Entertainment center

[foamcarver]

I am wondering if I would be able to make an emtertainment center out of eps foam. Coated with concrete and painted or coated with epoxy. would the design I have be sturdy enough to hold a television?? It will be one big piece. With the other machine we have can cut a big piece like this.
thanks
Nikki
nicole@foamcarver.com (mailto:nicole@foamcarver.com)

2336
the dimensions are 66inches in height 49 inches across and has a depth of 27 inches.

[patricktoomey]

Mark, I might try it with my TV but somebody else's would scare me. Also if there are little kids in the house that could get crushed by it if it fails that would scare me too. Having said that, I think that if you recess a piece of 3/4" plywood in the base that the TV would sit on, I think it would hold. I'm assuming that this would be one giant block in the end and that it would be totall solid from under the tv to the floor all the way from front to back? EPS foam seems to be very bad with shearing forces but very good with compression forces if the load is spread out by a rigid layer like plywood.

[jsfrost]

An interesting concept Nikki,

I would not give up on the idea without considering the possible problems and solutions. Patrick's idea sounds like it could help.

Since the foam is a good insulator heat dissapation needs some thought. Is there enough airspace in the design to allow the TV to stay cool?

Jim Frost

[jhicks]

Mark, I'm with Patrick on this one. Some suitable and stable material inserted into/between/below the surface finish like wood, aluminum, perhaps even expanded PVC as support "shelving" would most likely work depending on the final weight of the unit. Not sure if you must put the component rack above or not but if you put it below and created a double shelf with the final substrate, it might make it a more robust design vs the hanging shelf concept.
Definately would consider heat, air flow, and electrical wiring ports to insure no overheating, fires, or high temp exposure to the foam. Plus a slide plate or drawer slide type mechanism with a shelf so one can insert the components without scoring the plastics when one slides it into or out of the cabinet.
Interesting idea. Hope you work it out and post photos. In the end it does sound like some advance testing would be appropriate.

[beacon14]

The shelf suspended from the top of the opening scares me. Even with very little weight it will sag badly and could break suddenly - thin sections of foam have little tensile strength.

Maybe impale a couple of square steel tubes or wood dowels through the sides of the unit, left to right, one near the front, one near the back, to support (or instead of) the foam shelf.

[bcammack]

I would create the internal area as a 3/4" ply box structure and carve a recess in the foam about an inch behind the front fascia, sliding the box into that space from behind.

Same goes for the hanging shelf. Make the foam just a face-frame for a 3/4" ply shelf properly affixed to the inside of the main ply box.

[foamcarver]

Thanks for all your ideas. The plywood box would be a better option, how would I attach it to the foam? I never thought about the heat. There would be about 2 1/2 inches on each side of the tv. Do you think that would be enough airspace to allow the tv to properly stay cool?

Again thanks for all your ideas. If this goes further than a design I'll post more pictures.

Thanks
Nikki

[patricktoomey]

Jerry has a good point about fire, EPS is some super nasty stuff if it starts to burn. I would recommend painting the whole thing with intumescent paint such as this...
http://www.contegointernational.com/products_3.cfm

or applying a self extinguishing fire stopping agent like the one here...
http://www.flamestop.com/html/fr_iii.html

The intumescent paint linked to in the first link above is a latex based paint that, when exposed to high heat puffs up into a foamy fire retardant layer. I have many surfaces in my workshop including my spray boot walls and ceiling coated with the stuff and I'v tested it on scrap plywood, it's like magic. You can hold a blow torch to a piece of wood coated with it for a very long time before it will burn through and get to the wood.

[foamcarver]

Patrick, have you tried this stuff? I watched the video for slamestop and that is really neat. I'll have to get some. Thanks

Thanks Nikki

[patricktoomey]

I haven't tried the FlameStop product but I have read many good reviews about it. I have used the intumescent paint which works differently. Apparently the FlameStop stuff is primarily for things it can penetrate such as fabric and wood. But the product I linke to there is an additive that can be put into latex paint so it would work over foam. They recommend 2 coats over foam. I know the intumescent stuff works great. I say lay down a layer of FlameStop and then cover that with intumescent paint then you can barbeque in that thing

[foamcarver]

They both seem good. I might have to get some and try em.

[foamcarver]

I have made some changes to the intial design. How's this looking? On the inside of the cut out there will be 3/4" wood and to help support it there will be 5 2" PVC pipes.

Thanks
Nikki
2337

[artisan]

Mark, we obviously create a lot of the same types of things after looking at your website. As long as the plywood insert sits squarely on the PVC pipes, allowing them to carry the load, you should have no problems. Also....I'm assuming you are meshing and browncoating all the foam? If you spray it with Zinnser water based shellac, you can then epoxy or fiberglass over any suspect sections. The zinnser will block any solvent based products such as fiberglass from reaching your foam through the browncoat. Be sure and add a board to the top if you plan to use it as a shelf....good luck....D

[foamcarver]

Darrell, yes we will be putting mesh and browncoat on.

The more I think about this, the more worried I get. I have a son that's almost 2 and he will be running around our house. With the weight of the wood, the pipes, the browncoating and the tv will it be sturdy enough so it won't fall over?

Thanks again for all your help I really appreciate it.

Thanks
Nikki

[bcammack]

In California they'd tell you to tie it to the wall with some straps or a chain. You could do something similar I suppose. Perhaps some unobtrusive picture wire lanyards to mollys in the wall behind to keep the unit from approaching a tipping point.

[patricktoomey]

Nikki, I have a 2 year old also and she likes to figure out how to climb up stuff. I've had to put "L" brackets on every shelf and piece of furniture that could possibly tip over. I've got to be honest, I think it would be safe but I probably still wouldn't do it in my house with my baby running around without adding some additional safeties like cabling the TV to the wall and bracketing the entertainment center to the wall in addition so that no single failure could let it fall.

What about a possibly simpler solution like cutting parts for a complete plywood unit and then dressing it in a foam shell? That way you have the foam decorative layer but also a simple but very strong and stable core.