: Hi All;

: Perhaps I don't have the technique down as yet, but my initial reaction to
: seats carved from Minicell foam is "OK, but there must be a better
: alternative." At this moment my feeling is that a seat carved from
: Minicell is standoff acceptable. That is to say, I don't believe
: they measure up to the quality of the strippers we are building, but look
: OK from a distance. They are probably comfortable as heck, but my first
: impression is that they don't look particularly finished, and will
: probably deteriorate further rather quickly.

: Suffice to say I obtained my foam from one of our favorite designer/builders
: on this bbs, and I'm sure it's near the zenith of what's available. It
: carved excellently, and looks pretty darn good at standard picture taking
: distance. You can see the first stages of a "Greenley-styled"
: seat begun with this foam in the pic at the bottom.

: My concern is the fact that producing a nice surface finish on the carved
: areas seems near impossible. Further, the surface seems very susceptible
: to damage. Paraphrasing Vaclav from his website, "Stick with the
: factory produced surfaces only, you'll never make anything as nice."
: At this time I tend to agree that the factory produced surface
: "crust" is not duplicable.

: The problems I note are that sandpaper, used slowly by hand, will
: inexplicably tear the surface and generate new flaws as I am slowly
: correcting old tears. I prepare the sandpaper by working it for 20 minutes
: or so to make it like a piece of soft cloth. If I do not, the stiff edges
: will slice the Minicell mercilessly, requiring major resanding. I then
: sand in only one direction, because if I were to sand back and forth, the
: foam balls and produces deep holes. After working an area to reasonable
: smoothness, a pull of the paper will suddenly produce a series of gouges
: that set me back 2 sanding stages. Exasperating to say the least!

: My feeling is a button on a swimsuit (or even a seam) could produce lots of
: tears & craters in the foam and make it rather ugly(er) in a single
: outing. In recent weeks and months we've sparingly discussed contact
: cementing cloth to the foam, or the use of a rubberized seal to Minicell
: to give it a sturdier surface. Today I investigated the availability of
: the rubber tool grip dip in spray form as had been reported earlier, and
: could not find it. In its standard form, it seems too viscous to apply
: with a brush or roller in a controlled fashion. There is a vinyl spray
: that produces a flexible skin, and I have a sample piece of Minicell in
: the garage sprayed with several coats & drying at the moment. Lastly
: are the elasomeric roof paints that dry to a rubbery suface, and are
: recommended for application over foam (and are sun-proof as well).

: Any comments, recommendations, experiences, etc. are truly appreciated. I
: will fully report on any tests I do (such as the flexible vinyl spray),
: and encourage any and all thoughts.

: Best Regards, Spidey

Hi Spidey,I carved my first foam seat 3 years ago and had intended to cover it with speaker grill cloth which will stretch in all directions without the need of darts. I got lazy and never did cover it. After 3 years of pretty hard use, it is still in great shape. There are no digs or cuts at all. The surface has become smoother. I may try the speaker grill cloth just to change the look. If you want to try the cloth, I have plenty.

I carved my seat to a 3/8" thickness at the lowest point and it has worked out well for me. Try your 3/4" thickness for awhile before adding a permanent cover.

Larry C.