Metal Casting Zone

I made up a little lost foam experiment to see if there was much difference between some of the different foams. The white expanded bead, some green floral foam, and the pink and blue foams. The pink and blue are the same type of foam, just different manufacturers.

I call it Aluminumhenge...


I cut 1" squ. by 2 1/2" long pieces of each type and a second piece with a notch for some restriction.


I buried them in sand and tried to pour them all at once with Aluminum.



The green foam was terrible, barely melted and left a glob of burnt goo on the outside.


The rest were about the same quality.

Good test!! Looks like modern art

Wow I am glad you did that.

I once spent a long time working up a piece in the green foam only to find that it turns into some weird goop that does not burn away. Such a shame because it is a pleasure to carve (except the mess). Poor lost foam Venus of Willendorf that never was.

I had been curious about other foams and scared to try anything else but looks like an all clear from your experiment.

thanks for that jammer. it sure does clear up some questions.

I may do another one and put the foam in horizontal with as long a piece as will fit in my pan. Let them race and see which one melts through the fastest. The green has been eliminated from the competition. My wife took the other 2 blocks anyway, she had some flowers to do.