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I was HHG gluing some .050" ebony veneer to the inside of the upper bout for a sound port backing and was thinking of a quick way to make a clamping caul for it. I remembered back to my Discus fish breeding days when I used styrofoam under the aquariums to level them out from uneven surfaces. So I bent the veneer on the Ibex and I glued a piece of Styrofoam to a piece of wood and clamped it up. Perhaps this might come in handy for some other things. I understand this might not work in a situation where a lot of pressure is needed for a long time because the foam will compress and conform to the shape and may loose the clamping pressure. But it seems to work in this case.

After one hour the strofoam conformed to the shape but it was long enought to let the glue set and hold. But I wonder if this might have possibilities for making contour sanding blocks? Some food for thought and something to play around with I guess.

Works great, that's how I do my soundport reinforcements. They can be shaped but, like you, I leave 'em a little flatter to be sure and get the edges down good.

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Wes McMillian
Santo, TX
http://www.wesmcmillian.com

The fact that it conformed to the shape I thought was the advantage of not needing to shape it. I just cut a 2" piece in half on the bandsaw and didn't really shape it any. I think it looks that way because i clamped it once before I took the picture of it. But it's nice to see that great minds think alike.

I have been using styro cauls for decades for sanding blocks, they are really fast for making a profile as in any shape moulding. I now use them in guitar work when sanding areas like the sides at the waste and at the neck heel.
Mike McNerney

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Mike McNerney

I have seen some relatively dense and strong styrofoam. The carpet cleaner used blocks of this to set the furnature legs on until the rug dried.

In the first article I read years ago on vacuum clamping bridges, the method included making exact fitting styrofoam cauls with a two-part mix that generated the styrofoam.

Well, am I at least the first one to post this tip on the forum?

I use the styrofoam blocks the carpet cleaners put under the legs of your furniture.
It's a little more dense and It's better than just throwing them away.

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Say what you do, Do what you say.

Yeah,same here . I like using these for sanding blocks too.

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

I'm guessing that to make a contour shape from a dense piece of styrofoam you can attach sandpaper to the contour and sand the shape into the foam?