heat gun use?

[Victor Slade]

so the other day i got ahold of a heat gun, and i thought i could use it to some degree in foamsmithing.
1) it bends pvc * good, alot easier than filling it with boiling water,
same durability problems, but its pvc. i dont expect it to last long.
2) when i use ducttape on the flats of my blades for extra wieght/durability, ive carefully heated the ducttape to a point were it kindof melts onto the flat. guessing its added some durability? only time will tell
3) also on a loaner sword we've got, i used the heat gun to melt the blade layers together. its seems to have worked fine without messing with the dap's ability to hold the layers together. also hits a little more solid.

i guess what im asking is pretty much if anyone has done this before, what the result has been. or some educated estimates of the future durability from the veteran foam smithers


thanks
-victor slade-

[Caleidah]

The only thing I can see a heat gun doing to a foam weapon is melting the foam, collapsing the cells and making it hit like a piece of plastic. That said, I'm sure it has its uses. Just be sure to use it carefully and not overheat the foam.

[Cade]

bending PVC...sure that would work.

I'd be hesitant to use it on foam personally. Melted foam tends to develop sharp edges.

You might find a better use for a heat gun on something like leather if your shaping and molding. I can see that being real handy.

[Richard le Gris]

I have it on good authority that you can laminate blue foam by heating it until the skin turns shiny then sticking it together, but sadly the fellow who told me this didn't tell me how it affected how the foam hit or the durability. I'd try it on a small coreless shield first, but that's me. I'd imagine there are downsides, otherwise this would be used more as heatguns are not too expensive.

[varadin]

I have it on good authority that you can laminate blue foam by heating it until the skin turns shiny then sticking it together, but sadly the fellow who told me this didn't tell me how it affected how the foam hit or the durability. I'd try it on a small coreless shield first, but that's me. I'd imagine there are downsides, otherwise this would be used more as heatguns are not too expensive.

you know blue foam burning is toxic right?

[Loptr]

My Bel teardrop is laminated in this manner. has lasted many years with no ill effect.

I alsue use the heat gun to gently accelerate the drying of DAP on colder days.

L

[Arrakis]

Why not just DAP it together?

[Richard le Gris]

you know blue foam burning is toxic right?

While I have no doubt that heating blue foam until its physical structure is altered and it becomes tacky will off-gas and release VOCs, this isn't the same as proper combustion, and you're not going to get the SVOCs or the physical byproducts of combustion.

Also, you overlook the fact that I have not done this, and would have to be really bored/desperate to do this. The idea merely amuses me, but my brain is not yet so addled by deleterious organic compounds that I'm gonna start toking up on foam...and when I do devolve to that point there are so many other bad ideas that would be substantially more amusing.

Like http://youtu.be/TSU1jQoGIqo which I am too stupid to properly embed ><

[Black Cat]

you know blue foam burning is toxic right?

While I have no doubt that heating blue foam until its physical structure is altered and it becomes tacky will off-gas and release VOCs, this isn't the same as proper combustion, and you're not going to get the SVOCs or the physical byproducts of combustion.

Also, you overlook the fact that I have not done this, and would have to be really bored/desperate to do this. The idea merely amuses me, but my brain is not yet so addled by deleterious organic compounds that I'm gonna start toking up on foam...and when I do devolve to that point there are so many other bad ideas that would be substantially more amusing.

Like http://youtu.be/TSU1jQoGIqo which I am too stupid to properly embed ><

While we are on the subject of researching, developing, and/or alpha-testing unconventional zombie warfare weaponry:



Though this kind of stuff in the video would really only work if all you have to do to kill a zombie is significantly disturb the brain matter. Otherwise, it would all be fairly useless.

[Richard le Gris]

I seriously want to make the gatling slingshot, but modify it to shoot Bel legal crossbow bolts...

[Black Cat]

I seriously want to make the gatling slingshot, but modify it to shoot Bel legal crossbow bolts...

Belegarth Archery, Van Helsing style.

LOL

[Fuegan]

I'm intrigued by this "heat gun lamination method" for making shields, and have a few questions:
1) do the joining sides both need to be heated, if so how do you ensure an even melt to avoid air pockets?
2) would it work better if you scored the joining edges with 65 grit sandpaper to eliminate the "skin"
I've been playing with stacking blue foam to make coreless shields for a few months now and the best method I've found is to use super 77 on both sides and then take a rolling pin to the * to remove the air pockets, but this heat gun **** sounds much better.

[Old Horse]

Basically what you do is melt the top layer of the foam so it sticks to another piece of foam. It works decently for shields but it does lose elasticity so I don't think it would work very well on weapons.

The heat gun works best to accelerate the drying process when applying contact cement. You apply the heat evenly until the glue stops looking shiny (if bubbles appear, you went too far). You can glue two pieces of foam in under 3 minutes instead of the 15-20 it takes to dry normally.

Be careful when bending PVC. The heat gun does work but it makes the PVC brittle.
Shattered PVC is rather sharp.