Sourcing Polyurethane boards in USA for making plug

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Sourcing Polyurethane boards in USA for making plug

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John Hansen	J John Hansen posted 6 Years Ago HOT Topic Details
J Group: Forum Members Posts: 42, Visits: 232	In my search for polyurethane boards to make a plug, I am looking for low density. Approximately 4 to 6 Lbs. Cubic Ft (64 to 96 KG/Cu Meter) I have found a few off-shore suppliers including one each in UK, and Canada. I have made inquiries on pricing vie email or web response forms but I am not getting responses from the USA supplier after I was referred to them by the manufacturer. I would prefer finding a USA supplier to avoid the high cost of shipping and any possible duties or import restrictions. Can anyone please point me to a responsive supplier in the USA for this material? For reference and perhaps to answer one key question, I do all of my research via the internet at night because I work during the day, so phone conversations is not an option for me. A Lifelong Learner
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k.alan.bates	k k.alan.bates posted 6 Years Ago HOT Post Details
k Group: Forum Members Posts: 36, Visits: 664	+x Ted - 2/14/2019 2:17:51 PM Extruded Polystyrene (XPS) is the more typical material found at the home improvement stores as rigid insulation. You could use XPS boards to make a plug, provided that you use epoxy resin on the plug instead of polyester or vinyl ester resins. Then you could make the mold and part from either poly or VE. I recently ordered some 2' x 4' x 1/2" thick polyurethane foam boards of 4.5 lb density from an outfit called 'Aircraft Spruce' (California) . The pricing was good vs. some other suppliers. I am not sure if they sold urethane foam in larger sheets though, if that is what you would need to make a plug out of urethane foam. Pricing of urethane foam boards tends to take your breath away . . . My basic process for quick and cheap work with xps is to sand it short of its final dimension, seal it with titebond III "premium" wood glue (3 is the runny one. Run a bead of it then butter your xps with a tongue depresser), then Bondo (styrene) on top of the sealed piece. Now sand back down to your final dimensions. I've had (what I think are) good results with this method. I haven't yet tried to create a mold off of it, but I see no reason it should be any different than any other material. My surface layer is polyester body filler. It's also super easy to laminate thin planks of xps together to form blanks of any desired thickness you choose. PU foam is obviously nicer to work with if you can find it, but xps shouldn't scare you. Edited 6 Years Ago by k.alan.bates
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