Can anyone please assist me with the proper way to cut out the foam in my pelican gun case? Or refer me to a company that can help me.
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Cutting foam in a pelican case
- Thread starter jamesmspencerjr
- Start date
Making a DIY wire cutter will give much more precise cuts if you have the time:
Building a Hot Wire Foam Cutter
Building a Hot Wire Foam Cutter
I just lay the rifle on the foam and cut around it with a sharp knife, cutting slightly under the rifle so that the rifle will wedge in the space nice and tight when it is done. You could also draw and outline with chalk or white marker and then go back and cut it out.
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I just bought a 1750 and got around to cutting out the foam. It's foam. A little tougher, but still foam. I used a VERY sharp knife with a blade long enough to get thru the layer. A smaller knife for corners. Hit the corners from both ends for a crisp cut. I used chalk to outline the kit I wanted in there. Set your stuff on the foam and take a long look and see if that's where you want it. Drink a beer and move things around to get that kit right. Cut well inside the chalk outline. Start with a small piece of gear, like a mag, or suppressor to get a better idea on where to cut. Don't over think it. How I know is not important...
Don't drink too many beers either or it could turn into a 2 day project. How I know is not important...........
Doug
Don't drink too many beers either or it could turn into a 2 day project. How I know is not important...........Doug
I used an electric knife and chalk. I also kept the cut outs for the mag and my bolt put them back in the cutout and compressed it. Kept the mag and bolt from sinking down too far.
I outlined my rifle with a silver sharpe and just cut the inside of the line with a box knife blade, not in the knife. Its not the most pretty thing ever but it works!
Knives do not do a great job. Hotwire is the best way. I have done a bunch of these...some with knife...some with home made wire cutter. If you go slow, Hotwire is much more precise and neat.
Mine uses a standard 12v 1a wall transformer through wire made for hot wire cutting. This is a pic.
http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums...5-9951-84935FE8AE6B-9391-00000495A72BAF5D.jpg
Mine uses a standard 12v 1a wall transformer through wire made for hot wire cutting. This is a pic.
http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums...5-9951-84935FE8AE6B-9391-00000495A72BAF5D.jpg
Not super stoked on my knife jobs. They look OK but not PERFECT
I like how this guy does it. http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=578808
I will definitely try his method next time
I like how this guy does it. http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=578808
I will definitely try his method next time
Scroll saw. I traced the rifle out in card board and then followed card board as a guide. I used safety pins to hold the card board to the foam. It's not just foam it's 74 dollar foam. I believe the hot wire idea would have easier but I would been into a one use tool for 35 or 40 bucks after building a similar table to a scroll saw.
If you have a dremel look at lowes, home depot or even some walmarts and they have a drill bit made basically like an end mill which comes in few different lengths. If you have a snake attachment for your dremel its even better. You can make perfect cuts and its very fast.
I did mine with an electric knife with the help of a friend that had done several of them. he did a good job, then I wanted to try( im pretty good with a knife) it is not as easy as he made it look. it takes a little practice. try it on some scrap first
i could use my cad table at work, just draw the cutout up in cad and cut it out on the table. i have never done it for myself but we have done it for ithaca gun company. and a company that does pelican cases, not sure on the company or what part of the case they make, or if they just sell it.
I agree, black or silver sharpie and an electric turkey knife and take your time and cut inside the line. Best way to do it is to flip the foam upside down and lay your rifle on it as if you were looking up at it from under a glass table. Then trace and cut. This way when you cut slightly inside the trace lines you put the foam back into the case with the sharpie lines on the bottom of the foam.
Also keep your cut out shapes. They come in handy if you are headed to the range without some of the kit you normally fill the spaces with, you can pop in the cut out to keep everything tight.
Not hard to do. Also some people like to keep the scope away from the bottom of the case, so when you set the case down the rifle weight isn't on the scope. I don't think this matters much at all if you cut it tight, the rifle won't move.
Also keep your cut out shapes. They come in handy if you are headed to the range without some of the kit you normally fill the spaces with, you can pop in the cut out to keep everything tight.
Not hard to do. Also some people like to keep the scope away from the bottom of the case, so when you set the case down the rifle weight isn't on the scope. I don't think this matters much at all if you cut it tight, the rifle won't move.
Another excellent technique is to round the cut corners off with a low flame.
Practice this with spare cut out corners until you master it as it takes just enough heat to make it work well.
Some folks use a butane lighter, others a heat gun, some a small torch.
What you can get is a perfect quarter corner bead on the leading edge of your cut out. It will make insertion much easier and last much longer.
Practice this with spare cut out corners until you master it as it takes just enough heat to make it work well.
Some folks use a butane lighter, others a heat gun, some a small torch.
What you can get is a perfect quarter corner bead on the leading edge of your cut out. It will make insertion much easier and last much longer.
Ordered a set of replacement foam for my 1750. Comes with three pieces. The original set, I cut the middle layer out with the electric knife.
It came out pretty respectable.
I plan to cut the three new replacement pieces with an electric wire cutter. I have a 4X8 workbench that I plan to mount the cutter to. This will give me total support for the foam.
I plan to take the three new pieces and cut each one out differently according to the needs of the different set ups and gun combinations.
This will allow me to be able to swap out the center foam and have 4 completely different combinations, in one case.
When the foam gets here next week, I will throw up some pics of the results.
It came out pretty respectable.
I plan to cut the three new replacement pieces with an electric wire cutter. I have a 4X8 workbench that I plan to mount the cutter to. This will give me total support for the foam.
I plan to take the three new pieces and cut each one out differently according to the needs of the different set ups and gun combinations.
This will allow me to be able to swap out the center foam and have 4 completely different combinations, in one case.
When the foam gets here next week, I will throw up some pics of the results.
That works well. I have done it with my cases. It works even better if you have enough foam to glue the two bottom pieces together after they are cut out.
Also, you can get foam much cheaper from foam factory's online store. I buy the charcoal firm foam for most of my cases
If you want a little nicer foam, the closed cell 2.2PE is about the best you can get. I use it for all of my pistol case and my expensive rifles.
The foam I ordered was from a place called pelicancasesforless.com. A full set of 3 pieces, precut to fit in a 1750 size case for $66.
I agree that glueing the second sheet to the bottom makes for a super custom job that doesn't move around, but that is only the case if you don't fill all the voids with parts from your kit. Saving the foam cut outs to do that works well. It also doesn't tie up all your foam sheets by having to glue them into sets.
If I glued the sheets up, I would only get two sets out of what I'm trying to accomplish, as opposed to four unique sets of foam for one case.
I cut mine out with a $12 Black & Decker electric carving knife from Amazon. Some tips:
Lay the stuff out on the BACK side of the foam and make your sharpie or chalk marks on that side. When you are done cutting, flip it over and you have a clean unmarked side to put your stuff into.
I also wanted the heavier part of the rifle (the barrel end) concentrated more toward the end of the 1750 that has the wheels. Makes it easier to lift by the end handle, and having the weight lower makes it easier to wheel around.
Lay the stuff out on the BACK side of the foam and make your sharpie or chalk marks on that side. When you are done cutting, flip it over and you have a clean unmarked side to put your stuff into.
I also wanted the heavier part of the rifle (the barrel end) concentrated more toward the end of the 1750 that has the wheels. Makes it easier to lift by the end handle, and having the weight lower makes it easier to wheel around.
Just a follow up. I got the wire cutter and the foam. The wire doesn't get hot enough to cut the foam. Upon further reading I found that they don't recommend cutting that type of foam with a wire because of the extreme heat and toxic fumes. (Oh brother). Anyway, I ended up cutting two different layouts just using those break away knives, fully extended. The wider knife for the long straight lines and the narrow knife for the tight radius stuff.
Worked fine.
Worked fine.
If I could get someone to draw up the guns/parts in AutoCAD or Corel...I have a CNC Foam cutter that uses a very high temp wire to cut out whatever shapes I want. Its a 35K machine.
If someone will draw the what they want, I can cut it.
Use this wire:
Woodland Scenics Hot Wire Replacement Wire 4' WOOST1436 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0006NARKY/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_wc.9tb1T95AZW
Use a 12v 1A (1000mA) transformer and it will cut no problem. My wire is about 8" between the leads. It does smell a little...but not too bad. I cut inside and the smell clears in just a few minutes after cutting.
I used the electric knife I use to cut my flank steaks, I can't imagine a wire doing a better job in any areas except for when I am cutting at a 90 degree angle...it was a 2 person job btw, one to stabilize while the other cuts. Also I regret using sharpie as some of that has rubbed off on my gun & other components. The foam doesn't really absorb it so the ink just sits there even months after. I need to get the spray to glue the layers together, if I could redo my first one I would leave at least a 3 inch piece of foam between gun & the sides. The mags & other lighter equipment are fine with 1 inch pieces between them.
I was trying to avoid building a rig, and tried the easy way out by getting one of those hand held wands. I wanted to mount it though a hole in the center of my bench and use the whole bench as support. Also, the idea was that since it was open on one end, I could simply stab the foam into each of the different areas with out having to disconnect the wire and reconnect it in the new area being cut.
Seemed like a good idea, just not powerful enough.unless there it a way to boost the power to the tool I have.
That is good to know. I always wondered how one of those "hot foam knives" would work.
Jake,
Which turkey carving electric knife would you recommend?
Meanwhile, you going to the Upper Nisqually match in October? I plan to fly up and will be getting a pelican case here shortly for the flight.
Later,
Neil
