Making pick and pull foam cases better?

G

Greg_E

Veteran
Does anyone know of a way to make the pick and pull foam in many different cases stay together? I finally went out to Harbor Freight and bought some cases for my lenses. Plucked out spaces for everything I currently own, and just know that the more I pull them out and put them back, the more the remaining pieces of foam are going to pull away.

Is there a way to make the remaining pieces less likely to pull away? Trying to think of a glue I could use, but no luck. I know the real answer is to have some foam cut to shape, but is there anything that can be done to the pick and pull type?
 
No but this method is better anyway:

[video]https://bryanearl.com/blog/how-to-tutorials/72-how-to-custom-foam-cutting-for-the-pelican-1720-case-using-hot-wire-cutter[/video]
 
This has been discussed here serval times. There's a type of spray you can use once you've "picked & plucked" that will hold the foam together. You can also pull out the foam sheets and wrap them in gaffer tape. It won't stick to the foam but it will stick to itself, so think of the foam as filler. You can also get a sheet of rubber or neoprene matting, cut it to the same pattern as the foam and rubber cement it to the top of the foam to provide some structure.
 
Its fairly advanced but.

Can you design (I suggest Fusion 360) your cases and get them CNC cut. Or check out various services that design and cut.
 
If the item fitting the pluck foam is no deeper than one layer, I find glueing a piece of fabric underneath the foam holds it together nicely...I used 3m foam feargering spray (contact cement in a can) and a canvas type non stretch gray fabric...works great
 
Nice. I like the low tech ideas for pick n pluck (thats the little long square shaped pieces right?). What are the sprays to hold it together called? Do you have to worry about anything sprayed coming in contact with gear?
 
I think I'm going to try the plastidip, I'm sure I have one can at home. Had never heard of doing this until now. Need to decide how much will remain unsprayed for future purchase, I have some empty areas that might get extra stuff or add some lenses down the road.
 
I'm too cheap, need to see how this turns out. Need to let the plastidip outgas for a couple of days before I put lenses back in this.

If I buy new foam, I'll probably track down some polypropylene or polyethylene foam sheets. Should be soft enough, but won't tear like foam rubber.
 
Well, one can is gone and the top layer of foam is sprayed. Still smell a little solvent this morning so need to wait longer. May put it outside in the Sun for a while to help the solvents evaporate.

The "large" 4800 case was $45usd with a coupon, also got the "medium" 3800 case for camera bodies which was $30usd. Cans of Plastidip are about $5usd each so if it works OK, it will be a good first step for many people. Once the foam wear out, custom would be the way to go.

I'll let you know how well it works when I get the lenses back in place, shouldn't be more than a day or two more.
 
Greg, Did you spray the plastic dip[ over the whole peice of foam or just in the holes that you had pluck out? What color is the dip?
 
Sorry, just saw this. I used black plastidip and sprayed the entire top level of foam. Every side and lots in the holes. I think I went light in the big empty area so that I could pull more holes if I added lenses, but still at least one coat in that area.

The case for the camera bodies didn't go as well, lots of places where there was only a single block between pieces, and this started pulling away from handle while spraying. You can kind of glue these back together with the spray, but not always going to work. Over all still happy with the money spent and function of the cases.
 
Yes, solid rule of thumb with pick-and-pluck is to leave at least two blocks thickness for "walls". With or without spraying, a single block wall will get torn out of place pretty easily.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top