How do you guys dispose of your foam?
I've been trying to figure out a way to grind it up and spread it out in my attic for more insulation (I have blown in up there now).

 

I hear Mark just leaves his up in a tree somewhere

I was thinking about the same thing a few days ago and haven't come up with a solution yet. Good question.

 

I don't! I keep finding uses for foam carriers and other parts of the foam that isn't cut, ie the ends turned and cut square make great templates for airbrushing.

The only stuff that gets thrown out is such tiny piece parts that they could only be used as pillow stuffing!

Of course, there's that lurking wife, always getting rid of my stuff she calls junk! :mrgreen:

 

I seem to go thru barrels of foam. At least that what ends up in the trash cans.

I have to break it down with a razor knife and I keep some of the bigger chunks but by and large, most of it ends up filling 50 gallon trash containers every 2 to 3 weeks.

A grinder would sure be nice! And added attic insulation would certainly be a plus.

 

How thick of a piece can an office shredder take? Maybe not a cheap one but a good quality one. The results of this shredding would be ideal for the attic insulation.

 

Industry usually shreds and then compact/heat extrudes the recycled foam for storage:


I've seem a video of a hobbiest who made a hotwire grid, but can't find it now. I think it was hubbard cnc, but I can't find their website only ebay links. But I did find this: http://www.demandproducts.com/recyk.php Can you believe they want $2,142.00 for it?

-Kwok

 

Wish i had a blender to try

 

I usually just have to leave my daughter on the floor with the scrap and I come back to little bits all over the place. ;-) Just need to feed and provide a stable living environment and it works great.

Hey wait that is more than a big hotwire cutter. hummmm... ;-)

 

Well... you don't actually have to train them to bag it. Just keep some of these handy for "shredding" time.

I think Trish's idea of just using it how it is would be pretty cool. You could look back after a few years and remember that plane you always wanted to get back to. It might stick to the wall with a quick squirt of foam in a can and then you won't have the staples in there if you ever need to tear it down.

 

I have cats that love dealing with the foam. Beats having them working over the furniture. :?

 

Get yourself an electric leaf shredder.
I got the Black & Decker Leaf Hog and it shreds foam as thick as 1 1/2 inch if it's fed in strips. It came with an attachment to blow the shreddings right into a garbage can, and with a bag that you can carry around with the shredder.
I got it on clearance for $39 or something close to that.

I mostly cut 1/2 inch thick pink or blue foams, and the leaf shredder reduces the scrap into small chunks. Except for the inherent static, it could be used as packing materials or possibly attic insulation. If you ever had to walk through the attic though, you would emerge looking like you had foam legs.

The shredder worked OK as-is but after two seasons of shredding leaves and small twigs, the plastic blades got nicked up. I just resharpened them with a file and it still works fine.

When I have scrap that's relatively uniform, another thing I've done that helps make use of the waste is I cut a hatch pattern of 3/4 inch squares, then just snap it apart and I have uniform size chunks for packing foam. You could cut round or other shapes instead but curves typically take more time to cut than straight lines.

 

We use shredded foam to ship finished models in.
Bag the model, then surround it in foam.

Works good.

Cheers.
GHB

 

I just take foam, make it into a plane then jam it up a tree somewhere.
The leftover bits are easy enough, cut it into squarish pieces, paint it to look like cake and offer it to canvassing politicians - they will devour anything.