Styrofoam

Discussion in 'Materials' started by werwer6969, Sep 6, 2006.

  1. gonzo
    Joined: Aug 2002
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    gonzo Senior Member

    They use to make sailboats made out of solid styrofoam. The softboards (surfboards) are styrofoam covered in some kind of fabric. I saw a kayak carved out of a huge block of styrofoam. I think it gives you an cheap and easy way to experiment with shapes. You can glue more foam or carve some off.
     
  2. boat fan
    Joined: Sep 2008
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    boat fan Senior Member

    Yes it would shine if you wanted to alter shapes quickly and easily.
    Carve away as much as you want.......
    Often it`s used for prototype development for those reasons.

    Surfboards do use styrofoam cores but not all .Quite acceptable for something that does not spend that much time in the water after all.
    Styro cored surboards do break easier than the polyurethane cored ones. Stringers are sometimes placed in the centre.

    I would rather still choose a well designed kayak for my needs and build in a more conventional method.
     
  3. Herman
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    Herman Senior Member

    And about polyester resin and styrofoam: There are certain types of polyester resin that will work. They are not common, you will have to search for them, but there are some available.

    In Europe, I know of 2 places to get it: Nord Composites in France, and Brands Structural Products in the Netherlands.
     
  4. frankseales
    Joined: Nov 2010
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    frankseales New Member

    Built a kayak using a styrofoam core and fibreglass with polyester resin

    I tried the method you were thinking of but i covered the styrofoam with epoxy and micro-baloons first to try to protect the styrofoam fro the polyester resin. The polyester resin still managed to get through the epoxy and attack the foam but all in all it worked. I think a better idea would have been (and ill try that next time i build a kayak) to make a mould with ply in roughly the shape of the kayak and use the 2 part PU foam. This way you can make the foam whatever density you want and use straight polyester resin. Also i did the volume calculations and it would be cheaper to get the core this way rather than buying a block of styrofoam as i did. Also epoxy resin is much more expensive than polyester resin so cut costs again.
    Here is a link to the photos of the build process
    http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=570838&id=669530715&l=3e4e01d5c0
     
  5. Steve W
    Joined: Jul 2004
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    Steve W Senior Member

    Herman is right, duratec is one maker of a polyester for use on styrofoam.
    Steve.
     
  6. ondarvr
    Joined: Dec 2005
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    ondarvr Senior Member

    You can also buy it from Composites One, the demand for products like this is low, so it will need to be ordered.
     
  7. pcfithian
    Joined: Sep 2010
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    pcfithian Junior Member

    Thought it might help to link this thread, http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/fi...-building/extruded-polystyrene-xps-24213.html

    to this discussion. XPS foam is available in green as well as blue and pink.
     
  8. Mr Efficiency
    Joined: Oct 2010
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    Mr Efficiency Senior Member

    Discussing the utility of various foams is advanced somewhat by more attention to the densities that are available, low density may be of no use in some applications but perfectly adequate in others, condemning a type of foam without reference to grade ( read density ) is often misleading.
     
  9. grigerar
    Joined: Aug 2011
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    grigerar New Member

    styrofoam boats

    Hi, I had once a high density styrofoam sailboat (8 foot or so) I bought second han and it was great!
     
  10. tunnels

    tunnels Previous Member

    USE EPOXY RESIN !!!:idea:
     
  11. rasorinc
    Joined: Nov 2007
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    rasorinc Senior Member

    Stryofoam does not react to epoxy. It is OK to coat it with epoxy. Stryofoam does react to direct sunlight. It needs to be protected from [UV] rays and epoxy does not do that-but paint over epoxy can.
     
  12. tunnels

    tunnels Previous Member

    Paint the epoxy with a barrier coat then a top coat !! :D
     
  13. PAR
    Joined: Nov 2003
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    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    Did I read this right?
     
  14. tunnels

    tunnels Previous Member

    Ummmm not sure !:confused:
     

  15. waikikin
    Joined: Jan 2006
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    waikikin Senior Member

    It quite plainly & noisily suggests to use epoxy resin on styrofoam the way I read it, thats what you wrote, I'd use it too:cool:
     
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