Lining Ply - Alternatives

[SiteSurfer]

The thicker you go the less flexible it gets (and the possibilty of cracking it) - 2mm will bend really well but is a little fragile.

Foamex is not as good a substrate as acrylic but it easier to work with and cheaper. We used 3mm foamex to make lectern fronts that were probably a radius of 600mm, but thats pushing it a bit.

The main advantage of Foamex is its workability, you can carve it with a good knife, drill it, gently heat and bend it and I have had some good results with half cutting 90 degree external corners. And its cheap.

Do a google image search on Curved Foamex

 

[Ravi]

just how flexible the foamex can be? What sort of radius will it bend to?

As you can imagine, that depends on the thickness of the Foamex. I can't remember what mm width we used but I THINK it was 10 mm and it was much more bendable than ply. If you grab one of the advertising cut-outs in your local mall and give it a bend, (without getting arrested), you can test it out. ;-)

Someone mentioned the flammability of the Foamex, which is something that I had never considered, when we fitted it. Having said that, headlining is covered with foam, vinyl and glue which I suspect is even more flammable. I suspect that stuff would be enough to ignite plywood, let alone Foamex.

 

[SiteSurfer]

Someone mentioned the flammability of the Foamex, which is something that I had never considered, when we fitted it. Having said that, headlining is covered with foam, vinyl and glue which I suspect is even more flammable. I suspect that stuff would be enough to ignite plywood, let alone Foamex.

One of the reasons that the exhibition industry was almost forced to move towards Foamex as opposed to other substrates was that it has excellent flame rated characteristics. BS 476: Part 7: Class 1Y from a quick search, which essentially meant that we were 'ok' to use it at will in public spaces.