by Engineer Guy » Tue Jul 27, 2010 9:31 am
Don ~
I ran across dense Foam in my various Techno lives, and recycled it from applications mentioned below. I got educated on the matter of Foam density being measured in lbs/c.f. by a Foam Bed Manufacturer/Reseller. They put dense Foam in the middle of a Foam 'sandwich', and lighter Foam on both sides. When we were shopping for Foam Mattresses WAY back when in the pre-'Sleep Number Bed' days, we laid on various Foam densities and chose the most dense [3 lbs./c.f. center]. Initially, they're insanely 'hard', but feel great for snoozing. Those Beds are still the best for our post-Whiplash Necks. Today, 'Memory Foam' over some other Mattress achieves the same results. So, any Biz that manufacturers/resells Foam is a place to surf. I'm a hard core Dumpster diver, so look around these sorts of Businesses; I've worked in all of them:
1. Any Biz shipping/receiving sensitive Optics, Weighing [Lab Scales], Computer HDs, etc.. They cut out sections of Foam in which to then fit assemblies being shipped, and can't recycle the Foam. When you hit pay dirt on such Foam, you'll likely find a LOT of it. Often, you'll also find decent pieces of shipping crate lumber to recycle into interior Trailer framing; outside Kitchen Tables, etc..
2. ATA Flight Cases holding Pro Sound Gear use this Foam between the 19" Rack Mount Electronics and the outer Case. You roll in the Case; pop the front and back covers; and start cranking out the dBs. Electronics failing on stage in front of 20k folks is not an option, so protection matters.
I used dense Foam to protect very pricey Pro Sound Electronics and Mics hauled around in a large CT we seriously customized.
3. Styro Peanuts are used to ship 'one off' items. But, any Biz shipping/reselling mass quantities of Glass, Ceramics or fragile items might have such Foam in their Dumpster so that they don't have to think about shipping damage or custom packaging.
4. Boat/Car Seat/Couch/Office Chair cushions use pretty dense Foam. Dumpster dive at those Businesses.
When you find dense Foam and pick up a piece, the best relative measurement device is your hand as you exclaim 'whoa, this s**t is heavy'! ;-)
Cut whatever you find with a Bread Knife; it works great.
I wish I could post a link, but I don't know of one.
Removable pieces of Foam are great to set under non-hardened DVD Players; Satellite Receivers; etc..
~ Dennis ~
~Reality proceeds with or without your consensus~