Where To Buy Foam For Tool Box _TOP_
Let Us Organize For You.Modular Tool Sets consist of multi-piece assortments of quality GEARWRENCH tools, each organized in a sturdy EVA foam tray. The chemical and solvent resistant trays are designed in multiple modular sizes to fit perfectly with a range tool storage systems. This modular design allows users to customize their own toolkit and storage system. Sets feature components selected to provide a complete range of specific tools, each nested in a custom cutout that protects while keeping tools organized and accessible. Trays are orange and black with high visibility size markings for quick tool identification.
where to buy foam for tool box
"The GEARWRENCH 3/8 In Drive 90 Tooth Ratchets and Drive tool Set is really nice and very nicely made. The EVA Foam tray is very nicely made and it motivated me to clean out one of my tool drawers for it. It identifies all of the drive tools in the set, as well as some of the drive tools, that have grips on them. The drive tools have a nice finish on them and look nice made. The Ratchets are nicely made with one having a hinge joint and are quite thin, I will enjoy using this set when working on my engines. Just an all-around great set to have in your tool chest. This one's a winner." - Harleyguy
"This came nicely packaged. It's placed in a very nice holding tray that holds your individual wrenches extensions etc. This tray will fit nicely in the new toolbox I am about to purchase. It keeps all of your wrenches nicely organized and you cannot really mess up where the correct ones are to be placed. the material is very nice. All of the pieces are high quality and super easy to use. I use 3/8s for pretty much everything so this is the perfect kit for my needs. The variety of extensions makes it easy to access any area you need to reach! Also, the angle adjustments on the large ratchet make it easy to get into a bolt no matter the angle! I am super happy with this tool kit! I want all of my tools in a case like this one has." - Paul
Un huh, you know what it is Black and Yellow Black and Yellow! EVA Shadow Foam is perfect for custom foam inserts, having a 5mm black layer on top of a 25mm yellow layer will help you achieve maximum organization and visual control in your workspace!
EVA foam is the acronym for the closed cell ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer foam and is used as an effective substitute for a variety of materials. It is a suitable substitute for natural rubber, vinyl, neoprene, polyurethane and PVC foams, wood composites, felts, fiberglass, and mineral wool.
EVA is a polymer that approaches elastomeric materials in softness and flexibility yet can be processed like other thermoplastics. The material has good clarity and gloss, low-temperature toughness, stress-crack resistance, hot-melt adhesive waterproof properties, and resistance to UV radiation. EVA foam's greater recovery characteristics make it an excellent and cost-effective substitute for rubber in most applications. EVA foams have a variety of applications where sturdiness is of utmost importance. Examples include splints, cervical collars, exercise mats, shoe soles, and orthotic supports.
EVA foam is easy to cut with a trim router which makes it popular for DIY - or rather CIY (Cut-It-Yourself) - custom foam inserts. What is a trim router? Where can I buy one? A trim router is a small handheld electric tool for routing or cutting into foam, plastics and wood.
We use the Ryobi Trim Router 400W (available at Bunnings for under $100) to effortlessly cut shapes that perfectly fit our gear. Cutting out shapes using a stanley knife on EVA foam can prove extremely hard to do though straight lines are possible with a steel ruler and a sharp knife! We suggest using a trim router with a straight twin blade bit to create custom storage for your tools, audio gear, cameras, ipads/tablets, hobby gear and much more.
Lately I'm doing more machining at TechShop SJ. As a result, I've been carrying a lot of cutting and measuring tools back and forth from home. Many of the tools have precisions surfaces or are somewhat fragile. Remarkably, some of these came with no protective container. So, I decided to make some.
This Instructable is all about finding the best, least expensive foam from which to laser cut inserts to hold the tools safely in their boxes. Maybe I'll cover the finding/making appropriate boxes some other time.
Using inserts in tool boxes to protect and organize tools is called "shadowing" in the aerospace industry. It's a standard practice aimed at preventing tools from being left some place they shouldn't be and subsequently causing "foreign object damage." For an appropriately horrifying image, think about a big pair of ViseGrips left inside a jet engine when it's fired up.
For foam to protect tools during transport, it needs to fit closely around them. Too bad that hand tools tend to have complex shapes. The usual way to make close fitting DIY inserts around complex shapes is to trace the outline directly on to the foam with a Sharpie and cut out the recess by hand with an Xacto knife or scalpel (there are lots of YouTube videos on the subject).
To make inserts, we need foam, vector artwork of the tool outlines, and a recipe for cutting the foam. The last part is the main purpose of this Instructable, but we need to get the first two straight before we can start zapping foam.
Most stuff sold as "tool box foam" is polyethylene (PE) or ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) and is way too expensive. I went on a hunt for other, less expensive sources for the same stuff. Both of these types of foam are okay to cut on the Epilog laser at TechShop SJ.
The lowest cost PE foam I found was a blue camping pad from WalMart. It's about 2 ft. x 6 ft. x 1/2 in. (610mm x 1825 mm x 13mm) for $7.97. Call it $0.67/sq. ft. You can't get this online, so you'll have to grit your teeth and go there.
EVA foam is available at Harbor Freight. They have 2 ft. x 2 ft. x 1/2 in. (610mm x 610mm x 13mm) gray EVA interlocking tiles, 4 for $10. Call it $0.63/sq. ft. The also have rolls of foam with a diamond plate texture. A 2 ft. x 6 ft. x 5/16 in.(610mm x 1825 mm x 8mm) roll is $8. Call it $0.67/sq. ft. The quality of the roll material is not nearly as good as the tiles. The roll I bought has a lot of voids in the back surface and even has some on the diamond plate (front) surface.
EVA foam covered with other materials is available at Daiso California, a Japanese dollar store (okay, truthfully it's a $1.50 store) . 30 cm x 30 cm x 7 mm (12 in. x 12 in. x 1/4 in.) interlocking foam tiles are $1.50 ea, so call it $1.50/ sq ft. I chose a carpet covered tile and a cork covered tile. Daiso also has every kind of plastic container known to mankind if you ever need such things.
Finally, 2 mm (0.080 in.) thick EVA foam is available at craft stores (locally here in the SF Bay Area at Michael's or JoAnn's). A 9 in. x 12 in. (230mm x 305mm) piece is about $1. I've used this foam before and it cuts great in TechShop SJ's Epilog laser. However, it's too thin to be cost effective for tool box inserts. By the time you buy enough to layer up a reasonable thickness and a can of 3M Super 77 spray adhesive to hold it all together, the cost is crazy high. Even so, keep some thin foam around...it makes a good complement to the thicker foam (more on that later).
1) Get out your ruler/tape/calipers and start measuring. Then draw up your outline in Adobe Illustrator or its equivalent. This method is practical for tools with simple outlines like 1-2-3 blocks, V-blocks, squares, and the like. It takes a lot of time to measure and draw more complex outlines.
2) Trace the tool outline onto a piece of paper and then scan it. If you do this, it's best to convert the scan to a vector format (using LiveTrace in Adobe Illustrator or its equivalent) so you can tweak it if needed. This method isn't as easy as it sounds because, if you are using a normal pen or pencil, it's a bit difficult to keep your pencil or pen tip at a fixed distance from the edge of a complex object while you trace it.
I've found two tools that make it easier to trace. The first is a FastCap Long Nose Pattern Marker (promo video above). The second is an old school drafting lead holder (photo above). Both of these have long, skinny ends for close tracing around something thick. The marker is good up to about an inch (25mm) and the lead holder is good to 2+ inches (50mm+) as long as you are careful to not break the lead as you trace. If you use the drafting lead, go over the line with a dark pen before you scan it to get better contrast.
3) Set the tool directly on your flatbed scanner, scan it, convert it to vector, and tweak as above. This sounds easy too, but be prepared for a lot of fussing with the scan before it will convert to a usable vector outline.
Which ever way you make your outlines, be sure to check the outlines before cutting foam. The best way to check is to cut some corrugated cardboard test pieces. If that's too much trouble, at least print out the outlines and lay the tools on top of them to check that all is well. Throwing away some scrap cardboard or scratch paper beats a miscut $10 piece of foam any day.
Before spending a lot of time making outlines of individual tools, it pays to make sure everything is going to fit in the drawer/box. A quick and dirty test layout doesn't take too long and you can move the outlines around in Illustrator to fine tune everything. The final check is a full size cardboard cutout.
Since the V-block clamps (the black wishbone looking thing on the top left in the picture above) were only about half the thickness of the foam, it would be hard to get them out of the box. Here's where the 2mm EVA craft foam comes in handy. I cut a shim the same shape as the tool from a double layer of black craft foam and put it in the bottom of the recess. More about the craft foam in a later step.
If you plan to do full size drawer inserts, be sure to pay attention when you cut up the roll to fit in the laser bed. I cut my roll across the width without thinking about it and ended up with no pieces wide enough to fill the drawers in my roll around tool box. Very annoying. 041b061a72