Custom Cutting Your Foam Insert
There are many ways to custom cut a foam insert for a case. Weather you decide to cut it yourself manually with a knife or get it professionally cut with a CNC machine, this is something you must consider if you want to get the best protection for your gear.
In this article I will try to go over the pros and cons of each technic.
For the most cost-effective way to cut your foam, you can use a sharp kitchen knife or snap off blade that can be found in any hobby store and obviously Amazon. Always layout your items on the foam before cutting or marking anything making sure everything will fit in the space provided. Try to leave at least one inch spacing between items and the case wall. Anything less, you are taking a chance of the foam tearing after some usage.
Once you have laid your items out and figured out the best layout, you will need to outline each item. For this, white chalk usually works best. This is because you can wipe it off once you are done with the cutting. You can also use a thin marker, but in cases where your cut line will go inside the line, you won’t be able to wipe off the marker line.
Once you have everything traced out, the cutting begins. Always hold your blade in a 90 degree angle to the foam. Take long strokes when cutting. This will reduce the number of ridges you will have in the cut. Ridges are inevitable if you are doing this manually.
A step above a manual blade, is an electric knife or hot knife. These 2 methods are similar to a blade but will give you a cleaner cut all around. The hot knife will probably be the one that will give you the cleanest cut with minimal ridges around the cut. The technics are the same.
For a more professional look, you can get your foam inserts custom cut with a CNC machine. These are computerized machines that cut the foam from a digital file that is uploaded to them. There are several types of CNC machines. There are ones that use water to cut the foam. Those are cold Water Jets. They shoot a high pressure stream of water to cut the foam. Another is a router type cutter similar to a wood router. It has a drill bit that digs away the material. The third, is a laser. Laser cutters usually provide the cleanest cuts because they don’t cut the foam. Instead they almost melt it away while passing on it. This does not leave any ridges or imperfections in the foam. It is a smooth cut.
When getting your foam professionally cut by Cobra Foam Inserts and Cases, the foam is laser cut. All you have to do is send a few pictures of your items in the layout that you would like them in your case, and we do the rest. With our proprietary software, we scan your image and precisely trace your items. Production time is about 3-4 weeks and we guarantee all our custom order will fit or we will recut them for you for no charge. Contact us today.
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