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I have been thinking about building a cnc machine and am intrigued as to how many forumites have one. My friend who runs a one man bespoke kitchen / furniture bought one recently and he says it was the best investment ever. He is turning out some really nice stuff, that would take an age to do...

Thanks Bob

I was given 5 litres of Borden Resin UL-39 and Borden UH-21 Fast powder hardener. I am reading the data sheet and I don't understand the mixing ratio. On the hardener data sheet it states 20 parts of hardener per 100 parts resin. Now the resin is a liquid and the hardener is a powder. So...

Ok. So here is my update that a few of you asked for regarding the insulation foam available from B&Q for ~ £5 for a 600 * 1200 * 52mm I have posted a few pictures. I cut the boards in half and ripped then down on the saw so they were 450 * 600mm. After I cut them on the table saw I marked...

I will post my findings of how I get on later. I am hoping the B&Q foam is the same as the dense blue foam, but I don't think it is quite the same. You do have to push very hard to put a finger dent into it though, so fingers crossed.

Agreed. Which is why I am on my way to B&Q this evening to pick a pack up. Thanks

Thanks. I just had a look at it seems very expensive. I would rather spend more and get too many sheets rather than be stung on a single sheet.

Thanks. I have just discovered the following from the data sheet of the B&Q stuff. Compressive strength = 200 KPa I have no idea what that means

I have found this, but I am not sure whether all styrofoam will be suitable for form making or whether there are different types. http://www.insulationexpress.co.uk/Floo ... Boards.htm Also came across this one from B&Q http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?a ... earch=true Any pointers...

Thanks. I have decided to scrap what I have done and to make the mold using styrofoam. It will be much lighter and easier to handle than one made from MDF. That is the plan, if I can find out where I can source the damn stuff and not have to buy a whole pallet load of it

Steve, your the Man! Foam it is. Thanks

Your plan sounds like a good one, but just to throw a spanner in the works, I am now contemplating making the former out of extruded polystyrene, just because of the weight issue. I have just calculated that a 500mm wide former requires 28 * 18mm ribs. With a ratio of 1:3 I have 8 full size...

Given your experience, would you always make your former out of foam. The reason I ask, is that in my other post, someone suggested making the former out of mdf, but having 3 or 4 ribs, followed by a solid former. This also sounds like it has potential, but I imagine it is still going to be...

I did think of that. I assume you mean ribs like that shown below But you still need to add in some serious bracing between the solid formers, otherwise, they will just collapse ?

Thanks. That makes sense. I think this has to be the way to go when making a large former. Timber ones rapidly get so heavy with all the bracing, that you struggle to lift it. Just a couple of questions. 1. Does the foam collapse at all under vacuum or does it remain stable ? 2. If I buy...

I agree a solid former would be the way to go, but I would end up with a solid 600mm * 500mm block of MDF and chipboard. That would equate to about 2.5 sheets of board. No way you would be able to lift that

Thanks Steve. The plan is to clamp it between 2 formers one at each end, and then use a piece of timber with a piece of coarse sandpaper glued to it to form the curve ? I will also look into making a hot wire

It did not fail on the glue line, the line you see is the 9mm slot that I cut into each panel. I did this so the individual formers could be removed. I did fail to support between the centers of the former horizontally. I think the collapsing happened here. I was amazed at the force and...

Having not had much joy with my timber former for vacuum pressing some curves, I think I would be better off making the former out of solid foam. This will also make the former a lot lighter as I struggled to lift the one I spent nearly a day making. If solid foam will suffice, anyone able to...

Any seasoned vacuum pressers out there, I would really appreciate your help here. I made a former out of 18mm mdf and 18mm chipboard that I had lying around in the garage. The former looked great, but on the 1st test run before gluing up, it did not even get to full vacuum before the vacuum...