The Sewing Place

Cutting upholstery foam

Skater’sMum

Cutting upholstery foam
« on: March 22, 2022, 15:10:32 PM »
My friends would like me to make them a front sun pad for their boat. 

I haven’t found anywhere in the region of Spain I live in that I can buy custom cut foam. I can order square/rectangular foam and thought I would shape it myself.

That’s the big problem I have  :thinking: what tools do I need. Looking online some say specialist foam cutter, others say electric knife and there was even a suggestion to use a jigsaw!!!

I feel sure there is someone on this site who has experience and can offer sound advice and guidance - PLEASE
Enjoying retirement in the sunshine ☀️ 😁 ☀️

maliw

Re: Cutting upholstery foam
« Reply #1 on: March 22, 2022, 15:18:18 PM »
I was going to suggest and electric knife, I've never used one for that but I'm sure I've seen it done somewhere. There are videos on youTube - I've just checked.
At leisure on the leisure penninsula

Iminei

Re: Cutting upholstery foam
« Reply #2 on: March 22, 2022, 15:27:49 PM »
I dont know what its called properly but a 'hot knife'
The Imperfect Perfectionist sews again

Greybird

Re: Cutting upholstery foam
« Reply #3 on: March 22, 2022, 15:34:56 PM »
I have experience of cutting it. All dreadful! I have tried scissors, stanley knife and electric carving knife. I'm afraid I haven't had much success with any of them. The best thing for me was to leave it in it's squared off state and pull a layer of lining fabric very tightly over it before stapling in place, which had the effect of rounding off the sharp edges. Sorry not to be more helpful. If you are going to have a go at cutting it, I would get an extra piece to practice on first.

Ellabella

Re: Cutting upholstery foam
« Reply #4 on: March 22, 2022, 16:01:00 PM »
A lot depends on the thickness of the foam.

Seating foam I do with a Stanley knife, making sure to keep the cut square, tricky but doable. I recently cut a 5cm memory foam pad with scissors.

You won’t get a neat edge but all will be hidden inside the cushion cover

Ploshkin

Re: Cutting upholstery foam
« Reply #5 on: March 22, 2022, 16:11:29 PM »
I've done it with a sharp bread knife - not following the cutting line in one go but taking off small wedges with a straight cut to achieve the shape.  Not pretty but fine once covered.
Life's too short for ironing.

Goth Gardiner

Re: Cutting upholstery foam
« Reply #6 on: March 22, 2022, 16:39:31 PM »
The one time I needed to do this I used a scalpel.
There's no workman, whatsoever he be, That may both work well and hastily

Kwaaked

Re: Cutting upholstery foam
« Reply #7 on: March 23, 2022, 06:57:20 AM »
I have a hot knife from Harbor Freight, "foam hot knife" might be an easier search for you since what I have and links won't do any good in Europe.

The long bladed ones tend to bend to easily; mine is a little under 6 inches, the upholstery place I know of uses one n the 5" range.

Depends on how many segments you need to have...2 or 3 and how many you are going to make if a hot knife is a good investment for your project.

You can buy rolls of the stuff without needing to cut the entire pad out, and most sun pads are 1-1.5 inches.  A serrated blade should do fine for cuts that are just the width of the pad (electric or not), or a band saw will do this sort of cut quickly if you are only needing a few cuts overall. 

Skater’sMum

Re: Cutting upholstery foam
« Reply #8 on: March 26, 2022, 00:21:42 AM »
Thank you for your suggestions and experiences - it is certainly an eye opener for me
Enjoying retirement in the sunshine ☀️ 😁 ☀️

grannysyb

Re: Cutting upholstery foam
« Reply #9 on: April 14, 2022, 19:08:51 PM »
I've always used an electric carving knife, my friend gave one, a wedding present in 1969, and never used!