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JohnPeters Posted: Jul 01, 2009 03:33 PM	Wall Scruffing I can't believe I could not find any posts on this topic. My crew often debates over which method is the most efficient way to get foam off of a wall and bagged up. We purchased "Da Shaver" a few years ago. The darn thing works great, rips foam off of the wall like its no ones business - but it creates the smallest, dust like particles of foam you've ever seen. It takes so much longer to clean up these smaller particles of foam that we stopped using the damn thing. So we're back to curry combs and putty knives on the studs, with a long hand blade (3.5'x1")for the middle of the cavity. It takes forever, but the walls come out looking good. The foam pieces are larger than with da shaver, so sweep and bag time goes faster. How does everyone else scruff? Are the modified sawzalls worth it? I need to know which is the fastest way!! jp
mason Posted: Jul 01, 2009 05:01 PM	For closed cell foam the best wall or ceiling hand held trimming I ever used was made by the Gusmer Corp. It had a thin razor sharp blade attached to spokes kinda like a real lawnmower. It would trim off up to 1/2 inch of foam at a time and created 1-2 inch feathers of foam that were fairly easily swept up. But, liability issues forced the units off the market. There are some handheld units that consist of a sold steel bar that has been sharpened that work almost as well. Only problem is they are pretty heavy and can wear you out. ASk your supplier if there are any newer models on the market that do the job without being so hard to use.
Posted: Jul 01, 2009 07:21 PM	We use a Bosch flush or fine cut saw. They make a blade with a rounded tip. You can trim foam very quickly and scrape studs with the tip. I have found this tool works for even tight corners. 1 tool will clean the whole job. We blow out the bays with a makita 18v blower. Sweep, vacuum and all looks good.
Posted: Jul 02, 2009 06:23 AM	john,,maybe cause most call it "scarfing",,, scruffy is the guy doin the scarfin,,lol... quickplane works well with cc,,,nice manageable chips,,,will last forever if you give it dry air and avoid nails, screws and other metal debris...oh yeah,,like most air motors it likes lots of air,,,your 5hp may have trouble with other stuff runnin weighs in at like 44 lbs (joke here)so you will be "buff the foamer"... we try to avoid full cavity with a shave down at all costs,,what a pain in the hiney,,,besides our product has a better air permience number with the skin on,,,but this tool works great on the headers we top and a few other spots we tend to shoot long,, the foamzall is the ratzazz for open cell,,,we have a variety of blade lenghts,,,at is a nice tool...good dependable brand,,should last forever if you keep the foam dust/chips out of the elect. motor,,,,
JohnPeters Posted: Jul 02, 2009 07:31 AM	We call it scruffing in our area of the country. Scruffing, scarffing...we all know what we're talking about. NEKFOAM, Regarding the bosch saw you use. I searched the internet for this device and I could only find a blade that is 7" long. Can you find a blade that is longer? I also couldn't find the rounded blade. I am intrigued to learn more. Thanks! jp
Lane Hogstad Posted: Jul 02, 2009 02:39 PM	John, Give me a call and I'll get a saw on the way if you don't like it send it back keep the blades no harm no foul. I'll give you a FULL REFUND. That's the deal for everyone. I'll even throw in a sample pack of tearoffs. Lane Hogstad 605-880-1990
Mike Stephenson Posted: Jul 03, 2009 11:15 AM	I will vouch for the tool that Lane sells. I got the first one sold and it has served me well. It cut my labor way down! Easy to use and very effective. I've tried many different tools and they all worked to some extent just not as good as the "LaborSaber" or the name that Lane gave it: "Foamzall"....It truly does the job and will save you a ton of labor and down time. No air to mess with and it's built very durable. Get one and you will not be sorry. I trim open and closed with it, nothing has slowed it down yet!! Oh and his tearoff trick has saved me a ton of money and time aswell!! Lane is a heck of nice guy to boot. Even though he's Norweign..... Good luck!
quentin Posted: Jul 03, 2009 12:21 PM	Lane's tool is the only way to go for me! used it, love it! for studs we just use a standard floor scraper for closed cell and open we usually are good after the saw. I use a leaf vac for cleanup and I can't find a new one like the one I have. It can attach to a trashcan with the hose. It doesn't do closed cell yet since it uses a plactic impeller that i am getting a metal one made to replace it with but it works great. Just sweep to piles, attach to a can with a bag in it and roll. Once the bag is full you just compress the contents to make more room or replace depending on time and if we have to remove the waste or give it to the customer.
Posted: Jul 03, 2009 04:14 PM	The blade we use is only 7 inches, It still works great. The blades are rigid enough that if you twist the saw the foam will break off as you trim. The blade is available at most large hardware stores that sell bosch. The saws trim foam very quicky. Once you get used to them you can clean up very quickly. If you get one drill an 1/8" hole about 1/4" in from the end of the switch. They tend to collect foam and it gets difficult to operate. The hole helps prevent build up and makes for easy clean out with a nail.
Jesse Michalski Posted: Jun 21, 2015 07:10 PM	The Bosch undercut saw is the way to go with closed cell. We have been using that for 2 years. Walked into Lowe's one day, saw it, and the light bulb went on. Put it to work immediately and never looked back. For open cell, I'm not sure anyone has really figured it out. The bottom line is that shaving foam sucks and we will all continue to search the ends of the earth for a better way.... But alas, there is a better way... use higher density foams. We never use 0.5LB density foam anymore. I hate the stuff. The R value is low, and the only way to meet code is to fill the cavity. The key to less shaving and no shaving is not to fill the studs. The way to meet code, deliver a good product, and get off the job quick is to use open cell foams that are 0.7-1LB density, use a smaller tip if needed, and then learn how to spray it properly. As an Icynene dealer, I order their 0.7LB foam exclusively and just sell it for more money. The spray ability is similar to closed cell. With a 4242 tip, extreme accuracy can be realized with some practice. We now consistently spray 5" in a 2x6 with very little waste. In a 2x4, 3.25" is R13. They are releasing a 0.9 LB foam soon, and I will move to that. Good luck!!!

Author

Comments

JohnPeters

Posted: Jul 01, 2009 03:33 PM

Wall Scruffing

I can't believe I could not find any posts on this topic.

My crew often debates over which method is the most efficient way to get foam off of a wall and bagged up. We purchased "Da Shaver" a few years ago. The darn thing works great, rips foam off of the wall like its no ones business - but it creates the smallest, dust like particles of foam you've ever seen. It takes so much longer to clean up these smaller particles of foam that we stopped using the damn thing.

So we're back to curry combs and putty knives on the studs, with a long hand blade (3.5'x1")for the middle of the cavity. It takes forever, but the walls come out looking good. The foam pieces are larger than with da shaver, so sweep and bag time goes faster.

How does everyone else scruff?

Are the modified sawzalls worth it?

I need to know which is the fastest way!!

jp

mason

Posted: Jul 01, 2009 05:01 PM

For closed cell foam the best wall or ceiling hand held trimming I ever used was made by the Gusmer Corp. It had a thin razor sharp blade attached to spokes kinda like a real lawnmower. It would trim off up to 1/2 inch of foam at a time and created 1-2 inch feathers of foam that were fairly easily swept up. But, liability issues forced the units off the market.

There are some handheld units that consist of a sold steel bar that has been sharpened that work almost as well. Only problem is they are pretty heavy and can wear you out. ASk your supplier if there are any newer models on the market that do the job without being so hard to use.

Posted: Jul 01, 2009 07:21 PM

We use a Bosch flush or fine cut saw. They make a blade with a rounded tip. You can trim foam very quickly and scrape studs with the tip. I have found this tool works for even tight corners. 1 tool will clean the whole job. We blow out the bays with a makita 18v blower. Sweep, vacuum and all looks good.

Posted: Jul 02, 2009 06:23 AM

john,,maybe cause most call it "scarfing",,,
scruffy is the guy doin the scarfin,,lol...

quickplane works well with cc,,,nice manageable chips,,,will last forever if you give it dry air and avoid nails, screws and other metal debris...oh yeah,,like most air motors it likes lots of air,,,your 5hp may have trouble with other stuff runnin
weighs in at like 44 lbs (joke here)so you will be "buff the foamer"...
we try to avoid full cavity with a shave down at all costs,,what a pain in the hiney,,,besides our product has a better air permience number with the skin on,,,but this tool works great on the headers we top and a few other spots we tend to shoot long,,

the foamzall is the ratzazz for open cell,,,we have a variety of blade lenghts,,,at is a nice tool...good dependable brand,,should last forever if you keep the foam dust/chips out of the elect. motor,,,,

JohnPeters

Posted: Jul 02, 2009 07:31 AM

We call it scruffing in our area of the country. Scruffing, scarffing...we all know what we're talking about.

NEKFOAM,

Regarding the bosch saw you use. I searched the internet for this device and I could only find a blade that is 7" long. Can you find a blade that is longer? I also couldn't find the rounded blade.

I am intrigued to learn more.

Thanks!

jp

Lane Hogstad

Posted: Jul 02, 2009 02:39 PM

John, Give me a call and I'll get a saw on the way if you don't like it send it back keep the blades no harm no foul. I'll give you a
FULL REFUND. That's the deal for everyone. I'll even throw in a sample pack of tearoffs.
Lane Hogstad 605-880-1990

Mike Stephenson

Posted: Jul 03, 2009 11:15 AM

I will vouch for the tool that Lane sells. I got the first one sold and it has served me well. It cut my labor way down! Easy to use and very effective. I've tried many different tools and they all worked to some extent just not as good as the "LaborSaber" or the name that Lane gave it: "Foamzall"....It truly does the job and will save you a ton of labor and down time. No air to mess with and it's built very durable. Get one and you will not be sorry. I trim open and closed with it, nothing has slowed it down yet!! Oh and his tearoff trick has saved me a ton of money and time aswell!! Lane is a heck of nice guy to boot. Even though he's Norweign.....
Good luck!

quentin

Posted: Jul 03, 2009 12:21 PM

Lane's tool is the only way to go for me! used it, love it! for studs we just use a standard floor scraper for closed cell and open we usually are good after the saw.

I use a leaf vac for cleanup and I can't find a new one like the one I have. It can attach to a trashcan with the hose. It doesn't do closed cell yet since it uses a plactic impeller that i am getting a metal one made to replace it with but it works great. Just sweep to piles, attach to a can with a bag in it and roll. Once the bag is full you just compress the contents to make more room or replace depending on time and if we have to remove the waste or give it to the customer.

Posted: Jul 03, 2009 04:14 PM

The blade we use is only 7 inches, It still works great. The blades are rigid enough that if you twist the saw the foam will break off as you trim. The blade is available at most large hardware stores that sell bosch. The saws trim foam very quicky. Once you get used to them you can clean up very quickly. If you get one drill an 1/8" hole about 1/4" in from the end of the switch. They tend to collect foam and it gets difficult to operate. The hole helps prevent build up and makes for easy clean out with a nail.

Jesse Michalski

Posted: Jun 21, 2015 07:10 PM

The Bosch undercut saw is the way to go with closed cell. We have been using that for 2 years. Walked into Lowe's one day, saw it, and the light bulb went on. Put it to work immediately and never looked back.

For open cell, I'm not sure anyone has really figured it out. The bottom line is that shaving foam sucks and we will all continue to search the ends of the earth for a better way....

But alas, there is a better way... use higher density foams. We never use 0.5LB density foam anymore. I hate the stuff. The R value is low, and the only way to meet code is to fill the cavity. The key to less shaving and no shaving is not to fill the studs. The way to meet code, deliver a good product, and get off the job quick is to use open cell foams that are 0.7-1LB density, use a smaller tip if needed, and then learn how to spray it properly.

As an Icynene dealer, I order their 0.7LB foam exclusively and just sell it for more money. The spray ability is similar to closed cell. With a 4242 tip, extreme accuracy can be realized with some practice. We now consistently spray 5" in a 2x6 with very little waste. In a 2x4, 3.25" is R13. They are releasing a 0.9 LB foam soon, and I will move to that.

Good luck!!!

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