What kind of foam? In the craft section?
1 Like
And what kind of glue?
1 Like
In the home section, you will find “foam mats”. They are usually about 2’ x 2’ and comes in packs of 4 that interconnect.
For the glue, I tried both a hot glue gun and lepage contact cement. The contact cement is stronger but a lot harder to work with. So for most of the swords, I’m using the hot glue gun. I used the higher temperature one to give me more time to position things.
2 Likes
I’ve seen many videos online about cutting EVA foam with a laser-cutter. I think it’s safe enough. There is no vinyl in it.
1 Like
the best kind of glue for this kind of thing is a contact adhesive, its very similar to the construction for Larp (Live Action Role Play) weapons.
1 Like
What are the settings for cutting the varying thicknesses?
1 Like
That’s the Lepage stuff I used. (contact cement) My only issue with it, is that you have to cover both surfaces. In some cases, one surface is smaller than the other (like the bird on the shield). I can easily cover the back of the bird, but I’m not sure where to put the glue on the shield itself so it matches with the bird. I guess I could outline it with a pencil or something first. But it was a little more complicated than just using a hot glue gun.
1 Like
Ethylene-vinyl acetate
1 Like
I stand corrected. I just looked it up, and there is Vinyl right in the name.
Although it still seems like it’s “laser-safe”.
Universal laser says we can laser cut and engrave it:
https://www.ulsinc.com/materials/eva-foam
There is also this link that discusses it:
Epilog has a tutorial with foam stickies (EVA foam) right on their website at:
https://www.epiloglaser.com/resources/sample-club/halloween-invitations.htm
There’s also a lot of youTube videos about it.
It’s scary, but I still think it’s ok.
2 Likes
Vinyl is not the issue. Chlorine is. So Poly(VinylChloride) is the no-no.
https://community.glowforge.com/t/request-tutorial-for-custom-settings/10862/10
8 Likes
Sorry I did not share it earlier. I’ve had a really busy couple of week.
Here is the SVG that I used to make the final swords (right-click, save as).
My kids played with them with friends for an entire evening. They were not gentle. At the end of the night, you could feel that the swords were much “looser” than before. I’m not sure how well they will handle it in the long run.
I had to cut them with the bed out of the GF, because they were too thick to place on the bed.
I used the settings of 180 zooms, 55 pews, 2 passes (on a pro). This would cut the black EVA mats very well, but some of the colored EVA mats did not cut as well. I need to experiment with making 2 passes, but at different focus depths.
I used the original oneEigth and oneSixtheens files from the previous post to make the decorations on the first sword.
12 Likes
Those are awesome, Is it possible to get the file
I want to start making a Halo ODST helmet out of foam
but these swords would be a great practice item
Thanks Andrew
The file should be in the previous post.
OK, I see them, thanks
1 Like
Correction: Kids of ALL AGES really like them. Those swords are fantastic! What a great idea!
1 Like
You can also find the decorative bits for one of them in the original post at:
2 Likes
Just put in a Steel core, it will be fine. 
3 Likes
Hi there! I just came across this rather familiar looking design on etsy- though this is not your store, right?
WoodWorldCNC | Etsy Norway
1 Like
No, it is not my store.
Thanks for letting me know.
1 Like
Not sure how I missed these the first time around. Great project!
1 Like