How to Make Foam Insert for Your Firearm?

Gun owners know of the importance of properly securing and storing their firearms. Storing your gun in its case is one way to keep it safe and secure. You can opt for a lockable hard-shell case, this is a choice for hassle free transporting firearm however a one size fits all hard plastic case does not always properly secure your firearm, a foam insert cut to the size of the your specific firearm is the preferred solution. In this article you will learn how to create your own custom foam inserts at home.

Where to Start?

You can start by getting a proper case for your gun and its accessories. You can search online or you can visit your local gun dealer to help you in the selection process. We recommend cases from manufacturers such as Pelican Products or Hardigg. When selecting a case, make sure there is enough space and the case allows the foam inserts along with the gun to fit properly. Later you can cut the form inserts to give the desired fitting as per your firearm.

You can purchase the tool foam in various colors and densities to match your desired results when you are designing the layout for the gun case. Moreover, the quality of the foam also matters. Think about purchasing good quality foam which is durable and long lasting, the primary decision criteria should be how often you use your firearm. There are several things which you are supposed to consider when designing a layout like, how often you use it? How often you are travelling with that? If you are going for camps on a regular basis, then water resistance foam will serve you better. You will find different types of tool control foam sheets, which will cater to your individual requirements. Use a high density foam like our 6lb dense sheets if you are planning on regularly removing and inserting your firearm. The cost is higher but it will last much longer, for occasional use a 4lb foam or even the “pick and pluck” foam would likely suffice. 

How to Get the Firm Fit?

You will not get precise results unless you properly prepare and practice your foam cutting, we recommend practicing on scrap foam. After making the outline of your firearm, use an x-acto knife, utility knife, razor blade, or hot knife to make the cuts. You can also purchase a plunge router, which you can use in making form inserts for your tools as well as other items. Please wear proper safety equipment when using the aforementioned tools.

When you will trace the gun and make an outline on the foam, this will be bigger than your actual firearm. You should cut the foam from the inner side of your outline to get a slightly smaller size. This will ensure that your foam will hold the gun properly. (foam cut outs)

How to cut tool control foam. A step by step guide for cutting tool foam and the individual tool cut outs within your foam

Doing your own tool control foam cut outs may seem intimidating, although it shouldn’t be. We have prepared these instructions to help you cut your tool foam. You’ll be cutting tool foam like a pro in no time if you follow these instructions!

You will need the following tools: straight edge, tape measure, heat gun, utility knife. Optional tools that will make the process of cutting tool control foam faster include: plunge router, circular saw, hot knife, and carpenters square.

Step one: Take your measurements of your toolbox or workbench that you would like the tool foam to fit on or in. The goal is to not have space on the sides so measure to within 1/8”. 

Step two: Cut your tool control foam to the drawer size. You have three choices:

1)      The first is using your straight edge or square you can cut a template out of cardboard, plexiglass, or some other easy to work with material. Drill a hole in it and use a pin or other noninvasive item to hold the template in place while you cut the tool foam to your drawer size.

2)      Your second choice is to mark the tool foam with your desired drawer size and using your circular saw with guide cut a straight line. This is really only feasible if you have a good work surface. If your work surface is the ground, go with #1 or #3.

3)      Your third choice is to mark the tool foam with your desired drawer size and using your utility knife or hot knife cut a straight line with your straight edge or square aiding you in keeping the drawer square. 

Step three: You can cut your shapes out in a couple different ways, its up to you as what works best for you.

1)      You can use a sharpie and trace the tools on the tool control foam in their desired locations, once in their location use the hot knife, plunge router or utility knife to cut out the tools shape.

2)      You can use tracing paper to trace the tools, once traced you may lay the paper on the foam drawer, secure with tape, and cut through the paper and foam using your utility knife or hot knife. 

Step four: You will need to laminate the tool foam ½” layer onto the ¼” layer with no cut outs. You will want to practice on some scrap foam first. Heat the foam with the heat gun until it is tacky. Once tacky, quickly place against another piece of foam and hold momentarily. Within seconds the foam will be bonded. The principle is the same for laminating drawers only in this case you will be placing the top layer on the bottom layer and starting at one side heating up the foam in a sweeping motion from side to side while applying pressure to the top layer of foam creating a “sandwich” effect on the foam. Continue until you have laminated the drawer from side to side, apply pressure as you heat the top layer and smooth on the bottom.  

Step five: Place the tool foam in your drawer or in your tool control kit and insert tools. Your tool foam is now ready to use.

Organize your tools by creating custom foam tool inserts

People in maintenance environments depend on a wide variety of tools and products to get their job completed on time. This array of tools required coupled with the increasing requirements and reduced manpower in today’s workplace pushes a necessary gain in productivity per maintenance employee.

The challenge is finding ways to increase productivity, purchasing the right tools for the job is one way of increasing productivity, another is utilizing custom tool foam inserts.

Every minute a maintenance worker spends searching for a misplaced tool is a wasted minute. It is not uncommon for a worker to spend five or more minutes trying to find a tool, it is also not uncommon for a worker to travel to a jobsite on the facility to discover a tool he thought he had was not actually on his cart.

By using tool foam purchased in tool foam sheets or having it custom cut to his specific requirements enables the worker to have “at a glance” assurance that he has the tools needed to complete his task.

Consider this analysis, if the employee’s burden labor rate is $50 dollars per hour and he spends $5 minutes looking for tools for each task, that equates to $4.16 in additional cost. If that employee completes five tasks per day, the total daily cost of searching for tools is $20.83. In a five day work week it costs $104.16 which equates to $416.66 per month per employee and $5000 dollars per year per employee in lost productivity. 

The question this begs is, can you afford not to streamline your maintenance activities with tool foam?

Benefits of Using a Tool Foam Organizer

Since the early 1980’s, tool control has been playing an ever expanding role in maintenance functions within the aerospace industry. What originated in aerospace has been expanding into other industries including commercial maintenance through the growing need to increase productivity while streamlining operations. 

Lean Six Sigma and lean manufacturing rely upon streamlined operations to reduce the amount of time technicians spend trying to locate missing tools. Utilizing our tool foam within toolboxes and on workbenches allows for the instant recognition of a missing tool, this recognition facilitates the immediate urgency of locating the missing tool to ensure the tool is not in a “deliverable” product to the customer nor in a place that could cause damage to something like an engine.

We make creating tool foam inserts and foam for toolboxes easy, we can guide you through the process of tracing, cutting, and laminating using an adhesive or heat. 

Toolbox Shadowing Foam

It is much easier to find missing tools when your toolbox foam has a bold background,making every tool have its own place. When a tool is missing, the bold background will help you to identify it then and there. 

Shadowing Foam

Tool foam offers a contrasting color background with a ½” thick or greater piece of darker foam over a ¼” or 1/8” thick piece of lighter color. The color combination makes it easier to organize your tools and notice a missing tool at first glance. Your employees can check the toolbox quickly and easily. This rapid identification facilitates maintenance and reduces downtime.