CatholicFlyer
Active member
Awesome, we got a Super Walmart here in Western Kansas, will check for it.
Where do you get your substitute for Dollar Tree Foam Board?
- Thread starter FlyingMonkey
- Start date
Just an FYI, though - if you are buying the foamboard from Dollar Tree online, you have to buy it by the case, which is 25 sheets, at $25/box. I don't think that's unreasonable...
CatholicFlyer
Active member
dollar per sheet, not bad.
greynation
New member
I was recently on a business trip to Houston TX. I dropped into the Fry's electronics in Webster. They sell colored foam board. It isn't Adams, I can't remember the brand but it seemed light weight like Adams. Unfortunately I had no way to bring it home. 
BS projects inc.
Elite member
Hotwire cutting foam planes is also a great option for those who don't have access to dtfb.
.k
I've also had good success using diamond cutting wire and a jigsaw. Works great for cutting Delta wings, flying wings, swept wings, and any form of tapered wings.
The method of cutting is extremely similar to using a hot wire fixed at one end and a single airfoil template, although the setup is a little more complex.
1. Attach one end of your cutting wire to a jigsaw (drill a hole in an old blunt blade).
2. attach the other end to a suitable spring to absorb the oscillations from the jigsaw.
3. Attach the other end of the spring to a length of paracord.
4. Have the paracord run over a pulley attached to the end of your workbench and off the end then attach a weight to the end of the cord.
The weight & pulley provides a constant tension to the whole setup so that no matter where you position the jigsaw the tension on the wire remains exactly constant, the spring absorbs the oscillations of the jigsaw so the weight can remain stationary, and the jigsaw pulls the cutting line back & forth.
Using this method you can cut thermoset foam such as PU which give off toxic fumes when attempted to be cut with a hot wire (which is pointless as it doesn't really melt in the first place) ...Kingspan, Celotex type construction foam. I can get offcuts of this stuff basically for free which is why I was looking for a way to make use of it.
I also find I get a much better surface finish than with a hot wire as varying your speed during the cutting process has no ill effects. You can even stop half-way then continue later (as I found one time when my jigsaw battery went flat half-way around a leading edge).
I've also had good success using diamond cutting wire and a jigsaw. Works great for cutting Delta wings, flying wings, swept wings, and any form of tapered wings.
The method of cutting is extremely similar to using a hot wire fixed at one end and a single airfoil template, although the setup is a little more complex.
1. Attach one end of your cutting wire to a jigsaw (drill a hole in an old blunt blade).
2. attach the other end to a suitable spring to absorb the oscillations from the jigsaw.
3. Attach the other end of the spring to a length of paracord.
4. Have the paracord run over a pulley attached to the end of your workbench and off the end then attach a weight to the end of the cord.
The weight & pulley provides a constant tension to the whole setup so that no matter where you position the jigsaw the tension on the wire remains exactly constant, the spring absorbs the oscillations of the jigsaw so the weight can remain stationary, and the jigsaw pulls the cutting line back & forth.
Using this method you can cut thermoset foam such as PU which give off toxic fumes when attempted to be cut with a hot wire (which is pointless as it doesn't really melt in the first place) ...Kingspan, Celotex type construction foam. I can get offcuts of this stuff basically for free which is why I was looking for a way to make use of it.
I also find I get a much better surface finish than with a hot wire as varying your speed during the cutting process has no ill effects. You can even stop half-way then continue later (as I found one time when my jigsaw battery went flat half-way around a leading edge).
Theuglycamel
Active member
Hello everyone,
I have a habit of scouring online for foamboard, and recently found something I'm very fond of. About 10 days ago I found a box of trifold Redi-board for $22 USD on Amazon prime (free shipping). I didn't pay much attention to the details since it was a good deal (18 trifolds for 1.23 a piece, they're 4.00 at dollar general). However when I received the box (in less than 36 hours no less) I noticed not only is the paper black, but the foam is black as well! I wasn't aware that this animal even existed! In my excitement I jumped on Amazon to order another case to find that it's out of stock and no other Amazon sellers have that product. I then contacted Adams requesting a reseller that might carry this sku#. The contact they gave me is for www.darice.com who appears to be a wholesale distributor for sign supplies. I submitted a request for availably and received an automated "we'll get back to you" email. I'll let everyone know what I find out.
As a personal request, if anyone runs into these trifolds, reply back and let me know where you found them (unless you bought them all up). I've used several different brands of black board but these are by far the best I've seen. They're exactly as light as the white board and are actually easy to mark with pencil or a sharp white crayon. I'm going to start a FT Cruiser build this weekend (rain again) so I'll drop a pic on that so everyone can see what this board looks like on a build. Have a great week and keep the glue guns hot!
I have a habit of scouring online for foamboard, and recently found something I'm very fond of. About 10 days ago I found a box of trifold Redi-board for $22 USD on Amazon prime (free shipping). I didn't pay much attention to the details since it was a good deal (18 trifolds for 1.23 a piece, they're 4.00 at dollar general). However when I received the box (in less than 36 hours no less) I noticed not only is the paper black, but the foam is black as well! I wasn't aware that this animal even existed! In my excitement I jumped on Amazon to order another case to find that it's out of stock and no other Amazon sellers have that product. I then contacted Adams requesting a reseller that might carry this sku#. The contact they gave me is for www.darice.com who appears to be a wholesale distributor for sign supplies. I submitted a request for availably and received an automated "we'll get back to you" email. I'll let everyone know what I find out.
As a personal request, if anyone runs into these trifolds, reply back and let me know where you found them (unless you bought them all up). I've used several different brands of black board but these are by far the best I've seen. They're exactly as light as the white board and are actually easy to mark with pencil or a sharp white crayon. I'm going to start a FT Cruiser build this weekend (rain again) so I'll drop a pic on that so everyone can see what this board looks like on a build. Have a great week and keep the glue guns hot!
Attachments
messyhead
Well-known member
I had a look at foam-board.co.uk, and this stuff looks like it might be good.
https://www.foam-board.co.uk/3mm-white-foamboard/
https://www.foam-board.co.uk/3mm-white-foamboard/
n0ukf
New member
With our local (and apparently every other) Shopko closing, I noticed display artwork on large sheets of foamboard. However, this is not the paper-sheeted board, it is plastic-sheeted (Styrene or similar). This will affect building practices a bit, as the sheeting is brittle to sharp bends. I posted another thread in the Workbench on what I have tried so far. I figure I paid less than half the price of DT foamboard for the lot.
For the regular paper foamboard, we do have a store in town carrying it in various colors but it's another 50 cents over DT (100 miles away) and the latest batch appears to have a little curve to it (no reason that shouldn't flatten out in time or with a little effort). If Dollar General has any here, it's not the full 20"x30" sheets and any larger ones they do have are the folding presentation boards, much higher in price.
For the regular paper foamboard, we do have a store in town carrying it in various colors but it's another 50 cents over DT (100 miles away) and the latest batch appears to have a little curve to it (no reason that shouldn't flatten out in time or with a little effort). If Dollar General has any here, it's not the full 20"x30" sheets and any larger ones they do have are the folding presentation boards, much higher in price.
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MarioGdV
Active member
Hi, sorry for talking in a old post, but does someone know a website where I can buy the FliteTest foamboard in Europe? I was going to buy it in the FT Store, but the shipping is $50, so I decided to search in other stores, but I can't find anything. All of them has FT foamboard out of Stock, and the links of this post doesn't show the weight of the foam they're selling.
It doesn't have to be specifically FT foamboard, just foam that has similar characteristics. The foamboard I've been using is too heavy.
It doesn't have to be specifically FT foamboard, just foam that has similar characteristics. The foamboard I've been using is too heavy.
danne77sthlm
New member
Hi,
I have also noticed this, extremely annoying and I just sent a mail to Flite test and asking why this is happening and I am located in Sweden/scandinavia
I have my guesses ready though, it is their terrible freight prices and for sure customs prices/sales tax, and also that the dollar vs euro prices are not the best right now
The swedish vs dollars are horrible, an absolute nightmare
But, it must be something they can solve, especially the shipping
FDS
Elite member
Graupner are the European distributors for all Flite Test products, any Graupner stockist should be able to get packs of the FT board. The postage on sheets of foam is high if you have to mail order it, it’s cheaper if you can get to a bricks and mortar store.
There is a bit of a shortage at present, that’s clearly Graupner not restocking. Hassle Graupner to do their job!
There is a bit of a shortage at present, that’s clearly Graupner not restocking. Hassle Graupner to do their job!
philgabanski
Active member
For the Aussies out there, we know we can't get sheet foam as cheep as any where else, but this of us who have used depron, it appears it is now dissapearing from Oz! Tradewarehouse.com.au used to be where you could get 6mm depron, strong, light and easy to work with but expensive. Its to the left in the image, hobbyking brough out modeling foam but mo longer stock the 5mm. It was softer and harder to work with. Central in image.
Tradewarehouse now sell modelling foam, 20 sheets, 5mm x 700 x1000. Foam on the right in image. I contacted TW and had them send mw a sample before dropping 200 bucks on 20 sheets of foam.
This stuff is not like depron at all, it does bent and curve a lot easier, so a bent over aerofoil wing would be great with this stuff, but lacks the rigidity of depron.
Hobbyking for now still sell 10mm and 3mm foam and that is what I am sticking withas they are about $40 per box for 20 sheets.
Just an update on whats going on! Hope this helps fellow Aussies!
Tradewarehouse now sell modelling foam, 20 sheets, 5mm x 700 x1000. Foam on the right in image. I contacted TW and had them send mw a sample before dropping 200 bucks on 20 sheets of foam.
This stuff is not like depron at all, it does bent and curve a lot easier, so a bent over aerofoil wing would be great with this stuff, but lacks the rigidity of depron.
Hobbyking for now still sell 10mm and 3mm foam and that is what I am sticking withas they are about $40 per box for 20 sheets.
Just an update on whats going on! Hope this helps fellow Aussies!
Arend
Junior Member
I just moved to Sweden, where you can't find dollar tree like foam board, so I bought a stack of damping material 5mm Depron for laminate floors from IKEA, if is green, cheap, and works quite well. You need to foil/tape it and it is not very heat resistant. I ponder about using wallpaper glue to put on a sheet of thin paper instead of using foil, let's see how that works.
Cheers Arend
Cheers Arend
TheFlyingBrit
Legendary member
Access to foam board in the UK isn't that bad to be honest, you can source the Flite Test version but its ridiculasly expensive. However, there are plenty of suppliers of alternative makes of foamboard on Ebay, the price do vary (from £23 up to £45 GBP for - x10 sheets of A1), so be aware .
There are 2 other factors to consider:
1. The paper doesn't peel off the foam as easily on the version I buy. Compared with the dolar tree foam version that FT use in there videos, probably due to a different glue formulation. It is removable just moisten and wait 5 mins it will then peel or rub off easily.
2. I also noticed that my CG never balanced like the FT models, even though I built them identical. I always had to add additional nose weight or have my battery way forward near the motor. I realised later why, obviously the density of the foamboard I use is higher than the Flite Test version making it heavier. This would inveriably increase the tail weight more than the front shifting the CG point.
Other than that its good to go.
10 sheets of 5mm - A1 size foam board £23 GBP (this includes postage).
Thats equivelent to approx $36 USD
There are 2 other factors to consider:
1. The paper doesn't peel off the foam as easily on the version I buy. Compared with the dolar tree foam version that FT use in there videos, probably due to a different glue formulation. It is removable just moisten and wait 5 mins it will then peel or rub off easily.
2. I also noticed that my CG never balanced like the FT models, even though I built them identical. I always had to add additional nose weight or have my battery way forward near the motor. I realised later why, obviously the density of the foamboard I use is higher than the Flite Test version making it heavier. This would inveriably increase the tail weight more than the front shifting the CG point.
Other than that its good to go.
10 sheets of 5mm - A1 size foam board £23 GBP (this includes postage).
Thats equivelent to approx $36 USD
TheFlyingBrit
Legendary member
It doesn't matter where in europe you buy it, the flite test board is extortionately expensive, I am talking silly prices. I buy my foamboard off Ebay UK and pay £22 for 10 sheets of 5mm A1 size sheets. Its more dense and therefore more heavy than the Flite Test board but I am not bothered, my planes fly fine and look okay too. If anything the increased density makes them more rigid and hence more durable.
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