Thread: Kaizen Foam alternative?

I don't know of an alternative but what about cutting the shape out of a layer of foam and gluing that to another contrasting layer using spray contact glue.

yeah, I might go and poke around the big green shed and see if something like that bastion foam insulation sheet would do.

Hi, While it is not kaisen foam, I have used these eva foam pads from bunnies for my tool box. I used yoga mat as the base as it comes in different colours and just hot glued them in. I used the router to cut the tool shapes out. Fairly messy, but really happy with the results. I am now thinking about stacking 3 layers on top of each other for use in portable tool boxes for powertools.

cheers
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EVA 50 x 50cm Interlock Foam Mats Solid Black Pk4 | Bunnings Warehouse
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Hey Bernard, your post prompted me to go looking for this, as I will soon be looking for the same myself.

For what it's worth, I have *not* used this yet, I've just located it based on specification and photos on the site (it shows this being used in exactly the fashion you're after in the photos): Premium Acoustic Foam Plain 29-400
– Packaging & Storage

Whilst I don't know the price on Kaizen foam or the shipping on it - I can imagine it would stack up a bit. Don't know how this stacks up in terms of price?

If you do go further down this path (or any other that may be suggested by knowledgeable people here), I'd be most keen to find out how you went/go!

The Big Green Shed sells this version Kincrome Custom Cut Foam | Bunnings Warehouse The layers are 5mm thick compared with 3mm for the genuine one.

mmm. So Kaizen not expensive in comparison.

they come in 600x1200mm sheets, thicknesses of 20, 30 and 50mm

Quick comparison - 5 x 30mm grey on white Kaizen sheets, delivered to me from Timbecon = around $175.
Same quantity of Clarkes acoustic foam, collected from down the road (single colour, 25mm is closest) = $172.50

The kincrome is hard to compare as it's one size only, but it's not cheaper despite being down the road too. (I now remember having a look at the stuff on the shelf before).

I was thinking of giving the Bunnings interlocking sheets a go - I already have a bunch that I use when cutting up sheets with the track saw. They're around $10/sq m, but at around ½ or less the thickness of the Kaizen, price starts to get quite close.

This idea may seem heretical; but what about a modern rendition of "French fitted" drawers?

I haven't done this yet but here's where I'm going with this.

I have a ton of plywood and wood scraps of various sizes. The drawers I have in mind already have a preferred layout where I manually place things. The idea was to cut out pieces of wood that will separate the items in the drawers and hot glue the divisions in place. I have zero intention of putting in felt/leather/cloth. If the layout is really pretty, I thought about using flocking; though I have doubts about the durability of flocking when in contact with metal objects.

The closest thing to kaizan foam that isn't diy is the "pick and pluck" foam that is found in electronics stores. It won't give you a perfect cutout like kaizan foam does but depending on what you're storing it works a treat.

Originally Posted by ranga_rod

Hi, While it is not kaisen foam, I have used these eva foam pads from bunnies for my tool box. I used yoga mat as the base as it comes in different colours and just hot glued them in. I used the router to cut the tool shapes out. Fairly messy, but really happy with the results. I am now thinking about stacking 3 layers on top of each other for use in portable tool boxes for powertools.

cheers
IMG_6413.jpg

EVA 50 x 50cm Interlock Foam Mats Solid Black Pk4 | Bunnings Warehouse
IMG_6412.jpg

What sort of router bit did you use?

I just my trim router and a straight 1/4 inch bit. It works really well, but you have to be careful near the edge of the material as it gets pulled into the bit. I placed a sacrifical piece of the foam underneath and went straight through in one pass. The bottom edges were a bit rough sometimes where the dimples were in the foam, so sometimes I melted them off with a heat gun. If you are only doing straight lines then a sharp knife would be fine, but going around corners is not that easy, even with a scalpel, that's why I used the router. I have done 7 drawers in my toolkit and the hardest part is finding where you want to put the tools!

A jigsaw with a knife blade works well. I made a lot of fitted guitar cases years ago and that was the tool I used to cut foam up to 3" thick. A heavy wood cutting blade just a bit longer than the foam thickness with the teeth ground away to a knife edge goes through the foam easily. Like ranga_rod, use a sacrifical foam backer. Minimum cut radius is somewhat limited by blade width, especially when using a template. Sharpen the tip and start a cut with a plunge with the tool powered off.

I was in the big green shed recently, so grabbed a sheet of the Bastion foam board mentioned in other threads. It's 1200x600x30mm thick, making it around 1/3rd of the price of the equivalent Kaizen foam. Worth a shot...

It's polystyrene-based as opposed to foam, so quite firm and easy to damage. Kaizen is supposed to be made of of 3mm layers, so it's easy to cut a shape, and stick a finger in to the required depth and peel it back (I've never used the stuff, but that's the theory). Clearly you can't do this with the foam board.

I played around a bit with the knife and the trim router, and also found that you can just push some smaller pieces straight into it. It's green, but will take a splat of spray paint if you want a contrasting colour to show what's missing: some holes made by the back of a drill bit, just pressed in:

painted.jpg

I think it'd make quick, easy bit-organiser drawer inserts - again, just push the bits in. The ½ inch router bit is a bit of a struggle, so those might be easier to plunge a hole with the router.

bit organiser.jpg

It's easy to work, but bloody messy. If I use the dust collection attachment on my trim router, it completely obscures the bit so I can't see where I'm cutting, so it had to be a vacuum aimed at the router, and a p95 mask. Cutting the shapes is good practice for free-hand routing.

I wanted a drawer with all my bench dog type bits organised so they'd be easily accessible when using the new bench.

As ranga_rod says, the hardest thing is deciding where to put everything!

laying out.jpg

I don't have an 8mm chuck for the little Dewalt, so the Fe$tool had to come out to play - 20mm holes plunged with a Festool 20mm spiral bit (which cuts beautifully):

festool plunges.jpg holes done.jpg

The rest was done with the baby Dewalt and a 10mm straight cut bit. I gave it a careful lick with the heat gun on low to seal up all the edges when I was done.

routing in progress.jpg done in drawer.jpg places please.jpg

I'm quite pleased with the final result:

drawer in.jpg

Pro's: Cheap(ish); easy to work; available down the road.
Con's: Probably takes longer to do than it would with Kaizen; Firm and friable, so it's easy to damage edges when working it - and it'll be interesting to see how it holds up in use. The holes and edges won't flex if things are just jammed in, so it may not be hard wearing. It seems pretty firm and strong though; Messy to work.

I bought some of the Kaizen foam last time I was in Melbourne. Although most of the alternatives are probably just as good, being that I didn't have to pay shipping I think its fantastic for the price. I've lined most of my draws with it and it is quite easy to use. Not always easy to rip just the right depth but if you took your time you probably could. If I ripped out too much I would take a 3mm piece of the removed piece and glue it back in. It's also easy to rip it at multiple depths for odd shaped things for full support.
Another experiment I did was to attach some in a frame and mount to the wall. I have all my marking gauges in one and commonly used measuring tools in another. They've been up there over a year and nothing fell out yet.
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Must have cut thousands of shaped holes using a scalpel in Plastizote foam for museum specimens.
For my own tools I have used camping roll mat foam with success (Ebay), They are inexpensive and you can get them in various colours (Military ones are often dark grey or black). Not self adhesive but then everyone has a glue gun don't they?
Mark