What I love about your videos is that you remind me of those old season industry pros I used to see at the county fair plying their trade and WELL rehearsed speal. Not that this is well rehearsed but you have the same level of expertise that oozes out of everything you say. I used to go to the county fair every year with my dad when I was a kid. He used to have a booth every year and I would go with him and spend all day watching vendors repeat the same road weary scripts. It was truly a highlight of my year. You could ask these old timers ANYTHING to do with their business and they would go on for AGES with real lived industry experience. Truly unprecedented access to true died in the wool tradesman. I LOVE and appreciate you sharing your knowledge SO much. THIS is what YouTilube was meant for. To document and preserve industry professionals, such as yourself, sharing their knowledge for future generations. Bless you kind Sir. You are a delight. And your wisdom is priceless.
As someone who works almost exclusively in the digital space, it's a delight to watch an experienced hand work with materials I have no exposure to. I don't think I'd ever work with foam just because of the cleanup though, but this was a fascinating watch all the same.
Thanks for mentioning the dust. Even if you use it a dust-making material/process, many people's lighting and vision will not pick up up the fine particles flying around. Respirator, or at bare minimum a dust mask, is recommended to save your lungs. As someone who has known generations of artists/makers, and some of the old-timers who now regret not wearing PPE, please be smart/safe creators!
A tremendous video and in all honesty, based on my relentless study of sculptors material videos on CZcams, definitely the clearest no nonsense explanation of what foam is. Excellent communication all the way through. Bravo.
I was gonna say the same thing. This stuff is really nasty. I won't go near it if milling or cutting without gloves and full PPE. It gets in your lungs and eyes.
I love your channel and your overwhelming wealth of knowledge you're sharing with us. You've taught me so many cool techniques that I apply every chance I get. You're appreciated Robert!
Hey Robert. I definately enjoyed this video you made. I think the best statement you made during your video is the difference between doing personal and commercial work in that when your working for yourself on a project, making changes as you go is something I tend to do myself on any of the different artistic projects im working on. Thanks for your time in creating this video and the scull foam piece. Have a great day, and I look forward to watching other videos you make in the future.
Gorilla Glue's polyurethane glues are another option for gluing foam, they're foam and not quite as hard as an epoxy joint nor rubbery as a hot melt glue joint. Since we're already in a molding and casting frame of reference, we should also remember that we can make/cast our own PU foam blocks. We're already using silicone and resin materials from Smooth-On and similar companies, they all have various densities of liquid foams we can mix and pour to make material stock virtually any size we need!
I like your unplanned way of projects. I gather a whole bunch of things and it tells me nope, that wouldn’t work, yup, use that. Only thing planned is base. It’s more fun when a projects tells you what to do. You sense it. It’s fun watching you.
Wow, as a florist, I do use this foam and I have always hated it. Seeing how good you sculpt; I can see getting used to that because of the wonderful art you create. Thank you for sharing this.
Note, that if you do use green floral foam, there are two kinds. Don't use the kind that has a smooth skin on it. It's not the same stuff and will melt when trying to coat it. I hope you do a follow up video on what you use to coat it. I've tried several things. I would like to know your preferred method.
@@lechatbotte. I've never seen spray paint melt it. Nor would you even want to paint it without some sort of coating. I make marionette puppets this way. I have a video on it. I never use water base material on synthetic material. The water base will shrink and crack, when on top of synthetic. Smooth-On makes resin just for coating foam, but I've also just used fiberglass resin, which is polyester. This is my wheelhouse. This is what I do.
@@RandiRain Well there are many types of foam that do melt as you said in your original statement. Spray paint does because of the propellants used in it. What he’s making can be sealed lots of ways that are less expensive for such a small piece. I don’t prefer to work with foam persay. But I do use lots of resins including cosplay glue. For the average person they’re not going to out lay money on expensive products. Normal resins don’t take paint, but you can color them during the mixing process to achieve what you want. Thank you for sharing you’re expertise.
I'd be interested as well regarding the next step to casting. I'm using this foam as well from time to time but it is to coarse on the surface to be casted directly. Typically I apply some prime coat to stop dusting and do a first copy with silicone to prepare a resin body. This first generation copy is than sanded and carved to a final prototype for casting.
Robert, it's actually a blessing (for us, anyway) that you made a mistake. First of all, it shows that no matter how much experience you have, you'll always make mistakes, Second, it shows how to fix a blunder. Thanks so much for sharing!! BTW- Why wouldn't you use a hot wire cutter for a project like this?
Polyurethane gives off really toxic fumes when cut, moreso than other plastic foams when burnt. A hot wire cutter would also only be good for what the bandsaw is doing and similar, coarse things, Robert is doing detailed sculpting which a hot wire cutter isn't good for.
50 years ago, a friend of mine, used to make things out of Styrofoam, and then bury them in sand and pour molten aluminum in to the foam. Of course, the foam would burn away the same way wax does and loss wax casting. It was really cool.
I've been carving the HDU commercially for about 30 years or so - mostly the 15 and 18lb. It definitely changed the woodcarving industry. Though the foam is a great time saver and has some superior attributes, on the whole, I find it a lot more enjoyable to bite into a nice blank of white pine or Honduras mahogany.
We used to use 3m77 spray adhesive to glue foam. Use a light misting, not a heavy wet coat or it may melt your foam (or use foam-safe spray adhesive). It will join foam without a hard glue line like epoxy.
I used a whole bunch of foam insulation sheets all stacked up for a cheapo sloppy solution for carving out a stage play castle set piece. The ridges and foil covering was annoying, but it ultimately saved money lol
Is that some type of fish file knife that you are using to cut the foam? Nice video as always very informative! I've personally been having to use PU foam for my study but not really a big fan of it yet because of all the it makes.
Apologies if you said in the video, but what do you do now? Just leave him as he is? Seems like he'd be incredibly fragile to any random ding as a display piece. What'd you do with the casino/theme park pieces? Was there a hard coat for them?
If you're willing to get specialty tools Proxon makes a great hot wire tool for foam that makes no mess. A company called shifting lands makes specialty jigs for the Proxon that let you make any basic shape.
Foam is my favorite medium, but the mess and cancer risk is why I largely stopped working with it. I only use it now if I want to make something big and light, because clay in large quantities is so expensive
This is such a good idea, I didn't even consider this before! Thank you very much! :D I wonder tho if there is a way to coat this foam and then make it a potential molding piece. I'm not sure if some sort of primer sprays would be enough to coat it, but I'm really curious about this. Maybe you could play around with that sometime to show us if we can do some sort of molding technique with these foams? I'd very much love seeing that.
Carving polyurethane foam is one of my favorite carving materials. The amount of detail and speed you can achieve with this stuff is almost worth getting the dust everywhere (the only downside I've encountered so far)
@@NOSPDLIMIT I have Smooth-on for personal use, but I don't know where the shop I work for gets theirs. I've heard that Smooth-on is a bit pricier than others, so I don't know if it's *the best* but I know Robert generally uses Silpak products, so those are worth looking into, too.
wow you are a heck of a sculpter... thanks for the lesson... sure does make ya appreciate a high power shop vac though... i been thinking about machining an attachment to fit a shop vac hose up to a noga stand rigidly to mitigate that kind of thing... .a proper vac system really is necessary for a lot of work. I do hate the loud noise of a shop vac. ... but gotta be the best way to go without a large investment. maybe quality ear buds and some good tunes is the way to go with that.
Thanks for sharing your expertise. What can you do if you don't know how to sculpt but you want to turn a drawing into a sculpture so that you can create a silicone mold?
You got rid of Skull’s scar. Keeping it would’ve given him personality. I don’t do at all what you do, but when I make a mistake with what I do, I encorporate boo boos so it looks intentional and you can’t tell.
I love your videos, long time fan of your work, I would like to know if you can do a video of molding making using simple itens, like PU industrial sillicon + solvent. cheers.
Is polyurethane foam more expensive than polystyrene foam? And, is it more or less resistant to solvents, or about the same? Also, is it advisable or safe to use heat, a hot knife/wire, or a torch, on the denser urethane foam for large stuff, or would it do more damage than good? And, BTW, better a gouge out of that carving than out of your hand.😁👍
New to the channel, but appreciated the content. I do have a question though. The title says "Foam Sculpting For Fun And Profit!" The fun part I get... but how do you take something like this and turn it into a marketable final product from which you can make a profit? Are there other videos you've done on that subject (I didn't find anything like that on a quick look-through)? If not, that would make for a helpful follow-up video.
What is the name of the saw you are using? (The skinny one that is motorized). Thank you. I'm learning about uses for power tools and that one seems handy
Was wondering if Polyurethane foam could be used for lost foam casting. Bard says yes but one has to have a product designed for lost foam use. Low melting point etc. I have my doubts about this. If anyone has experience using polyurethane foam for lost foam casting squeak up.
I wouldn't use the polyurethane foam directly as the pattern, as it makes a horrible sooty mess when heated/melted. It does not burn cleanly. However you can use the PU foam to carve a master then create a mold from it. This allows you to cast other foams more suitable to the intent, or cast other resins, low melt alloys, etc.
@@mikepipes6266 I was wondering because I know we don't use the PU foam in a can. Yet bard claimed there was a type of PU intended for lost foam and it was harder to use than polystyrene. Bard has been know to spin a convincing lie. The pros blow polystyrene into the mold with steam to make the stick together or something like that. Just another rabbit hole.
I wouldn't try this for the same reason you shouldn't hot-wire cut polyurethane. From OSHA - "Thermal decomposition products from polyurethane foam, consist mainly of carbon monoxide, benzene, toluene, oxides of nitrogen, __HYDROGEN CYANIDE__, acetaldehyde, acetone, propene, carbon dioxide, alkenes and water vapor."
using a dust mask while dealing with this is my heartly advice for everyone
What I love about your videos is that you remind me of those old season industry pros I used to see at the county fair plying their trade and WELL rehearsed speal. Not that this is well rehearsed but you have the same level of expertise that oozes out of everything you say.
I used to go to the county fair every year with my dad when I was a kid. He used to have a booth every year and I would go with him and spend all day watching vendors repeat the same road weary scripts. It was truly a highlight of my year. You could ask these old timers ANYTHING to do with their business and they would go on for AGES with real lived industry experience. Truly unprecedented access to true died in the wool tradesman.
I LOVE and appreciate you sharing your knowledge SO much. THIS is what YouTilube was meant for. To document and preserve industry professionals, such as yourself, sharing their knowledge for future generations. Bless you kind Sir. You are a delight. And your wisdom is priceless.
Glad you enjoy my videos. Thanks for your nice comment. I really makes the effort worthwhile.
As someone who works almost exclusively in the digital space, it's a delight to watch an experienced hand work with materials I have no exposure to.
I don't think I'd ever work with foam just because of the cleanup though, but this was a fascinating watch all the same.
Thanks for mentioning the dust. Even if you use it a dust-making material/process, many people's lighting and vision will not pick up up the fine particles flying around. Respirator, or at bare minimum a dust mask, is recommended to save your lungs. As someone who has known generations of artists/makers, and some of the old-timers who now regret not wearing PPE, please be smart/safe creators!
Whew! Glad that wasn't a divot out of your hand! Great sculpture.
A tremendous video and in all honesty, based on my relentless study of sculptors material videos on CZcams, definitely the clearest no nonsense explanation of what foam is. Excellent communication all the way through. Bravo.
Warning: that dust is STICKY 😅
I was gonna say the same thing. This stuff is really nasty. I won't go near it if milling or cutting without gloves and full PPE. It gets in your lungs and eyes.
I love your channel and your overwhelming wealth of knowledge you're sharing with us. You've taught me so many cool techniques that I apply every chance I get. You're appreciated Robert!
Don't know about anyone else, but I'm here to watch you create, Robert. Whether mold or mannequin it's All Good. Whatever you want to do. 🤩
I really love your sculptures just from an artistic standpoint. Like Noguchi but with a lot more humanity and expression.
Hey Robert. I definately enjoyed this video you made. I think the best statement you made during your video is the difference between doing personal and commercial work in that when your working for yourself on a project, making changes as you go is something I tend to do myself on any of the different artistic projects im working on. Thanks for your time in creating this video and the scull foam piece. Have a great day, and I look forward to watching other videos you make in the future.
Your creations, instruction, and tips are fantastic. Thank you for your generous sharing of knowledge. This video is motivating.
Rminds me of the Moai - you know, those monolithic statues looking out to sea on the Easter Islands! 😄👏🏻
Gorilla Glue's polyurethane glues are another option for gluing foam, they're foam and not quite as hard as an epoxy joint nor rubbery as a hot melt glue joint.
Since we're already in a molding and casting frame of reference, we should also remember that we can make/cast our own PU foam blocks. We're already using silicone and resin materials from Smooth-On and similar companies, they all have various densities of liquid foams we can mix and pour to make material stock virtually any size we need!
I like your unplanned way of projects. I gather a whole bunch of things and it tells me nope, that wouldn’t work, yup, use that. Only thing planned is base. It’s more fun when a projects tells you what to do. You sense it. It’s fun watching you.
Thanks so much for sharing your talent, technique, and whimsey.
What a fun and informative channel. I know I will learn so much. Thank you so much.
Excellent! Wondering how would you seal that stuff? And is it possible to mold it?
Wow, as a florist, I do use this foam and I have always hated it. Seeing how good you sculpt; I can see getting used to that because of the wonderful art you create. Thank you for sharing this.
I just stumbled across your channel. I'm so excited to watch more. ❤
Note, that if you do use green floral foam, there are two kinds. Don't use the kind that has a smooth skin on it. It's not the same stuff and will melt when trying to coat it.
I hope you do a follow up video on what you use to coat it. I've tried several things. I would like to know your preferred method.
Coat it with mod podge first it will protect it from spray paint
@@lechatbotte. Honestly, I would never do that. I would never use anything water based. They make resin just for this purpose.
@@RandiRain it’s done for painting with spray. Someone commented spray paint would melt it. Most of us don’t resin before painting either
@@lechatbotte. I've never seen spray paint melt it. Nor would you even want to paint it without some sort of coating. I make marionette puppets this way. I have a video on it. I never use water base material on synthetic material. The water base will shrink and crack, when on top of synthetic. Smooth-On makes resin just for coating foam, but I've also just used fiberglass resin, which is polyester. This is my wheelhouse. This is what I do.
@@RandiRain Well there are many types of foam that do melt as you said in your original statement. Spray paint does because of the propellants used in it. What he’s making can be sealed lots of ways that are less expensive for such a small piece. I don’t prefer to work with foam persay. But I do use lots of resins including cosplay glue. For the average person they’re not going to out lay money on expensive products. Normal resins don’t take paint, but you can color them during the mixing process to achieve what you want. Thank you for sharing you’re expertise.
Great work , I really enjoyed your process of doing .
Awesome thank you. Best channel on CZcams
sei un grande Robert!!!
grazie for sharing
Thank you so much for sharing your amazing talent ❤
I'd be interested as well regarding the next step to casting. I'm using this foam as well from time to time but it is to coarse on the surface to be casted directly. Typically I apply some prime coat to stop dusting and do a first copy with silicone to prepare a resin body. This first generation copy is than sanded and carved to a final prototype for casting.
This looks satisfying
Anyone else getting goosebumps when he cuts the foam?😅
Robert, it's actually a blessing (for us, anyway) that you made a mistake. First of all, it shows that no matter how much experience you have, you'll always make mistakes, Second, it shows how to fix a blunder. Thanks so much for sharing!!
BTW- Why wouldn't you use a hot wire cutter for a project like this?
Polyurethane gives off really toxic fumes when cut, moreso than other plastic foams when burnt. A hot wire cutter would also only be good for what the bandsaw is doing and similar, coarse things, Robert is doing detailed sculpting which a hot wire cutter isn't good for.
@@tanterouge4339 Thank you, Sir!
@@Jimmy-sb3fc You're welcome, but I'm not a man :) .
@@tanterouge4339 Oh, I'm sorry!
@@Jimmy-sb3fc Thanks, no worries!
50 years ago, a friend of mine, used to make things out of Styrofoam, and then bury them in sand and pour molten aluminum in to the foam. Of course, the foam would burn away the same way wax does and loss wax casting. It was really cool.
Great to see some of your art work there.
Really cool to see your artistic side😊
Your project has an Easter Island head feel to it. Nice!
Great video ... thanks for posting.
I've been carving the HDU commercially for about 30 years or so - mostly the 15 and 18lb. It definitely changed the woodcarving industry.
Though the foam is a great time saver and has some superior attributes, on the whole, I find it a lot more enjoyable to bite into a nice blank of white pine or Honduras mahogany.
We used to use 3m77 spray adhesive to glue foam. Use a light misting, not a heavy wet coat or it may melt your foam (or use foam-safe spray adhesive). It will join foam without a hard glue line like epoxy.
It won't melt urethane foam but it can melt styrene foam if sprayed to heavy.
Great video..thanks for posting...i need some of this stuff to practice on...😊
I used a whole bunch of foam insulation sheets all stacked up for a cheapo sloppy solution for carving out a stage play castle set piece. The ridges and foil covering was annoying, but it ultimately saved money lol
Love the video... The final sculpture ended up looking lika a Moai Kava Kava, a type of statue from Easter Island
Wow! Thankyou
great work!
I like to use HDU, for a lot of my Signage , works wonderful.
Wow what fun..
Is that some type of fish file knife that you are using to cut the foam?
Nice video as always very informative! I've personally been having to use PU foam for my study but not really a big fan of it yet because of all the it makes.
Apologies if you said in the video, but what do you do now? Just leave him as he is? Seems like he'd be incredibly fragile to any random ding as a display piece. What'd you do with the casino/theme park pieces? Was there a hard coat for them?
If you're willing to get specialty tools Proxon makes a great hot wire tool for foam that makes no mess. A company called shifting lands makes specialty jigs for the Proxon that let you make any basic shape.
Foam is my favorite medium, but the mess and cancer risk is why I largely stopped working with it. I only use it now if I want to make something big and light, because clay in large quantities is so expensive
This is such a good idea, I didn't even consider this before! Thank you very much! :D
I wonder tho if there is a way to coat this foam and then make it a potential molding piece. I'm not sure if some sort of primer sprays would be enough to coat it, but I'm really curious about this. Maybe you could play around with that sometime to show us if we can do some sort of molding technique with these foams? I'd very much love seeing that.
Carving polyurethane foam is one of my favorite carving materials. The amount of detail and speed you can achieve with this stuff is almost worth getting the dust everywhere (the only downside I've encountered so far)
I’m looking around to buy some and try it out. Where do you get yours? Thanks.
Where is the best place to buy the urethane foam?
@@NOSPDLIMIT I have Smooth-on for personal use, but I don't know where the shop I work for gets theirs. I've heard that Smooth-on is a bit pricier than others, so I don't know if it's *the best* but I know Robert generally uses Silpak products, so those are worth looking into, too.
wow you are a heck of a sculpter... thanks for the lesson... sure does make ya appreciate a high power shop vac though... i been thinking about machining an attachment to fit a shop vac hose up to a noga stand rigidly to mitigate that kind of thing... .a proper vac system really is necessary for a lot of work. I do hate the loud noise of a shop vac. ... but gotta be the best way to go without a large investment. maybe quality ear buds and some good tunes is the way to go with that.
Accidental divots are our chance to learn 😁
Thanks for sharing your expertise. What can you do if you don't know how to sculpt but you want to turn a drawing into a sculpture so that you can create a silicone mold?
How do you finish the foam? Can you mold this somehow? Is it paintable?
It looks like one of the Easter island statues.
Can you use fiberglass. With this stuff.
You got rid of Skull’s scar. Keeping it would’ve given him personality. I don’t do at all what you do, but when I make a mistake with what I do, I encorporate boo boos so it looks intentional and you can’t tell.
I too am wondering if there's a way to go from foam figurines to resin casting
Really relaxing to watch. Is it possible to make a mold out of that sculpture?
It is but you would have to seal the foam surface so the RTV doesn't stick , maybe a good coating or two of modpodge .
cool video
What do you do to seal it once the sculpting is done? For instance if you wanted to paint it or cast a mold from it.
I love your videos, long time fan of your work, I would like to know if you can do a video of molding making using simple itens, like PU industrial sillicon + solvent. cheers.
Is there a way to seal the sculpture to make it less fragile once your done? Or cast it?
I think this foam is just what I'm looking for.....can it be cut into a frame to be used as a dam for casting bas relief plaster?
The idea is very useful topwater lures…
Great Stuff!
На острове Пасхи так же скульптуры сделаны.
"Thumbs up" before even hitting play.
I already know.
How does this stuff handle being cast in Silicone?
Can i use this sort of material to craft an original item for casting?
How do you finish it? Special paint or is there a primer?
Looked more like an Easter Island sculpture.
Looks like Earthworm Jim 😁
Is polyurethane foam more expensive than polystyrene foam? And, is it more or less resistant to solvents, or about the same? Also, is it advisable or safe to use heat, a hot knife/wire, or a torch, on the denser urethane foam for large stuff, or would it do more damage than good?
And, BTW, better a gouge out of that carving than out of your hand.😁👍
can be used for a lost model in melting aluminiun?
Can you use this for lost foam casting?
Dude, I bet it’s fun to be around you
Huh. The spray adhesive does not eat the foam?
Sorry if I missed this, but where can I purchase this kind of foam?
nice. no paint?
New to the channel, but appreciated the content. I do have a question though. The title says "Foam Sculpting For Fun And Profit!" The fun part I get... but how do you take something like this and turn it into a marketable final product from which you can make a profit?
Are there other videos you've done on that subject (I didn't find anything like that on a quick look-through)? If not, that would make for a helpful follow-up video.
Now are you able to cast it?
Nice, but I think you should show us how to make a catch-all tray for the workbench.
🗿🗿🗿 Easter Island heads are called moai FYI
where do you buy the sculptor's foam you use in this video?
can you please share the link or brand name , I wanna buy it , is just what i was looking for !! thank you for the video
Hi is this the same ? XPS (extruded polystyrene) foam
Where do you buy the foam?
Where do you buy your foam?
What is the name of the saw you are using? (The skinny one that is motorized). Thank you. I'm learning about uses for power tools and that one seems handy
The bandsaw?
Anyone who likes large-scale foam sculpting should check out Aden Hynes' channel.
Tiki Totem-man!
It looks like something from Easter island
Now just dip it into a watery concrete 💡👍
Do you have a video or website that actually spells out how to make money w this activity?
Sparklies everywhere, including your lungs - wear a dust mask, folks.
Robert there's no way you aren't the half brother of Jay Leno and Rudy Giuliani! 😀
very nice work. but since i'm not an artist i don't think i can do this
I think if you were able to do some sound mixing and turn the treble down that would make it as good for our ears as it was for our eyes.
I found this nowhere online. Sheesh!
Next time casting it?
Was wondering if Polyurethane foam could be used for lost foam casting. Bard says yes but one has to have a product designed for lost foam use. Low melting point etc. I have my doubts about this. If anyone has experience using polyurethane foam for lost foam casting squeak up.
I wouldn't use the polyurethane foam directly as the pattern, as it makes a horrible sooty mess when heated/melted. It does not burn cleanly. However you can use the PU foam to carve a master then create a mold from it. This allows you to cast other foams more suitable to the intent, or cast other resins, low melt alloys, etc.
@@mikepipes6266 I was wondering because I know we don't use the PU foam in a can. Yet bard claimed there was a type of PU intended for lost foam and it was harder to use than polystyrene. Bard has been know to spin a convincing lie. The pros blow polystyrene into the mold with steam to make the stick together or something like that. Just another rabbit hole.
I wouldn't try this for the same reason you shouldn't hot-wire cut polyurethane. From OSHA - "Thermal decomposition products from polyurethane foam, consist mainly of carbon monoxide, benzene, toluene, oxides of nitrogen, __HYDROGEN CYANIDE__, acetaldehyde, acetone, propene, carbon dioxide, alkenes and water vapor."