Boxes

[Steve]

Has anyone suggestions for small styrofoam (or any other foam plastic) box?

I've got these: - but I'm looking for something smaller. 

The box on the left came from HobbyCraft - but I don't think they do them any more.  The box on the right is from Gü ice cream and likewise I don't think they make this type any more.

    Steve

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[David Akerman]

How many do you need?  I have several of the Hobbycraft ones.

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[Mika Köching]

If you want to go really small, try pipe insulation. Very light weight and it seems to work quite well though I have only tested it once yet.

This stuff. There are quite a few sizes and I use the ones for cold water pipes.

[Nick McCloud]

On Wednesday, 3 September 2025 at 18:20:01 UTC+1 Mika Köching wrote:

If you want to go really small, try pipe insulation. Very light weight and it seems to work quite well though I have only tested it once yet.

Another cool idea - keep them coming Mika!

For the 2m Beacon I trimmed down one of your smaller rectangular boxes with a hot wire plus UHU POR expanded polystyrene glue to put it back together (the official stuff for gluing them, doesn't turn it in to chemical bubble that ends up with the HazMat team) with some masking tape. I've also carved up several of your larger boxes - usually to remove the corner to then match it up with another corner to make a very small box. Will try out just using a sharp knife as the hot wire can 'wobble' and not always give a clean cut. 

Amazon has a blizzard of options - packaging for mugs may fulfill your requirements.

[Steve]

Thanks all - I decided to get the POR glue out and make a box out of  5mm Styrofoam sheet.  I used the paper faced variety - but removed the paper (which adds significantly to the weight) - just a 10 min soak in IPA.

Cutting with a craft knife was OK - but the blade seemed to dull after a few cuts.

I'm still looking for something better.

In the past I have CNC routed blue XPS building insulation foam - it gives a great professional looking result - boxes can be bespoke as you like - with locating pockets for the electronics and batteries - the downside is the XPS is a bit denser than normal polystyrene (but a bit more durable).  Producing the cutting file is a bit of a pain as is the actual cutting process takes time and creates a lot of fine XPS dust.

    Steve

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[Nick McCloud]

Looking good!

On Thursday, 4 September 2025 at 14:12:38 UTC+1 Steve wrote:

Cutting with a craft knife was OK - but the blade seemed to dull after a few cuts.

Tough choices - get through blades but have nice smooth cuts, use hot wire and end up with wavy cuts,  I must try the hot stick option the wire cutter has - it creates a lot of fumes but can't wobble anywhere near as much as the wire does!

[Mark Jessop]

These kinds of machines work well - https://www.amazon.com.au/Cutter-Styrofoam-Cutting-Machine-Working/dp/B0BW48PWKG

I have a more homebrew version of that kind of thing, and I have good success manufacturing boxes out of foam sheet using it.

It's a matter of figuring out your required box dimensions, then cutting the appropriate sized rectangles to make a box. Usually done by cutting the sheet into strips with one of the dimensions, then re-setting the wire cutter for the other dimensioning and cutting the strips into the final required size.

The pieces then get assembled together initially with double sided tape, then reinforced with fibreglass strapping tape.

I've used this technique for my boxes for quite a few years now, and they've all been very robust. You do end up being limited to pretty basic shapes, so all my payloads ending up looking pretty much the same (a white foam box), but with somewhat different dimensions.

Some photos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/PMxxSinvRMfgYxGq8

73

Mark VK5QI

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