Not bad even if we spent $40 on gas to go get it. **