looking for a certain material, been used to line toolboxes

[Schugg]

im not talking about the stuff your mom puts in the kitchen cupboards with the small foam balls and holes. i have no clue what this stuff is, its can come 1/2" thick, black, plastic/foam mix, its flexible and you can cut it without it falling apart. i know its not made for lining tool boxes but ive seen alot of people use it for that. i believe snap on has it, but the stuff in the magazine isnt very discriptive, no names and its expensive. so that didnt help me to be able to find it somewhere else. the shop im at has it in their toolboxes because its the military and they are obcessed as hell about sh1t being perfect and organized. i know this will sound dumb, cause back before i joined i would have said thats stupid as hell, but they used it to cut the shapes out of every wrench, socket, plier, extension, and any other tool in the toolbox drawers, layed the sheets in the drawers and the tools in their cutout spots. its mainly for tool accountability cause thats a big deal to them too, but its helps alot with finding what you want ALOT faster. and it seems they have rubbed off on me. and i remember how long it would take me to find a 12mm socket in my dads toolbox full of sockets just bouncing around everywhere, so i figured im going to do the same thing. sure i could get the little socket/wrench holders that lay down in it, but thats not good enough being im pretty picky.......if anyone has any clue what this stuff is let me know! i asked the people in the shop but none of them knew


UPDATE: feb. 23, 2008

ok well i finally bought the material form sears, tried using a styro cutter thing for the cutting but it sucks and i ended up breaking it trying to make it better. then my wife found things versa-tool thing from walmart which is probably the best thing you can get to do this. its pretty much just a soldering iron with alot of other tips, one tip happens to be a exacto knife so it works nice. did my first set of wrenches and it looks pretty decent.

updates: 24th

added more pics of the sockets on the next post

[Schugg]

pictures

[03RCode]

The MAC Tools truck that comes by our shop at work sells precut tool box liners like that... there extremely handy when you need to find something in a hurry... if i remember correctly they are quite pricey...

[Schugg]

pix

[03RCode]

You might try to make a group buy out of it, its extremely handy... i keep my boxes at home organized so i wouldnt need any but im sure there are others who would love it...

[Schugg]

not really a group of people i know out here that would need or want it. chances are once i miserably fail at cutting out the first 10 tools ill get pissed and just line the drawers with it. hopefully not though. i know my work as a big ass roll of it and its going to sit around forever, so maybe they will let me get some or buy some. figured i would try to find my own first though.

[03RCode]

exacto knife and lots of patience... all ours were pre-cut so i dont have any other suggestions... good luck with it!

[Schugg]

yeah they said most of them were pre cut at work but they had to buy some and cut there own for other drawers. i think they traced the tools and used a dremal

[Schugg]

damn and all this time it was at damn sears......still probably going to need bigger pieces though, if anyone else ever wants to do it, here it is.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00965417000P?vName=Tools&cName=Garage+%26+Tool+Storage&sName=Tool+Storage+Accessories

[speedminded]

not really a group of people i know out here that would need or want it. chances are once i miserably fail at cutting out the first 10 tools ill get pissed and just line the drawers with it. hopefully not though. i know my work as a big ass roll of it and its going to sit around forever, so maybe they will let me get some or buy some. figured i would try to find my own first though.I've cut it out before...it's miserable with the final result being no where near as nice as the stamped pre-cut foam.

http://www.toolfoam.com/

I don't think there is a minimum order from them and you can find their specials here... http://www.toolfoam.com/specials.asp


*edit*
I got mine at Sears but the sheets have always been odd sized for the tool boxes i was putting it in :dunno:

[Schugg]

minumum orders for them is 10 sheets. ill try the sears stuff first, maybe since i have acraftsman box they will fit, if not i can cut them. what did you use to cut?? i know mine will look nothing like the precut stuff which will suck, but if a exacto knife doesnt work out to well, i know a dremal will give me the best smooth cut, as long as i can keep it straight

[speedminded]

minumum orders for them is 10 sheets. ill try the sears stuff first, maybe since i have acraftsman box they will fit, if not i can cut them. what did you use to cut?? i know mine will look nothing like the precut stuff which will suck, but if a exacto knife doesnt work out to well, i know a dremal will give me the best smooth cut, as long as i can keep it straightXacto knife and lightly heat the blade with a torch :tongue:

The best for foam are the hot wire cutters.

Homemade versions...
http://www.hhhh.org/~joeboy/resources/hotwire_foam_cutter/hotwire_foam_cutter.html

http://www3.telus.net/public/aschoepp/hotwire.html

[speedminded]

lol, hot wire cutter built from Lego's :tongue:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoHIm-ODmZQ&feature=related


Here's the best kit i've seen so far...
http://hotwirefoamfactory.com/home.php

hands on review:
http://www.terragenesis.co.uk/infopages/page169.html

[TypeRPersonality]

Looks to be a neat idea. I would do it, except I buy all my tools that comes with cases. And I just throw the whole case in my toolbox.

[speedminded]

Looks to be a neat idea. I would do it, except I buy all my tools that comes with cases. And I just throw the whole case in my toolbox.or just buy a Beta box ;)

http://www.procarestores.com/product/general_catalog/product_info.php?products_id=024000958

http://www.procarestores.com/product/general_catalog/images/beta/full/2400_g_vg3.jpg

Scuderia Ferrari workbench...
http://www.procarestores.com/product/general_catalog/images/beta/full/c57_sf.jpg

[TypeRPersonality]

or just buy a Beta box http://importatlanta.com/forums/images/smilies/wink.gif

http://www.procarestores.com/product/general_catalog/product_info.php?products_id=024000958


Lol, sure. Let me return all of my tools just so I could afford one set of their wrenches.

[Schugg]

thanks for the tips/video speed! heated wire cutter would be ALOT easier but alot more of a hassle for what im doing with out putting lines through it everywhere. it did help though im sure i can do something similiar and make like a handheld or mounted heated wire/needle cutter. so i can poke it through the foam, then cut the tool and not make lines from tool to tool. think a need would be thin and strong enough to do that? maybe i could find a way to hook it up to a solder iron or whatever those are. or even just use a soldering iron

[Schugg]

oops finally looked at your other link, seems like they already have the thing i said i was going to try and make. just see if i can find out

[speedminded]

thanks for the tips/video speed! heated wire cutter would be ALOT easier but alot more of a hassle for what im doing with out putting lines through it everywhere. it did help though im sure i can do something similiar and make like a handheld or mounted heated wire/needle cutter. so i can poke it through the foam, then cut the tool and not make lines from tool to tool. think a need would be thin and strong enough to do that? maybe i could find a way to hook it up to a solder iron or whatever those are. or even just use a soldering ironYou just release the wire from one side and run it through a hole where the tool would be and reconnect it...when you get done with that tool cutout release the wire again and move on to the next tool, just like you would do if you were cutting shapes out of wood with a scroll saw. If you had a large toolbox of shapes completely drawn out it wouldn't even take an hour to do everything like that.

[Schugg]

yeah, i think i like the little heated styro wire cutter though, looks easier and its cheap 15-20 dollars. seen on some site some guy just mounted it between to surfaces with the the needle facing up and just placed the foam over it and moved the foam around to cut, kinda like the lego wire cutter but i wont have to worry about it being to big and the foam hitting the arms or anything.

also when i talked to my work they said they traced the tool out on some thin cardboard, cut it out of that so they could use it as a guide when they cut the foam. im sure that will help me alot with getting smooth cuts

oh here is the thing i was talking about trying to make but already exist

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41mKoZasMLL._SS400_.jpg

[speedminded]

yeah, i think i like the little heated styro wire cutter though, looks easier and its cheap 15-20 dollars. seen on some site some guy just mounted it between to surfaces with the the needle facing up and just placed the foam over it and moved the foam around to cut, kinda like the lego wire cutter but i wont have to worry about it being to big and the foam hitting the arms or anything.

also when i talked to my work they said they traced the tool out on some thin cardboard, cut it out of that so they could use it as a guide when they cut the foam. im sure that will help me alot with getting smooth cuts

oh here is the thing i was talking about trying to make but already exist

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41mKoZasMLL._SS400_.jpgi can't imagine the cardboard helping all that much, a good sharp clean line traced around each tool should be sufficient...and don't forget the semi-circle finger holes so the tool can be grabbed :tongue:

[Schugg]

probably right, cause i would have to cut that then. and cutting cardboard is a pain in the ass. im sure if im just patient and not in a hurry on the foam ill be fine. haha i wont forget the finger slots, we have som things in the boxes at work and that dont have them, and it take forever to get them out, especially when its like a tiny 1/4inch wrench

[Schugg]

i bought one of the sears kits, dont remember who said it, but yeah they are stupid sizes. i dont see cutting being a problem as soon as i get one of those styrocutters/heated wire cutter. i had to trim one down to fit in the drawer, and i just used a pocket knife and lighter and it was pretty easy. only thing i see being a problem is me trying to figure out how i want them layed out. thats going to take me forever.

[Schugg]

still havent got around to doing this.....still waiting till get the rest of my tools but i went ahead and bought one of those hand held styro cutters..........FAIL. haha, i guess they only work good with "STYROFOAM" brand foam. it works but its to flexible and doesnt really cut all that great. its kinda just like a real small metal tube, so im going to try and smash it flat all the way down so it has more of an edge and see if that helps. if not im going to cut it down to like an inch and a half long and see if that helps....

[Schugg]

well...i flattened the tubing.......and i guess its broke.....haha cause it dont heat up anymore.....

[1flysi]

Ebay has some.

[Schugg]

ok well i finally found something that works ill edit the first post and show what ive done so far. its pretty much an exacto knife or whatever but its connected to a soldering iron, most useful thing ive tried. and it was even at walmart.

[Schugg]

finished all the wrenches, now im just trying to figure out how i want to do the sockets. all the pics from the first drawer are on the first post

[Schugg]

finished my sockets put pics up on the 2nd post

[Schugg]

uploaded some pics, i did my 3rd drawer today, its my ratchets/sock accessories drawer. still have some stuff i have to add but i did what i have right now, pics are in the 3rd post i made. my second post i believe is my sockets drawer, and my first post has the first drawer i did for my wrenches