Ues a blender

Ken:

I've used a blender. You tear the foam up into golf-ball to tennis-ball-sized chuncks and dye the foam first (soak it through and through, not just color on the outside).

Then I put the pieces in a blender with water and chop away.

I put the ground up foam slurry on a newspaper to dry.

Once dry I run it through some screens to sort it by size. Some of it will be fine powder, other coarse powder, and other small chunks.

I generally run the small chunks through the process again.

With patience, I've found you can get both fine and coarse powders, similar to what you see in the store. One of the keys is to add water to the blender so the teeth of the blender engage the foam more aggressively.

Keep grinding and sifting the foam to get the fine foam separated from the coarse stuff.

Here is one way

I've always liked this method

http://dansresincasting.com/Ground%20foam.htm

Steve

Foam

Ken, I use a blender with different kinds of foam.

Cushon foam is ok for weeds and some trees. It takes a long time to get it ground up though. I had to keep pushing it back down to get stuff that I liked. You also have to add some water with a drop of soap to keep the static down and to help the paint to adhere with all of the foams. I found that with cushion foam you have to go very slow because of the heat generated.

Florist foam blocks is what I use for fine ground cover. It chews up into a fine powder. Also nice for some trees.

White foam that comes in various shapes is what I use to make colours other than green. I use very little of this and only for an indication of flowers out in the tollies and swamps.

So far I've coloured all of my foam with acrylic paints and it seems to work well.

Hope this helps.

Roy

Ground foam WARNING!!

Do not EVER let your significant other know about this!. If you do, and survive ( highly unlikely) the doghouse in winter will look like paradise... without trains!.

You don't need to use the wife's or your moms

Pipopak you can find blenders at yard sales and swap meets for about $5.00 just ask to plug them in before you take it home.

Dan

You want your own blender

You want your own blender for this - I just upgraded the family's blender as a Christmas present to the wife and won some points with her. I took the "old castoff" blender for use in the train room, of course!

I use cooking/tea strainers. Go to one of the better gourmet cooking utensil stores and you can find strainers of all sizes with all kinds of mesh options.

An old food processor

 of old style meat grinder may work better than a blender. The first commercial ground foams were made in meat grinders - at least that's what someone at Woodland Scenics told me once. 

For me, I find the best "tools" to make ground foam are my credit card and http://www.scenicexpress.com

Marty

Coffe grinder: NO Meat

Coffe grinder: NO

Meat grinder works well, carpet underlayment gives the best ground foam in the grinder. Hard work with the old crank job.

Wire brush in a drill from the '80's RMC article works really well on regular synthetic foam.

Harold

I have been told the same thing Marty

5 years ago I went to a train show in the Washington D.C.area. At the show Woodland Scenics had a booth and was giving lectures at a podium explaining how to make trees and how to use their scenery applications to make different types of trees . The question was asked how did they originally grind and chop their foam and the Woodland spokesman said they started the company using Meat Grinders and used different size screens to sift and sort the smaller from the larger foam and lichen products the used. Ever since that show I have looked for meat grinders at antique stores, pickers barns, swap meets and salvation army stores and have yet to locate one that still worked for under $100.00. Blenders and food processors have been the only chopper grinders I have found and everyone sells old used blenders and processors cheep $5.00 to $25.00.

Dan

Making ground foam

 The best foam to grind is the foam carpet instalers use for under carpet padding. The foam is recycled foam

  it has all different colors mixed together it has a course texture and grinds real nice.

   ron netti

Carpet foam sound good

The secret word is Pet, Avoid old used Carpet foam from homes that have pets as their PEE smell can sure ruin a model railroad atmosphere!

Dan

Carpet foam

Dan    Dont use old foam go to a carpet store and ask for some scrap left from a recent carpet install .

           ron netti

I use the old fashioned metal

I use the old fashioned metal hand grinder. They are about $20 new and can be found at flea markets used for about $10.

Harold

I'm with Marty

While those that grind there own may have better control and save money on their scenic stuff, I'd much rather shop at Scenic Express and be done with it.  I haven't got the time or inclination to grind and colour my own foam. 

Two Cents More

I'm part of the Scenic Express camp as well.  I'll buy my ground foam and save my marriage! [wink]

Kevin

are you trying to say that marriage is a grind or you like going to Camp [Double wink]

Dan

I just celibrated 30 years of the Grind !

Dan

Dan

Marriage a grind, no not at all.  Just celebrated, (23rd September) 15 years of bliss!

Have not aspired to go to camp since grade school.

Prefer to get my foam ground, or my ground foam, either way you say it, from the Scenic Express mills...  same place I get the long hairy stuff for the fields.

I have found using real foam

I have found using real foam rubber instead of the newer synthetic stuff easily makes finer foam in a blender. 

I had posted some time ago about using old carpet underlayment from my office building and the health nazi's were all over me about germs, bugs and other problems!  Well, I'm still here, no funny rashes or third eyes.  Maybe I forgot to mention I boiled the water with the Rit Dye in it when I dumped the ground foam into it-can't remember. 

Thanks,

Peter

Peter as long as you washed the foam you're OK

You don't have to worry about growing a third arm out of your forehead. It all depends what kind of office it came out of. I wouldn't use foam pad material from a medical office but from a business office shouldn't be any concern considering all the dirt and weeds everybody uses on their RR.

About the Health Nazi's you have to understand many of the members of the MRH forum genuinely are concerned for the other members health and welfare and get just a little excited at times please remember they are only worried about everybody else staying healthy and well as there are so few model railroaders we would hate to loose one.

Anyway I just got back from a carpet wholesale warehouse across the street from my bank because when I came out of the bank and remembered the post here about foam so I walked over to see what they had and for how much. The real rubber foam padding can still be bought in 6 foot wide rolls by 3ft to 50ft lengths at $8.00 per running yard so that a piece 3foot X 6foot and their synthetic foam is $3.86 for the same size piece. the two square yards for $8.00 would make more foam then most people will use in two years

Dan.

I use a old blender and

I use a old blender and strainer. Half full blender of water, 1 inch cubes of foam, grind on highest speed. water and blender will get warm so go slow and easy dropping in chunks. I take the center of the lid off and drop a few at a time, giving it time to grind.

Grind longer for smaller chunks. Then pour thru a strainer, mash semi dry with a spatula and dry on newspaper. I then drop dry foam into blender and on slow speed, drip in paint and carefully mix.

Ive tried and found about 10 shades of green, allowing anice variety to mix for trees and ground.

Try it, its easy. I made two gallons the first night.

Randy McKenzie

Virginia Southern

I'm going to try to grind my

I'm going to try to grind my own foam.  I have some packing foam (already green) that I will try it with.  It's a little too green for reality, so I'll probably need to add some darker green or brown to tone it down a bit.

The big question I have about the process is how to keep the ground foam from becomming a big clump, or a stuck together sheet of clump.  People sprinkle ground foam on wet paint so that it sticks.  Adding paint to the foam seems like a recipe for a sticky mess.  How do I keep the foam so that it can be sprinkled after it's ground and colored?

Thanks,

Doug

Foam

Doug, I live in a hobby shop void and out of necessity make my own ground foam. The information presented so far works well. I've used different types of foam for different puposes. Cushion foam makes great course foam. Sifting it also gives some finer particles. I use florist blocks to make fine foam and white open cell foam for brighter colours to simulate flowers in a field or swamp. You won't need much of this, a little will last years. I do cut up my foam into small cubes and use a blender, not the one belonging to the Mrs. though. I value my future. I only add enough water to stop the static cling. This way I don't end up with a blob of foam that has to be dried and disassembled (hammered apart) to be useable. I use acrylic paint to colour the foam and add what I think is necessary to achieve my goal. Sometimes I get what I want and other times I have to go back to the "blending" board, as far as colours go. I can't match Woodland Scenics expertise, variety, or imagery, but what I do works for me and seems to be acceptable and convey the imagery that I try to achieve to others.

One note of caution. Grinding foam, even with water included in the mix, will generate a lot of heat in the blender, both in the motor and in the mix. Take your time and let the blender motor and the foam cool as you go through the process. It does work and is quite satisfying in knowing that you've added another skillset to your toolbox.

Roy

another material

Also useful:    Sawdust!

I collected a medium size bucket of clean sawdust, and screened it for splinters and chips.  Try not to use real dust... like a byproduct of sanding.  The result was dyed (using fabric dye) in greens and blue-greens to provide a few colors.  Then dried (spread out on paper in a dry space - Oh, yes, this is winter with Low Humidity... a good time for a drying process!)    Start with a pale wood (pine, not walnut).

I apply it as a foam would be used...  and spilled sawdust is collected into a common collector... and re-used as blended colors.

Another material - sawdust

I've heard of people using sawdust, and have heard a couple of stories where the color faded away with time leaving the green dyed sawdust back the natural sawdust color.  I don't know what people used to dye the sawdust, but has anyone else heard of this problem, and if so, what can be used to color the sawdust that won't fade out with time?

Rick