Ideas for equipment storage.

[John Hill]

I have collect a number of pieces of photographic kit and am faced with storage issues.

We do not live in a very dry climate and we are very close to the sea.  We also have an earthquake  hazard.  

I have been told that the cheap aluminium cases with grey foam are not the best as the foam can hold moisture which is released when the bags are exposed to heat such as in the boot of a car.  The problem is the foam and closed cell stuff would be better but I would have to cut it to fit the bits.

So.... while lying awake listening to the wind shake the nails out of the house I thought of 'No More Gaps'.  This is a type of expanding foam available from the DIY shops.  It is in a can and expands to fill the space available,  another brand locally available is 'Space Invader'.  (neat eh?)

I have tried an experiment where I covered a few objects,  junk from the work shop not camera stuff) in a close weave stretchy cotton fabric and mounted this in a wooden frame then applied No More Gaps to see if I can easily create custom formed inserts for the cases.  Tomorrow I will know the answer!

[ImageMaker]

Get the crowbar before you open the cases.  You might need it if the "No More Gaps" has wrapped around a convexity in any part.  If you have a way to prevent that, this might work, though the urethane foam produced has its own chemical issues, including the chemicals it gives off when curing (don't know if they're bad for cameras or not, but I wouldn't want to expose film to them).  Also couldn't tell you how long those gases continue to evolve after the foam appears cured...

[John Hill]

Imagemaker:-

Yep,  I did try to allow for the convexity your mentioned.

I made a small wooden frame of about  2 inches high and 10 inches square.

I placed this on a flat surface and on the surface I placed the various pieces of test junk.  I stretched the fabric over the top of the frame and deposited the No More Gaps on top of the fabric then placed another flat surface on top of that so pressing the foam down somewhat and weighted the whole thing.  I dont expect the fabric to stretch enough to grip the objects in fact I expect I will get rather gentle depressions in the surface of the fabric covered foam.  There is fabric between the foam and the objects and the amount of stretch in the fabric will determine the closeness of the grip around the object.

The expanded foam can be painted and there are no warnings on the can concerning paint type which perhaps (repeat "perhaps") indicates there is no much gas given off.  The foam is somehow moisture cured although there is a warning about breathing the vapour.  Your point is very valid  and does require some investigation so thanks for that.

[sandeha]

You might find that written on the can it will say "needs painting for exterior use" or similar ... which would imply that moisture can percolate through the foam over time.  

I wonder if using a heat cutter on a block of polystyrene foam might be better long term - you could probably then glue a fabric to the surface.

[John Hill]

You could well be right Sandeha and I do intend to paint it.

I have tryed polystyrene expanded foam and yes it is certainly easy to cut with a hot wire but rather more difficult to do in 3D.  However foam is easy to cover with paper mache.  A lengthy process though.[/quote]

[Mike Kovacs]

Foam often outgases which can fog your optics, just like the outgassing that makes your windshield hazy on your car.  To what degree depends on the exact type of foam - there are special grades that are designed to be used with optics. (I use them for camera light seals, e.g.)

[Julio1fer]

You could wrap the stored items in polyethylene film, maybe several layers, and seal it with tape before applying the foam. That should give some measure of protection from gases and chemicals. This polyethylene film should be easily available in hardware stores (it is easy to find, even down here), in double layer "tubes" of different width and thickness.

After getting the mold and having the foam aired to get the chemicals out you may dispense with some of the polyethylene film layers.

[John Hill]

Good point Mike,  now I am almost afraid to try anything! :?

My overnight experiment with the No More Gaps shows promise.  I used two types of fabric. One was an old T-Shirt  which made a really good surface on the foam and no foam seeped through the weave,  the second was a piece of nylon stocking which did allow tiny droplets of foam through in the higher pressure area and gave a not so good surface it did however much more easily conform to the shapes of my junk test pieces.

A bit more development and I may be there but I will have to find out about the possibility of on-going gas release.

[ImageMaker]

One of the best heat cutters for 3-D modeling in polystyrene foam is a soldering gun (the trigger-switched variety).  Those tools use a transformer to feed a very low voltage with lots of current behind it through the tip, which is just a piece of heavy wire profiled to be narrowest (and hence get hottest, due to the concentration of resistance) at the soldering point.

Relevant to this, that wire tip can be replaced; according to those who've done this, it can be replaced by a piece of heavy copper or steel wire bent into almost any shape, and with considerable variation in length and diameter (you control temperature by cycling the power on and off with the trigger -- if the cut drags, give it some juice, if it smokes too much, let ot cool for a few seconds).  The wire is held on the contact ends by setscrews, which are perfectly ordinary machine screws (obtainable at the hardware store, though they're probably metric these days).  For generic sculpting of foam, you could make up cutting loops in round (maybe a couple radii), wide and shallow, narrow and deep rectangles and ovals, etc., and one with a straight section and a good clearance behind.

Do wear a filter mask; the smoke from the plastic burning on the wire isn't terribly healthy to breathe...