FOAM SPAD Material Questions?
 

I'm having a heck of a time finding the pink panther insul-board as well as the blue fan fold insulation detailed in the ESPAD3d (http://www.spadtothebone.com/misc/espa3dplans.jpg). Admittedly I haven't looked at Lowes thats my next visit and the only place left as far as hardward stores go.

My questions are:

[ul][*] Is the Blue Fan Fold insulation the same as EPP?[*] If not, how is it different? Which one is heavier, stronger, etc.[*] Is there some place I can get EPP to make a wing from? Something I can buy that is EPP that can be transformed into a wing...?
[/ul]

RE: FOAM SPAD Material Questions?
 

Hi,

Epp is way tough. Small bits of EPP can be scrounged from Gateway computer packing crates. You have too cut up the odd shaped cushioning bits to get small blocks/sheets etc. Good enough for nose skids, reciver packing, leading edge add-ons, wing tips, etc. Otherwise you have to order online from The Composite Store or Aerospace Composite Products or the like ($$$$). Somebody will surely jump in to tell us where the blue fanfold stuff comes from.

SC

RE: FOAM SPAD Material Questions?
 

Blue fan fold (or pink) is NOT EPP
EPP is more "rubery" than blue, pink or white foam.
I'm not sure what type of foam blue and pink are but white is EPS and depron is Extruded EPS

RE: FOAM SPAD Material Questions?
 

Ok, EPS...Poly Styrene...that means Styrofoam. Styrofoam is a fairly weak building material. In fact those white pieces can be broken fairly easily. The EPP I have doesn't appear to break at all. It takes a lot of force to bend and just comes back to shape.

Thanks Woodsy...I now know I want EPP and not the blue/pink fan fold.

RE: FOAM SPAD Material Questions?
 

EPS is stiffer than EPP though and the blue foam apears to be like a realy dense EPS or a more fragile EPP, its sort of the best of both worlds but not quite as good as either world in some ways (it's heavier)

RE: FOAM SPAD Material Questions?
 

Lowes was the only place that carried the blue fan fold insulation in my area. One of the stores was even sold out of it. But that was the only place that I could find it.

Brian

RE: FOAM SPAD Material Questions?
 

You sayed you haven't checked Lowe's. Well, do it. Last time i went there they had both the pink an blue fan fold.

RE: FOAM SPAD Material Questions?
 

Yeh, they are far away but it is my next stop. Funny how Lowes will have stuff Home Depot doesn't...

RE: FOAM SPAD Material Questions?
 

Your location says that.:D

RE: FOAM SPAD Material Questions?
 

Blue foam is not fragile. It's quite dense in fact, and not all that heavy unless you're going electric. and it can still be used, albeit need to be used in a different manner that the rubbery stuff.

RE: FOAM SPAD Material Questions?
 

Exactly. It doe not break like white foam does. The 3/4 inch thick sheets I have been buying from Lowes bend pretty far before breaking. I find it a very nice material to build with. It even sands down like balsa.

RE: FOAM SPAD Material Questions?
 

My Lowes don't go it....all they got is the white stuff....which is styrofoam with blue plastic on stunk to it on top. I can't find the blue or pink stuff anywhere....


I'm in California and I bet they don't have the blue or the pink stuff here because it don't get cold enough... [:'(]

RE: FOAM SPAD Material Questions?
 

Home Depot-or look up a DOW distributor in your area. We have it, and it certainly gets cold here :P

RE: FOAM SPAD Material Questions?
 

rchawaii LOL For the life of me I use to wonder why the long time residents bundled up in NW winter gear while I ran around in shorts; after a few years, I sit here with a vest and long pants!:) Climatized _ at least to the winter.
Still no insulation in house!

back to thread.. CA is rather large. but I would look for a specialty contractor (A/C or custom refrigeration, like DIYS boater).

RE: FOAM SPAD Material Questions?
 

Hi! I was thinking of building one ESPAD3D. However, no one sells blue fan fold here. Look at my location!!!

I think the closest is only styrofoam. Whyyyyyyyy oh whyyyyyyyyy!!!!

RE: FOAM SPAD Material Questions?
 

i'm working on a 3mm coro one at the moment, i'll let you know how it goes

RE: FOAM SPAD Material Questions?
 

Been there, done that. The Fuse is really difficult to join to the wing.
The ailerons need some trimming or it will rub against the coro wing

RE: FOAM SPAD Material Questions?
 

????? i've had no trouble so far, a couple of BBQ skewers in the right spot and it's fine.

again ????? the ailerons ARE part of the wing, just trim the edge as per a normal aileron and it's fine

RE: FOAM SPAD Material Questions?
 

You just epoxy the fuse to the foam, cant get much simpler? Just poke pinholes in the thin plastic like mentioned in the plans and it should be no issue.

RE: FOAM SPAD Material Questions?
 

Was talking about using coro instead!!!

RE: FOAM SPAD Material Questions?
 

and your point is?

RE: FOAM SPAD Material Questions?
 

lol I'm sorry :D Coro or foam, you can attach it however you want. it's not that big a deal.

RE: FOAM SPAD Material Questions?
 

this is how i did all coro.

cut the wing and fuzz ti shape as per foam, flutes span wise on wing sectionn and vertical on fuzz.

sand and clean the wing section on top and bottom along the center line where fuzz and motor mount stick mount.

poke some bbq skewers down the fuzz flutes at starategic locations like just in front of rudder hinge, up the nose bit some where, and a couple of other places, poke the skewers through far enough so the pointy bit sticks out the bottom of the fuzz a few mm,

now line up the fuzz bit with the C/L of the wing bit and poke the bbq skewers (mounted in fuzz)
in to and through the wing bit.

remove fuzz from wing

you now have 3 or 4 holes in the wing bit along the C/L.
flip the wing bit over and mount the motor rail with glue.

flip it back over and drill through the coro and in to the motor rail as deep as you like (drill the same size as the BBQ skewers).

push the BBQ skewers through the fuzz bit say about 10mm and test mount it in the fuzz (skewer length may need adjusting to suit hole depth)

run some CA along the C/L and in the holes then mount 2 bits together, depending on how much CA used i then run some down all the fuzz flutes.

this is about as far as i've got but it looks good so far and weighing the 3mm coro version against the 6mm depron version it's about 2oz heavier but should be a lot tougher

RE: FOAM SPAD Material Questions?
 

[8D]i don't know where you live in cal, but in stockton lowes on north side. across the street south side home depot. they have pink,blue and white.

RE: FOAM SPAD Material Questions?
 

:D Thanks ours only has white... I'm in the bay area so Stockton is driveable.[sm=thumbup.gif]