DIY Custom Inserts using EVA Foam and Lasers!

[@TN-ci4ox]

A cheap cabinet, some Eva foam and a laser One of those things is not like the others

[@rip.tear.]

haha! I was thinking the same

[@jefflove3049]

A laser cutter that costs USD$4,000

[@gerhardachrainer6116]

Yes, we also suffer from this issue. Where do we buy Eva foam...?

[@GlennPierce]

Yeah I looked it up after he said a little bit pricey. 4000 GBP is not far off what I paid for my car !

[@ericlotze7724]

But if it is in a community owned + run makerspace the per-user cost can go down! If you don't have a local makerspace, MAKE ONE (Also just "toolshares" )

[@marsgizmo]

that’s an excellent drawer organizer with EVA foam! 👌😎

[@josetheiii6729]

Wait... what... what are you doing overhere? Lol

[@timovanendt3287]

Lol your everywhere 😜😜

[@marsgizmo]

@@timovanendt3287 exactly 😁

[@marsgizmo]

@@josetheiii6729 hehe 😁

[@hubbleproductions8374]

I didn’t know you watch this guy

[@rpavlik1]

That's really cool. I'd definitely be all over that idea if I had a laser cutter. Don't think we missed that Frozen 2 Anna lunchbox in the back of that drawer... 😄❄️

[@3ExtraLives]

You don't need a laser cutter, lay out the items on the foam, out line them with a sharpie, take a box cutter or razor knife, cut the outlines, done. I've done it in my tool boxes using inserts from kaizen foam

[@anventia]

I never thought of using a ruler when scanning, great idea! I just measured the object afterwards and scaled it to that.

[@flymypg]

We have GOT to get Angus over 1M subs!

[@leighdonald1467]

Angus could begin by making more than one video a month, and maybe not looking like he just got out of bed might go a long way too.

[@matdowall]

@@leighdonald1467 shut up Meg.

[@BKMakes]

EVA foam + Laser = Massive inspiration. Thanks Angus, you're a champ!

[@ericlotze7724]

One of my many "backburner projects" is making Open Source "Pelican Cases". This solves the foam aspect !

[@rolfathan]

A solution for the stubby lenses: You adhere a fabric ribbon to the lower layer of foam, place the lens on top of the ribbon, with the ribbon sticking out the side. When you need it, pull up on the ribbon and the lens comes up with it.

[@bojangles5226]

or just dont cut the holes out for them on the bottom layer so they just simply sit higher.

[@loldma]

@@bojangles5226 or just look for the already cutout part and glue it back :D

[@marcelmais6430]

love how natural you show yourself. with those shorts and your hair. :p relatable. keep up the great content you provide. thumbs up! edit: empower your creativity through technology. also do know, YOU MATTER! :p

[@xureality]

my suggestion would be to have an area for charging batteries with two sides: keep flat batteries in one, and charged batteries in the other. That way you always know which are ready to go.

[@djrrmml7514]

Or discipline yourself and only put fully charged batteries back in the drawer.

[@xureality]

@@djrrmml7514 yeah, but you should have a designated area for uncharged batteries anyways. With as much batteries as he has it's very likely that at the end of the day (or a trip once we can go outside again) there will be a small pile of batteries waiting for the charger.

[@GumusZee]

A common photographer's trick: put flat batteries in one side up and charged batteries the other side up. You can even use stickers to mark "flat"/"charged" or color code for easy overview.

[@5Komma5]

Put a mark on one side, like a red dot and put empty ones in the other way around. Ret dot visible == ready to go.

[@neilgillies6943]

For rc lipos, I _always_ use an elastic band around charged batts - simples, not dependent on positional info 😁

[@AlfredoSequeida]

Nice! That's definitely more organized than before!

[@Archamfer]

I like your idea with the paper sketch and scanner, but i usually just put the object on the scanner with a ruler on 2 axis. You'll sometimes find on flatbed's that the x and y scale are different

[@MakersMuse]

huh good point, I didn't consider that could happen.

[@Archamfer]

@@MakersMuse Generally its not too bad, its more likely to be out in the slidey axis

[@mr702s]

Fusion 360 is the best, it's my favorite 3D design program by far.

[@edrcozonoking]

CATIA is best but not affordable for DIY.

[@make.anything]

This is one thing I'm most excited to try with my new laser! Thanks for the tips and inspo. Would 'engraving' work at all on EVA, or low power score lines? Or too melty??

[@MakersMuse]

Hmm with fast speed and low power it should work quite well!

[@kevincozens6837]

Nice way to help keep things organized. You can always store uncharged batteries by the charger. If you keep uncharged rechargables in the drawer then you can put them with connections up or down to indicate charged or not charged.

[@TheEdgeofTech]

Great video! I love this idea and I'm gonna have to make some of these now!!

[@renesysval]

Thanks for this Angus! It is brilliant! No more hand cutting slots for microphones and all my audio/ video parts. Still working out what laser cutter to get, but this is in my future!

[@MakersMuse]

They are seriously handy if you can justify the cost and space!

[@Xavier_Bouchard]

Really cool! If you dont have any other ideas, th middle drawer could be for uncharged equipment and the upper drawer for charged and ready to go equipment, or the other way around.

[@BlakesAquatics]

Super neat! Been binging the channel, love it Angus

[@rolfathan]

For people too lazy to search and do custom stuff: Alex drawers from ikea. Foam drawer liners from a hardware store like home depot (just to keep things from sliding around) then either ikea or if you have one, a Daiso plastic boxes and organization. I have three Alex drawers, a collection of earbuds/IEMs, cameras and gear, cables are in narrow boxes stacked sideways, with labels on the side (IE: Micro USB, USB C, 3.5mm, etc) and this works well for me. I thought about doing something like this, but I'm just too indecisive. The stuff I prioritize changes too often, and I buy a new thing, maybe give away the old one. So custom inserts were going to become obsolete far too quickly for me. I'm still very jealous of this wonderful setup though.

[@ruftime]

Lightburn is a wonderful laser utility with powerful design functions. I use a 6mp camera, mounted above my 1300/900 bed, for placement AND it can trace shapes on the bed into Lightburn😎

[@MakersMuse]

Sounds really handy! Good to know

[@jaymzx0]

Not to mention if you do the alternate scan and burn method he suggests, you can import the scanned raster image and 'trace' the lines within Lightburn to make a vector for burning. It's an outstanding program for the price.

[@gerhardachrainer6116]

Yep, and aside from the vectorization, you also can avoid Fusion for such simple geometry.

[@dudepersonvids]

I see you've added an Anna from Frozen tin, for added organization! Lol

[@johnandlissa]

You could engrave labels near the slots as well if the load out was going to be static.

[@mitchellbarnow1709]

I recognized your Australian electrical outlets to figure out your location. I really like their design. The North American ones are terrible, because it is easy to get a shock, unless you mount them with the ground side up. Your laser cut foam is really fantastic!!! Your valuable gear is extremely well protected.

[@sipbit]

I did this for my lab **** A Simple way is to (1)lay it all out next to a yardstick. (2) Take a picture at a 8 to 12 ft distance (3) Create a sketch that is overlayed on the sketch. This gives you a rough layout you can measure afterwards for tighter fits.

[@TheSecurity16]

I love that you have a frozen storage tin.

[@MakersMuse]

Only because I couldn't get a MLP one at the time...

[@TheSecurity16]

@@MakersMuse If I see a MLP one around I'll get it for you.

[@metaldirtnskin]

Maybe instead of scanning something with a ruler, you could just trace it on graph paper where the squares are of a known size.

[@АлексейДмитриев-ш1ф]

Or use calipers on paper; you can do absolute (i.e. relative to some origin(s) like corners or center(s) of circle(s)) and relative (to some previous point) measurements, and even separate X and Y measurements for harder shapes. This works much faster for me than scanning and processing the image

[@matthmbg]

Great video! Something I never considered to do with my laser. Love to see more laser videos from you. Cheers from ADE!

[@plixplop]

I'm super stoked to get into laser cutting this foam stuff, I can see a million uses! What about laying the tools directly onto a flatbed scanner, rather than tracing the tool on paper?

[@danielmoore8320]

One trick I do with my batteries to tell switch is charged and not charged is make one side a "charged" side (I use positive) and the other side is the "flat" side on the battery. So with your camera batteries in the draw, the connector side I would designate if facing up the battery is charged, if the non connection side is facing up the battery is flat. I do this with cases as well when transporting the batteries, connectors or positive side oriented to a certain position, say right side of the case (depending on type of case) battery charged. it oriented to the opposite side means the battery flat. Takes a little bit to get into the habit but once it has formed you'll be right.

[@MakersMuse]

Ahh, that's a great idea! Could also etch the markings onto the foam to reinforce it.

[@danielmoore8320]

@@MakersMuse I'm glad you like it! Yes you definitely could. One other thing I did with my drone batteries was print off connector plug covers in green (charged) and red (flat), only problem is they tend to disappear.

[@SuperSuperSpork]

For the drawer on the bottom, you could put some holes in the back, and wire the battery charging station into it

[@joedebrito1011]

Are you able to choose how deep you want to cut, when working with thicker foam?

[@randomelectronicsanddispla1765]

With batteries, I simply have charged batteries facing up, flat batteries facing down. Once you get yourself used to do it for a while, you don't even think about it anymore. It makes things easier with power tools on work sites too, if everyone does it, you can know if a battery is flat without too walk over to it

[@markcrane6959]

Kmart(AU) do a pack of 4 in black I think for $10 , flip them over and your good. They also do a big black yoga mat that's 12mm thick same idea big bigger so you don't have to have joins in wide toolbox inserts. I was looking to buy kaizen foam locally but never thought of just using this stuff thanks for the tip!

[@gerhardachrainer6116]

Hi, regarding the more complex Forms: we added a camera to our Laser and use Lightburn, helps positioning and does a great job for vectors from hand drawn lines. Maybe possible for your Laser as well?

[@professorlloyd1789]

You can use the "Canvas" feature in Fusion to lay out your gear on the EVA sheet, then take a top down(straight down with no parallax) picture. You can then trace your sketch right around all of the objects on the Canvas in Fusion. For basic circles/squares and rectangles, it's probably not too efficient, but for organic/odd shapes, this works really well. Actually used this method to use a picture off the web to create a dxf for some T-stak foam inserts.

[@ge2719]

flip the top drawer foam around so the box is at the front, quick sollution at least. i hate drawers that dont open all the way. I try to upgrade all my furniture to have full extension runners so its possibly to get things out of the back.

[@quadcom]

Any suggestions for laser cutters for the cost conscious?

[@lcdmonitor1981]

Definitely some money to be made cutting storage trays for Games Workshop figs, spent a fortune on those over the years

[@MakersMuse]

Oh yeah that'd be heaps valuable !

[@lcdmonitor1981]

@@MakersMuse are you into tabletop at all?

[@daniel-pablo]

Quick tip for scanning complex profiles into cad: Just put your items on a flatbed scanner and scan at a high quality. Convert the resulting file to png and then insert that into fusion as a canvas. Since the scan will be the size of a piece of paper just set the dimensions of the canvas to 8.5 x 11 inches (or whatever width and length a4 paper is) and everything will be perfectly to scale. No need to include a ruler.

[@MakersMuse]

Nice!

[@WimsMill]

Tip: Put the empty batteries upside down, when you put them away. I wrote on my covers and boxes full and empty. Makes it so much faster. Another quick workaround for the "organic forms" is to take a picture with a ruler next to it. It is best to zoom in a bit to get a flatter image.

[@6yjjk]

I use those little coloured document tags on all my battery covers, specifically green ones. When putting a charged battery into its cover, I leave the green tag sticking out. When putting an empty one in, I tuck the tag out of sight. They're also handy for sticking to CF cards to give you more to pull on - try removing a CF card from the camera with two pairs of gloves!

[@ReedCBowman]

What about urethane foam? Old mattress foam, that is, like they use in a lot of professional foam inserts? How laserable is it?

[@MakersMuse]

It can be done but chars, and I'd be very wary of fumes

[@Lemzati.]

Nice !!👍 congrats ! I like your sewing Machine !! 👀 greetings from Mexico !

[@BRUXXUS]

I wish I had any of those things.... I can go out to my garage and build any furniture I can dream of, or 3D print incredible things, but lasers... well. I have a neat laser pointer, but I don't think that's of much use. Someday I'll have one, though! :)

[@Fugatech3DPrinting]

How much power do you need to cut through one of these? I have a 5w, 'engraver' that I have been using to cut black PVC type boards. Yes it takes like 4 passes but it does work. Wondering if I could do it on this foam as well.

[@MakersMuse]

It's a 50W system but its only on 15% power. Please don't cut PVC! Very toxic fumes and corrodes the equipment.

[@Fugatech3DPrinting]

@@MakersMuse Good to know. They are KOMATEX Foamed PVC Sheets from Tap Plastics. I have a separate room where I cut them. The cuts are small and only take a few mins but I let the room air out before going in to get the part.

[@BrickworksDK]

@@MakersMuse Fumes are what scared me off using a laser cutter, especially since plastic is one of the primary materials I work with. Ended up getting a normal cutter instead. Not nearly as good for the job, but at least there are no fumes.

[@Jmour99]

for anyone trying to do this for complex shapes: theres a software called Took Kaiser, you can take photos of your tools and it will automatically process and nest their outlines. I havent used it but it seems pretty cool

[@apollolux]

I knew there was a second reason I wanted those interlocking puzzle floor mats!

[@GmanL18P]

In Fusion 360.. You could scan the image, Place it as canvas. Calibrate to the size you need, Draw sketch over it.

[@aryadwitama]

great idea, just about to try design something that can be applied to my suitcase

[@ex-nerd]

Unfortunately, every time I've tested the cheap EVA foam floor mats, they always fail the copper+chlorine burn test. No PVC in my laser, thanks. Maybe some day I'll find a cheap clean source.

[@YOUnoobGER]

What do you test?

[@djC653]

Coming from an amateur astronomer point of view I'd be concerned with the foams out-gassing in general reaking havoc on the lens coatings. This is not including the gasses from laser cutting the foam. A steak knife would of worked, but not as pretty.

[@crytocc]

What's the test procedure + results interpretation for that? I can't seem to find anything about it.

[@ric_dk-9520]

cardboard also works for inserts instead of foam, just make sure your laser don't set it on fire :)

[@clairemacare1921]

I find it satisfying when each item drops into place perfectly! Do you think for your next video you could review the labists x1 mini 3d printer Angus? It's the cheapest printer on the market.

[@MakersMuse]

Maybe! I'll check it out.

[@Brocknoviatch]

Some alternatives to buying a $6,000 laser cutter. Go to your local maker space, many of them have laser cutters. Watch Bill from punished props on KZbin, you can cut EVA foam with a craft knife and get great results! A sword of exact zero is way cheaper too! With scanning and converting to vector lines I have had great success using Vellum aka tracing paper. It’s gives me better results than white paper.

[@Brocknoviatch]

Tracing paper( Vellum ) and a felt tip pen gives a really nice clean line that is converted to vector really well.

[@digitaloctane7371]

Top tip ... flat lay everything you want in the orientation you want it take a photo top down. Import it and trace to a known size

[@DaviddoesStuff]

Speaking of complex cutouts, I saw someone take a photo from directly overhead and bring it into fusion 360. He created the basic outline the took measurements on a few easy spots and it scaled everything else in the sketch.

[@Jeff75684]

Hey this is unrelated to the video but would you reccomend the cr 10 v2 for a beginner

[@Ray-mg6si]

What's the thinest wall the Form 2 can print without the print failing.

[@TheMono25]

Yesss your shirt is the same as my swimming shorts

[@chrishechtl8330]

Hmm... can it work with that packing foam Angus was complaining about in a prior video?

[@ChrisDeger]

Quick tip. when I am on set, what I've done is place a a sticker, mine are reflective stickers from the dollar store and when my battery is dead I place the sticker up and if the battery is charged I place the sticker down. That way i can see at a glance what's full and dead

[@WilliamCollier]

For the ones that were too short you could creates two G codes. One with all the holes like you have it now and another with all the holes except for maybe that one that was too short. Or even easier put back one of the circles from the scraps to boost it up.

[@gromett]

Where do you get the smooth eva mats from? All the ones I can see on ebay have patterns on them. Or are you putting them pattern down? Edit: Great video, nice idea..

[@mrchuck21521]

Good to be among the first people to see this.

[@armourcore9139]

Nice job on the video. ArmourCore provides an easy option that you also might like to look at for your next draw.

[@suit1337]

i use this technique for making inserts for toolboxes or powertools - but i switched from EVA foam to ridig XPS foam - it does the job and is _way_ cheaper for prototyping i usually use scap cardboard and just cut out shapes i want to test, because for powertools with more complicated shapes, it is not as straight forward :)

[@Adamtherealboss]

Can you do the whole process in lightburn?

[@ryans600]

Between Maker's Muse and i did a thing I'm convinced that Australians think shoes are a myth

[@MakersMuse]

It's true

[@SoulOfNoob]

Thank you so much for this idea, just checked if the laser in our makerspace can cut this.. and it can :D Custom foam inserts incoming :)

[@tmophoto]

Do you know if this will work with a diode laser cutter?

[@AuthenticTerrificRickCastle]

Was kinda hpoing you'd share some details behind your battery charge accounting system. Is there a specific trick to put charged ones in a specific order next to the empty slot?

[@MakersMuse]

I pop dead ones onto the charger straight away, or next to it if its being used. Not great, but the camera never leaves the studio. Only charged ones go into the drawers!

[@abgarza911]

What laser are you using, cuts look clean?

[@shrimpinpat]

What's a good affordable laser cutter with a decent capacity?

[@colormaker5070]

Where did you get the foam without texture. Looked at amazon but could only find squares with a raised patterns. I have a 25 watt co2 laser bed and in the past the foam came out sticky so looking to try these EVA floor pads.

[@MakersMuse]

It's textured on the other side.

[@thehudsonforge71]

Hey @Maker's Muse You can get away with a simple 5000mw laser engraver cutter, I even use a 2500mw to cut EVA foam for cosplay purposes. Laser has a 50 x 60cm cutting area, and only cost me £150 ish If people wanna get involved in this, a big ol' co2 laser isn't necessary.

[@headerahelix]

Could you elaborate on how you did it?

[@elvinhaak]

I've been doing things like this for years... by hand. And then getting extra / new gear and then cut other places out, again and again so after one or two years there is almost no foam left ;-)

[@djsmola1]

What is rough required laser power to cut 60 mm of a such EVA foam?

[@crapstirrer]

I do eva foam inserts with spare power tool cases. I just need to dremel out the plastic inside.

[@spookydonkey2195]

I like those cases too. I’m not sure what they are made of but it sure is tough.

[@crapstirrer]

@@spookydonkey2195 Polypropylene. Plastic jars and Tupperware, furniture... When you think of plastic items, chances are it's polypropylene.

[@anthonyrich1592]

Telling charged batteries from discharged? K.I.S.S. In the wayback when I was buying Canon gear the batteries used to come with protective caps that covered the battery terminals and had a viewport hole towards one side: clip the cap on one way and a green dot was visible to indicate that it was charged, the other way and it was red. I'm surprised the Lumix batteries didn't come with something similar.

[@Ray-mg6si]

When are you going to review Formlab's Form 3

[@MakersMuse]

No plans, sorry

[@matthewmeuleman9872]

do you make things for people that need them

[@matts2581]

5S of the workspace! Yeah! :)

[@avejst]

Great idear with the cutter Im no fan of lasercutteres, but it seams as a great application! Thanks for sharing :-)

[@miranda.cooper]

Hey so I don't have a laser cutter... but I do have a CNC machine (that I have never used because I was given it for free and have no suitable space for its use). Might I be able to do this on the CNC machine or would it simply rip EVA?

[@adventuresunknown1013]

I love ❤️ this idea 💡

[@DaniloMajhenic]

How do you now know whic batteries are full and which flat?

[@webrosc]

Thanks for reminding me to look into floor mats for my garage :D

[@peterdejaegher7642]

Nice video. Another nudge toward me deciding on buying a laser. Instead of tracing and scanning something like a the spanner, I take a picture with my phone with a ruler alongside, or on a cutting mat with a scale printed on it, and then upload the pic. Same result, cuts some steps 🙂.

[@collinbardini]

I'm going to try this out with my tool chests!

[@stephentrenta3514]

Love it! Can’t wait to try it myself

[@MayTheLightBeWithYou]

Would a diode laser cut this? I have a Sculpfun S9.

[@DanielRisacher]

I tried to cut similar EVA tiles with a 550mw 450nm laser on a 3018 CNC. This laser will cut paper & cardstock, and will burn wood. Unsurprisingly, it will not cut the foam. Somewhat surprisingly to me, at 100% power and 1mm/min it doesn't even *mark* them. Shrug.

[@susanscovill6817]

Where can we buy your files? Would love an editable file or files. You give us so many awesome ideas for projects. I’m still so new to laser, cnc, and 3d. I know I’d have to tweak for my SnapMaker 350. Cheers from Canader eh!

[@garagemonkeysan]

Great video. Another reason to get a laser cutter. Mahalo for sharing! : ) 🐒

[@tenchuu007]

Could you cut the foam with the kind of laser engraver you can add to a 3D printer?

[@DanielRisacher]

I tried with a 550mW laser and it absolutely failed. Someone else here said that 2500mW was enough, although I think maybe he meant for thin foam - same commenter recommended 5000mW. So yes, depending.

[@tenchuu007]

@@DanielRisacher Thanks for the detailed response!

[@Ataraxia_Atom]

One hack I so for my batteries is i have a 3d printed holder for 3 camera batteries and i put dead batteries face down and good batteries face up so its easy to recognize which is which.

[@electronic7979]

Very good

[@j6x]

How powerful does the laser need to be in order to cut this kind of foam? I'm kinda starting to want a cheap laser cutter, but is it going to be a good investment or should I spend a bit more money on something more professional?

[@MakersMuse]

Low power but a longer focal point is important, as is an air assist

[@j6x]

Thanks,@@MakersMuse

[@PhG1961]

Looking and searching your gear and equipment.... sounds so familiar...

[@vectors2final36]

NICE!!! Now I can justify adding a laser to my MPCNC.

[@gerhardachrainer6116]

If you really plan to cut foam, you could also look for foam-cutting mills, should work fine on a MPCNC...

[@carlmen6567]

Is that 50w or 100w laser cutting machine

[@deanallenjones]

I've been using Void Star labs Gridfinity, and it's good BUT my big brother just gave me his xtool (yep, 48 years old, still get big brothers toys) and I know what I'm doing all weekend now :)