High Density Foam

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OLD FORUM POSTS

Posted by Joe Crumley on December 21, 2002

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all you Heads and Hears.

Perhaps some of you have experimented with a Grain Frame on Foam. We have one and I have used it on occasion with marginal results. The complaint is the regular look it produces. I tried attaching some of the wires together with a little success but not much.

Naturally, I blasted the board down about a half inch before using the GF. The passes with the sandblast nozzel worked best by using slow regular movement with the direction of the wires.

I knocked the background down with 20/50 fine sand but used the GF with silica sand. Perhaps I should use a little less air as my Ingersol Rand pushes 185 cfm at 90 psi.

The real problem is my habit of using redwood. It is much more labor intensive, but probably can't be beat for looks.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Happy brushing.

Joe

Jeffrey P. Lang

Joe,
While I was at the letterhead meet in Milwaukee last year, I saw someone using a hot glue gun to put an irregular grain pattern on a panel of HDU.
They already had the stencil in place & simply dragged the glue gun beads across the panel, almost letting them drop on the panel. I am not sure the type of glue they used in the glue gun, but it seemed to have a little strech to it. The glue was allowed to cool & dry, then it was blasted a little first & the glue was removed & then it was blasted a little more. It gave a much more realistic woodgrain effect.
I've been wanting to try this myself.
Good luck,
Jeff

Kent Smith

I have an irregular shaped template I cut from a piece of plex. I move it down the piece and from side to side creating a believable faux grain effect. Much less even looking and when I set the pattern it will follow as I go deeper although some of it gets knocked away. This looks more realistic as that is what happens with the variations in hardness of the grain on real wood. I have two or three templates with I use to break up the monotony. I was underimpressed by the grain frame when I first saw it since it tends to be too even in patterning.

Joe

Me too Kent.

Perhaps I should apply small thin strips to the background at the first stage of sandblasting, then use the Grain Frame. I could probably do some small knots and sqirls, that would be degraded as the sandblasting proceeds.

What do ya think.

Joe

Kent Smith

Sounds good, I have also cut knots and other irregularities out of the mask so they sit on top. Anything to simulate the real thing. This is a form of faux finishing.