Foam sheets

[allen]

I want to get hold of some small sheets of hard foam to make shoe insoles - no thicker than 5mm, and maybe even less.

Any ideas (a) what it's called (is it pyrofoam or something similar?) and (b) who might sell it?

Ta.

A.

[rosyposy]

Hope you get some replies allen as we need some for the same reason. We tried for ages and ended up buying one of those garden kneeling pads at the £1 shop and cutting slices off it, took quite a while to do tho'. - rosy

[Pooka1950]

I'll be watching this question with interest too. The male members of this household have feet that are too big for conventional insoles and I have also wondered about the DIY route.

[The Builder]

I've looked at all the insulation products I use, Allen. 12mm seems to be the thinnest for foam board................

........ bit of a long shot, but you could cut these up ;o)

http://www.google.co....YHAAQ&ved=0CGUQ8wIwAQ

[tenrec]

If you require a lot of insoles, what about the stuff they make camping Karrimats from?

[EcclesCake]

What do you want the insoles to do?

[allen]

Purpose of the insoles: to change the height of a prosthetic limb by inserting various thicknesses of insole into the shoe. The leg is not the type that is easily adjusted, so doing it this way means that once I have the measurement cracked, I can go back to my prosthetist and say 'Right, let's try making it 8mm higher' (or whatever).

The foam I'm talking about is used in orthotics for similar purposes.

Cutting up existing products sounds good, as long as they're not too thick to start with!


A.

[heathfield]

If it's only for a height adjustment test, why not use something like cardboard, adding or subtracting layers to get it just right?

[woofgang]

in craft shops they sell sheets of stuff called funky foam which might do the trick, its cheap too. Is fairly firm but moulds with heat and you can cut it with scissors. Amazon have it
http://www.amazon.co....ef=pd_sl_4i18nff03s_e

[allen]

Cardboard compresses fairly quickly - the sort of 'solid' foam I'm looking for retains most of its thickness, even under weight, and you'd want to be walking around for a day or two to get a good result.

The funky foam looks a possibility, though.


A.

[heathfield]

It's true that corrugated cardboard would compress too easily. I was thinking more along the lines of the solid type of cardboard that, e.g., shoe boxes are made from.

[allen]

Right, with your help and a lot of Googling, here is the answer.

(Pooka1950, please note)

The company is
http://www.sevillacomponents.co.uk/products

And the product we want seems to be:

http://www.sevillacom...sheeting-beigenatural

It is eva foam sheets, code A40, and comes in thicknesses from 3 to 12mm

Smashing people, very helpful - they sent us 3 foot-shaped samples of 3 different grades (which might even do the job as they are). Per sheet (which is a big sheet, about a metre square) it can be about £20 depending on thickness, but you'd get a lot of insoles out of one sheet.


Allen.