Thread: Cutting Pelican Case Foam

Is there anywhere that I can send my foam to be cut? Anybody on here do it? I will pay!!! I've already hacked one piece... I need it cut for an M4, 870, and Glock 26, plus 4 AR mags and 2 Glock mags.

I'll see if I can find something on one of my other machines - I had some sites bookmarked when I went on my Pelican case buying spree, but not sure if I still have them. If I do I'll post 'em up for you.

Thanks!

You can cut it pretty easy with an electric carving knife

A break off utility type knife works half way decent. Electric carving knife also half way decent. You can buy a hot wire cutter at the hobby shop - haven't tried this myself. My advice is to get some spare foam and practice on it first.

Yea...I tried both those methods before, on another case...it's was ugly!

Originally Posted by RedneckRampage

Yea...I tried both those methods before, on another case...it's was ugly!

Yeah its tricky, and it takes practice. Helps to use a guide of sorts too. Oh and if you use a utility knife you have to change the blades a lot - they cease to cut cleanly very quickly.

what size case do you have, are you trying to get all of that in one? we use guncruzer. I have been really happy with their mods, not sure if you can purchase just the foam?

Custom Foam for Pelican Cases <- that was one option I was looking at. I'd never seen Guncruzer, I might have to check them out too. I did the pull 'n' pluck for the case I use with my FNP-45's (one Tactical, one not) and my Ti-Rant. It didn't come out great, but it does the job.

Electric fish cutter or if you want something a little more cleaner you can try these guys:

Guns, Firearms, and Weapons Cases With Custom Foam

I've only had a few email conversations and haven't tried the product or gotten a price. They will send you the tracing paper with inner dimensions outlined if they don't have your particular firearm foam available.

Hot Wire Foam Factory

You can custom cut it to your own specs with one of these. I have a couple of the tools for crafting and they're very easy to use and effective.

Cutting Gun Case Foam (lots of photos) - Page 1 - AR15.COM

This place in Seattle supposedly will do custom foam cutting. I'm planning on calling them about a project:

Friendly Foam Shop

Problem I have is that I never know what guns I am going to be putting in the cases. I only use them for transport to and from places. Replacement foam is priced crazy.

I did cut out 1 of my 4 1750 cases to fit one of my target rifles. I used a electric carving knife (about $10 at WM) and it went very smooth.

Redneck,

This place in Tigard does it...
Barrier Corp. - Case Solutions

Another place you can try is a custom auto upholstery shop. They work with custom foam rubber all the time, and cut it into intricate shapes for hot rod interiors, etc. A gun case should be a cake walk for them.

I am a custom car upholsterer. I have a professional Bosch foam cutter. It is not a cheap tool by any stretch. It works very well for cutting, shaping and sculpting foam. In order to make a fitted, three dimensional insert I would want to build the thickness up with 1" foam. That way you can get the correct depth for each piece being stored in the case. Foam adhesives are excellent. The end result is one piece of foam. I often build seats that are 5" thick in places with 1" foam glued together using foam specific adhesives. There is a company out in Hillsboro that has a CNC machine that specializes in cutting foam for fitted tool cases. I think they would be an excellent place to call if you want it to be perfect lines and such. Their name escapes me right now though.

Can I ask about what you would charge to fit a rifle into a foam case for a customer, like we're talking about?

Originally Posted by billt

Can I ask about what you would charge to fit a rifle into a foam case for a customer, like we're talking about?

Well, this isn't my normal day-to-day thing. So... I think I'd do the first one for very little to get a feel for how to price it. In this economy adding a little diversity to what I do in my shop would be a very good thing. I'm very willing to look in to it if it is something people would want.

I used the electric carving knife too, worked great!