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Styrofoam patterns
are commonly used for one or two piece casting orders or for verifying
the design and fit of castings prior to the investment in production
tooling. The patterns are formed out of either a styrofoam or polystyrene
material. Just as wood or urethane patterns create shapes in a mold,
foam patterns do the same, only typically they can only be used
one time. There are rare instances when the shape allows two or
three molds to be created off a single pattern. While complexity
and size will drive the price of the pattern, the "rule of thumb"
is that three styrofoam patterns can be made for the same price
of one wood pattern. The foam is either routered or hand shaped
to fit the following processes:
- Lost Foam
- Cast Foam
- Full Mold
- Foam Mold
- Investment
Prototyping
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