# Great stuff handywork



## raymondsmindjob (Feb 4, 2011)

Due to the expansive and somewhat unpredicatable nature of great stuff spray foam I have found myself always needing to trim it or sand at it with my rotary tool. This has not been nearly as easy as I would have liked it to be.
What is the easiest way to sand, file, or control the great stuff.


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## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

X-Acto knife works wonders for me.


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## nurse3766 (Apr 8, 2010)

i like to use a Ginsu knife hehe

put it on in thin layers.


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## JasonE (Feb 7, 2011)

I just finished my GS background. I started out carving with razor blades, but then read the back of the can. It suggests a serrated blade. Grabbed an old steak knife and away I went. The serrated knife carves GS like butter, and it's way easier to carve out large areas.


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## Marty (Feb 27, 2004)

I tried a hack saw blade, but it didn't go too well and it was hard...Fortunately I had the Ronco Rotisserie. Long carving blade works great!


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## chinoanoah (Mar 9, 2009)

marty, that looks legit!


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## raymondsmindjob (Feb 4, 2011)

Hypothecially I was going to sculpt a waterfall from great stuff, the serrated knife is a great tip. I tried sandpaper it gets nowhere, my rotary tool does work well but kicks up dust everywhere.
Has anyone tried sculpting files? I think they would work best for what I want to do, but I don't want to invest in them if they are going to suck for this task.


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## Marty (Feb 27, 2004)

Buy a Ronco rotissarie - set it and forget it...hehe. It's easy when you have a piece that you can handle. If you're sculpting a wall in the viv, you may need to get a bit inventive. I also use forceps and tear little chunks out. Makes for a neat effect too.


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## Vagabond324 (Jan 13, 2011)

Marty, your Rock looks fantastic, nice work, what did you coat it with? Now a couple of tools that I use to work with foam are a hot knife and and another tool that looks like a pencil type soldering iron but holds a bendable wire in it that you can shape to make different types of cuts, I also have a foam cutting table that I use in my RC model airplane hobby that cuts sheet goods to shape. I have also used a Wellers soldering gun, the kind that looks like a gun and has a trigger, light and has a wire tip with two ends that connect to the gun by nuts and then meet at a tip, by using light gage solid electrical wire you can shape the tip into whatever shape you need to make your cuts. hope that might give you all a few ideas as to somethings you can do. There's lots of good info on the web for foam cutting. Oh yes, one other tool that works great is the electric carving knife, I used that for many years on my modeling dioramas between the turkeys and hams. Happy Frogging, Jon


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