Ripple Foam

All about flies Fly Tying
1

Hello.

Hey does anyone know where a guy could get large sheets of ripple foam. All i can find on the internet are some refills for boxes. I’d like to get a big sheet to have by my fly tying bench.

Any help is much appreciated!
Yonks

2

After looking hard I finally found found some 12X8 sheets, but I didn’t care for the $15 price tag. Instead I sarted making my own for a little under $3 for a 8 1/2" X 11 sheet.

I found 3 methods that worked well…

method 1, buy some 3mm foam sheets from a craft store, like Michelle’s. Then cut a bunch of 2mm deep grooves using a radial arm saw and a dado blade.

method 2, buy some 2mm foam sheets with adhesive backing at the craft store. Using a sharp exacto blade slice the foam into strips approx. 1/4" wide. Peel the adhesive and stick the strips into a sheet of cardstock or clear plastic sheets (sold as inkjet transparencies, Office Depot #753-641)
The clear plastic sheets will produce a ripple foam similar to the C&F flybox inserts.

method 3, Buy 3mm foam sheets, heat them up by placing them for approx. 60 seconds on the wire rack of an oven pre-heated to 350 degrees. Quickly place the softened sheet into a cold waffle iron. The pattern of the waffle iron will be embossed into the sheet.

3

method 3.1
If your waffle iron’s pattern isn’t conducive to the task, a George Foreman grill will work too. Either way, if you share your kitchen with a finicky cook like my wife, do it whey they’re not home!

4

A man has it for sale on Ebay! [url=http://cgi.ebay.com/Fly-Fishing-Big-Ripple-Foam-Fly-Patch_W0QQitemZ7203020480QQcategoryZ36160QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem:114ad]http://cgi.ebay.com/Fly-Fishing-Big-Ripple-Foam-Fly-Patch_W0QQitemZ7203020480QQcategoryZ36160QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem[/url:114ad]

Steve

5

To followup on Steve’s post regarding the foam on Ebay…I have purchased from that seller & he remains on my “Favorite Sellers” list. Very good to deal with. Just thought I would let you know.
Mike

6

Thanks for the help guys. The one on ebay is perfect. I might also have to try making my own like you suggested. I don’t have a waffle iron but do have a George Forman grill that should work.

Thanks again
Yonks