Hi everyone,
New here (UK based). Got my GF Friday morning, I was so excited jumping up and down that the Fedex man told me I need to get out more lol.
Anyhoo, I’m looking cut some foam board as a protective holder for acrylic toppers and reading through the forum, I noticed foam board can be dangerous. I found one on amazon uk, it has paper backing and said its chlorine and acid free. Please is this safe to cut? Or anyone successfully bought and cut foam board in the UK please.
Thanks
It should be fine chemically, but as with any layered and/or foam product you should monitor it closely for fire.
I’d suggest using simpler materials until you have a few projects under your belt. You might want get the hang of what’s “normal“ before venturing into stuff like foam board.
This is precisely what the sample proofgrade is for. Try the first three print tutorials, it’ll teach you a bunch.
thanks.
I printed the gift of measure and another design I made myself using the draft board that came with it. I definitely will like to familiarise myself more before venturing out but I just wanted to be prepare and plan in advance in terms of buying materials 
Not in the UK but what we call foamboard is 0.3" and cuts like butter at 325/FULL (Pro) - no flames, minimal soot/charring.
OMG this look AMAZEBALLS - Im constantly in awe of GF i see on here 
Please is this the normal one bought from Amazon US or Michaels?
Probably WalMart but it would be the same stuff. Foamboard is Foamboard over here.
That piece is about 36" wide - it was a passthrough test during a private beta.
36" Damn!
Thanks. Foamboard is pretty general here, it just the danger I read that scares. I will try it after few prints
Cheers again
Do you get concave “shrink” on the foam edges or are they pretty orthogonal?
They shrink in quite a bit. They don’t burn/char, though…
Got a pic of what we can expect?
Not really sure how to capture it, but it’s quite substantial…
The soot on the next segment up is from the bottom paper layer - this was printed rotated 90º to the left as it was a passthrough job.
I use mostly Adam’s brand that is paper and polystyrene and it cuts great. Never had flair but I recommend keeping an eye on anything you cut and two one things that are known to be a fire hazard like shipping box cardboard.
Thanks guys, I will get a fire extinguish ready lol.
I was excited and nervous (ok I was scared as hell) to turn it. Finally did this morning and it was everything i dreamed off lol I am so in love with it
Wow, no kidding.
So happy for you! I hope you have lots of fun. Show us what you make, OK? We love looking at other people’s work and ideas. It helps keep this community the wonderful place that it is.
A CO2 fire extinguisher can be used carefully so the sudden cold does not warp or break anything, but most useful is a spritzer of water and a cloth towel that will take care of any fire that is likely to come up while you are watching. In the case of some species of wood I even wet them down ahead of time to limit the fire.
A chemical fire extinguisher can do almost as much damage as the fire,
i have cut a crapload (i think 400 sheets or so) of gator board (which is a denser version of what foamcore is) and a little bit of foam core on a laser cutter at work (not the GF, an industrial cutter, but still CO2). we use it for a base in between layers of cans when building canstruction structures.
from a fume perspective, it’s not an issue. it is a flame risk, for sure. but honestly, if you’re monitoring it the whole time (and I was), a spray bottle of water and a towel will take care of any flareups. i saw a few times where we had a sharp corner that there were red spots (like where you would see coals in a fire) but they all self extinguished quickly and we didn’t have to pause the jobs. but if we had, i’d have spritzed it with the water bottle and pressed the towel onto that spot.
so the real key is literally watching it the whole time it cuts. if you can’t do that, i wouldn’t cut foam core.
let me add to that, tho. foam core will give you rigid packing, which may what you want.
but you can also cut open cell foam or EVA foam (probably too expensive for this). i’ve cut both and used them when making wood boxes that hold objects inside.
I’ve used upholstery foam for packing and in a box that held a shot glass and one of the small liquor bottles.
Thanks guys for the water spray idea I will sure get some ready.
I will post my first creation once I finish the cake 
Does the gator shrink as much as foamcore?
