Re-foaming a case.

[soundlight]

I recently got a Roland VK-09 electronic drawbar organ from my church because the sanctuary is being remodeled and the organ was not needed. Just for background: It was probably in the case for twenty years without being used.

The organ works fine. But the case that it was in is another story. On the outside, it looks like a nice road case. Good latches, sturdy handles, and good material. Open it up, and there is decaying green foam all over the place. It sticks to my hands and breaks up at a touch. It took me two hours with a rag, a toothbrush, some Bon Ami abrasive cleaner, and a towel to get all of the decaying foam off of the organ.

Now that I've got it, and I'm planning on teaching myself to play it pretty well, I would like to have a good case for it. I would like to re-foam the old one, but I don't know how to do this. Has anyone ever re-foamed a road case before? And, more importantly, if you have, how does one go about such a task?

[Teck]

My guess would be to buy peices of foam, cut them to the right shapes, and then use an adhesive to attach them to the inside of the case

[Chris15]

That would sound reasonable. You want to firstly remove all the perished foam. The trick is that when you get the new foam, you actually want it thicker than the case will allow so that it will provide firmer support and when the foam compresses it is not loose. Basically should stop vibration.

[kingfisher1]

If my memory of some long finished art project serves me right rubber cement worked much better then elmers' glue on closed cell foam. you might have to look around for an appropriate adhesive.

[MHSTech]

You're probably going to want to find some 3M spray adhesive for securing it.

[sound_nerd]

Get some proper case foam from a supplier, like Penn Fabrication or something. Use 3M 77 spray adhesive to attatch it to the inside of the road case. Let it sit, in open air circulation for a while and it'll be good as new.

[soundlight]

Thanks all! Do you have any advice on getting rid of the old foam? Blast it out with a water hose (questionable technique with my plywood case)? Just straight up pull it out with gloves? Any other suggestions?

[Chris15]

I would suggest a paint scraper.

[MHSTech]

If you have trouble getting any residue off, use PB Blaster. I will help get the stuff off easily, it might even eat the foam.

[audioslavematt]

There are a lot of solvents out there that will eat right through the foam. Just make sure you have good ventilation when you use them, or you might have a bad time.