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Tried a cheap heat gun on EVA foam instead of my usual method and the seams did something weird
Back when I started building foam armor around 2017, everyone on the old forums swore by a heat gun for shaping. I picked up a $19 one at Harbor Freight last week to speed up a Mandalorian chest plate, and the seams on my 5mm EVA started bubbling up like little blisters after about 20 seconds of heat. I used contact cement like always, waited the full 24 hours, and it still rippled along every glued edge. Turns out my old heat gun had a wider nozzle and I was holding it about 6 inches away, but this cheap one puts out way more concentrated heat at close range. I ended up fixing it by reheating slowly from farther back and pressing the seams flat with a cold metal ruler. Learned the hard way that the tool matters as much as the technique when you're working with foam. Has anyone else had a nozzle shape totally change how their foam behaves?
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morganj819d ago
My buddy ran into the same thing with a 3mm foam build for a Star Wars helmet, and his cheap gun had a tiny nozzle that dumped heat right on the seam. He torched one edge in about 15 seconds and the contact cement let go, so he switched to a wider tip and kept it moving. That one change fixed it for him, so yeah, the nozzle makes a big difference.
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