Finally, after gleaning advise from this list for so long, I can offer some, as
I
have done more than my fair share of upholstery through the years.
The heated coathanger will work, but it will quickly lose its heat and could
become imbedded in the foam. Then you have to go at it with a razor knife to get
the wire out. If you try this, do it in a well ventilated area, as the fumes
from
burning foam can be pretty nasty, (Makes carb cleaner seem like air freshener)
The electric knife works well for shaping, just use a technique that takes off a
little at a time, rather than trying to cut the shape in one pass. Small
imperfections in the rough shaping don't really matter, in conventional
upholstery, the foam shape is covered with a layer of soft cotton batting. For
cars, I use a very thin sheet of polyurethane foam over everything before the
final cover is fitted. Use a dense foam, and you can take a couple of stitches
in
it and then a little hot melt to hold it while you fit the cover in place.
Cotton
batting would work, but I would only consider it in a GT, but it tends to smell
pretty bad when it gets wet.
xyzabcde@earthlink.net wrote:
> Re: "Sorbathane"
>
> Dave Ambrose said,
>
> > if you needed it in some curvaceous shape, it
> > had to be molded that way. It may also be available in sheets.
>
> I haven't tried this, but I've been told that foam can be cut into curvaceous
> shapes with a heated coat hanger bent into the required curve. Straight cuts
> are best done with an electric carving knife.
>
> Denise Thorpe
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