I need to go grab some foam for a telescope accessory case and a box I bought to store away part of my telescope. Before I go I just wanted to ask on here if anyone knows roughly how much a cut of custom foam would cost and will I be able to cut out my own shapes? The case is 385mmx235mmx75mm and the box is 340mmx250mmx180mm.
I recently did a similar thing. I bought this case which is 466W x 355D x 160H (mm).
I needed two layers of foam as one layer was not thick enough to fill the bottom half of the case. It cost me $60 (or $30 per layer). It is very good quality, strong foam.
The cheaper, soft, floppy stuff absorbs water (like a sponge!) and doesn’t hold its shape very well.
The more expensive (chemically blown?) stuff is more rigid, easier to cut, holds its shape, doesn’t absorb water and has suitable shock absorbing properties.
I bought my foam from Clark Rubber about 3 years ago for about $50. It is a high quality material, dark charcoal in colour, and cuts very accurately to shape. It has served its purpose brilliantly, it looks as good as the day I bought it.
I have quite a large eyepiece case, it is quite deep. They had to supply the material in two sheets, one is thicker than the other. I put the thinner sheet at the bottom, below the cut line, and the thicker sheet above, from which I cut the shapes of each of my eyepieces. It is absolutely perfect.
Yes, it's the dark grey foam you need, but it ain't cheap. To cut the holes for eyepieces, you can do quite a neat job by filing a sharp edge on the end of a bit of pipe the required size and twisting and pushing it into the foam. For rectangles, a serrated kitchen knife will work, just let the knife do the work, if you push too hard, the foam will distort and your nice straight cut becomes a ragged mess.
I recently had a cases made for my Ethos eyepieces and other accessories.
Note that the eyepieces don't have caps, as they are not needed, as this is a waterproof case and they fit snugly into their recess. Besides, I hate dealing with caps in the dark, which is precisely why I did it this way. Also shown is the case for the binoculars, which also stores the Farpoint Optics binocular adapter (mounted with a multi-reticule finder). The FarPoint adapter is very nicely made.
These cases are fitted with "machined" inserts made from High Density foam.
The guy that made the cases, Image Alloy Cases in Kewdale WA, worked out the best way to fit everything in the case. This case has a dual layer, with the least used accessories stored underneath. The top layer has a rigid plastic backing with the two lift tabs attached to this and then glued to the High Density foam.
The cost of these cases, which includes sales tax, are as follows:
$250 for the accessory/eyepiece case, which includes the waterproof case and the two layer machined inserts.
$150 for the binocular case, which includes the waterproof case and the machined inserts.
Image Alloy cases also made my aluminium cases for my 80ED and my 8" SCT and combined only cost a grand, which included the machined HD inserts. Please note, on the aluminium cases, the reinforced corners, edges, heavy duty butterfly locks and recessed handles (there is also a recessed handle, not shown, at each end of the SCT case). All inserts are machined from high density foam.
Considering the cost of a Pelican case with "pluck" foam these prices are quite reasonable.The prices of these cases may seem high but they are a good insurance policy.
I went today and got one of the dark colour foams with the shape it yourself bits in it for only $18. Looks great and is very strong. For the box I got the cheaper foam and cut out the shape of my mount roughly which fits in nicely.
All the storage will be kept in-doors at all times. The mount is the one from the 130 SLT.
