help reshaping Polystyrene

[z00m]

I need to know the best way to reshape / finish Polystyrene, the chin pad on my sx650 is way to big so I have set about lowering it, started with a hot knife that worked perfect for the big cuts, but now I need to finish off smooth, can it be sanded or has anyone else got an idea before I spoil the whole thing lol

I have cut a good 3” inches off the top of the pad, so it should look a look smaller when retrimed,

Mick

 

[Big Kahuna]

sand it with 220 grit

 

[#ZERO]

Orbital palm sanders work great for shaping foam.

 

[DAG]

hot wire

 

[Frosty]

a hot wire would work best, since it would provide a clean cut...

I had no luck sanding, since polystyrene is made up of little pellets of foam, sanding just make a mess.

i used polystyrene in my superjet, in place of the two part foam in the tray. I cut it from 12"x12"x18" blocks using a hacksaw blade... then used a heat gun to reseal/recoagulate the cut edges.

 

[shawn_NJ]

then used a heat gun to reseal/recoagulate the cut edges.

Thanks for the tip, I am going to try that on mine when I foam it today.

 

[z00m]

ive cut the last off with a hot knife, then sanded it a little with 80 grit then i heated the knife back up and went over the whole area like i was spreading butter to seal it all off, will post some pics when i get home latter. all in all its worked well and the pad looks a lot slimer and more fitting to the ski,
Ive un-picked the stiching on the hydro turf pad cover and will be getting that re-stiched and fitted the weekend :bananajump:

mick

 

[wydopen]

power planer