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Hi Mark, I was interested in getting hold of it & did a heap of emailing a year or two ago. Someone in Melbourne advertises they carry it, but never replied. Ditto someone in Sydney. I think both mean that they can get it in as a special order from USA if you'll pay them enough. It's hard to say, when they don't reply.
Then there's Danthonia Designs at Inverell- Joe McKernan has it & does really lovely work carving it. I mean REALLY nice designs & workmanship. From the dozen or two jobs I've seen they seem to carve & gild the letters, and finish the background in a dark colour, with a satin/semigloss finish, not a glossy one.
They'll sell you some, (Joe gave me a price for a job I was quoting on for an architect's bid in 2003, which I failed to get anyhow), but you'll have to get an updated price, plus freight.
Alternately, Gail Beattie was using an aircraft foam which was a high density blue foam, at the letterheads meet we had at Hervey Bay in 1999 (?). It carved well to me who had never done that stuff before. I kept some offcuts & used them last month to carve a horse's head for a stud sign. I also jerry-rigged a hot wire cutter with a bit of nichrome wire, some plywood, a vice, and an el-cheapo 2 amp battery charger. It worked fine. I used a hot air gun to heat an old silver fork, to drag along the foam for further texture. Most of the 'carving' I did with a tungsten bit in an air-powered die gringer, finishing with a scalpel & sandpaper.
It may have been a refrigeration foam Gail used, but aircraft rings a bell somewhere in my head. Anyhow I'm a beginner at this but it was fun. Let us know your successes please!
-------------------- "Stewey" on chat
"...there are no limits when you aim for perfection..." Jonathan Livingston Seagull Posts: 7014 | From: Highgrove via Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia | Registered: Dec 2002
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Hey Mark, We supply HDU in the US and Canada. We had had several talks with larger suppliers to service Australia. If you have someone there that is a large sign supply distributor we would love to talk to them about it. As far as using the blue insulation foam, without a hard coat of urethane, epoxy or gelcoat it is not very durable for long term outdoor use. And Ian you can cut and shape the blue foam (styrefoam) with various burning techniques including the hotwire you made. As far as HDU, you CANNOT use any burning method at all. It does not matter who the manufacture is, do not use a hotwire, lazer, torch or anything else that burns. HDU becomes toxic when burned. Any cutting, routing or carving tools are fine. John Meeks Everwood, HDU
-------------------- John P Meeks The Sign Shoppe, Inc. Everwood 200 Brozzini Ct. Greenville, SC 29615 864-275-5140 Posts: 44 | From: Greenville, SC | Registered: Oct 2004
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Hi John, I believe if you contacted Supply One in Australia, they would be interested as they have branches in the three major states. Their Sydney office would be the best place to start: Supply One Unit 5/44 Boorea St., Lidcombe, N.S.W. 2141 Phone 02 9649 1000. May be worth a go.
-------------------- Drane Signs Sunshine Coast Nambour, Qld. dranesigns@bigpond.com Downunder "To err is human, but to really foul things up requires a computer" Posts: 965 | From: Nambour, Qld. Australia | Registered: Nov 1998
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Thanks for the replies, I am building a new house and want to do a fancy name sign I am keen to do something classy with sign foam, it would not be very big approx 250mm x 600mm. Rene would you be able to price something for me?
-------------------- Mark Stokes Mark Stokes Signs Mount Barker South Australia Posts: 388 | From: Mount Barker | Registered: Jan 2005
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