have you tried burning your forms instead of scratching?

[paul e]

Dean ya know time is money
and ive never sprayed one with sand
it sounds like the way to go for high production
but for me money was never the end result of why i did taxidermy
it was for the love of it
just me i guess
i never felt bad after sanding even with sand paper
i would sand every single square inch of it
and be looking for something else to make a pile of foam with
i just love fooling around with every aspect
i had a bad accident a few months back
well its pretty much the end of my taxi career as far as being productive and doing things to make proffit
after 24 years i still wake up and think of putting my hands on a pc of leather
foam.gut,all of it
your right though to each his own
have a blessed day

[paul e]

Dean ya know time is money
and ive never sprayed one with sand
it sounds like the way to go for high production
but for me money was never the end result of why i did taxidermy
it was for the love of it
just me i guess
i never felt bad after sanding even with sand paper
i would sand every single square inch of it
and be looking for something else to make a pile of foam with
i just love fooling around with every aspect
i had a bad accident a few months back
well its pretty much the end of my taxi career as far as being productive and doing things to make proffit
after 24 years i still wake up and think of putting my hands on a pc of leather
foam.gut,all of it
your right though to each his own
have a blessed day

[Dean]

Paul- I hope your accident didn't cause a permenant injury, sounds kind of serious though if it's stopping you from doing taxidermy. Are you ever going to be able to eventually get back into it?  I've never tried to spray with sand (sand blast) forms, to me that sounds like more of a mess than sanding or scratching but I guess I can't put it down unless I've tried it. I just prefer the contact spray MOST of the time over the other methods for better production and still have good quality control over everything. To each his own. That's why there are different techniques do get the jobs done. If one way doesn't work for someone there is always another way to try that they may like better. Take care I hope things go well for you in your recovery.

[Fur, Fins and Feathers]

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE folks!  DON'T burn your foam with anything, including to dispose of it, if someone can breathe it in!  Several years ago, I was a law enforcement officer who responded to a train explosion in order to evacuate citizens.  EVERYONE, including the D.E.Q., assured us that the leaking chemical wasn't, "..any worse than breathing in oxygen; the evacuation is (was) just a precaution."  Several hours later, there I was, in the emergency room coughing up blood and with huge chunks of paint peeling off of my unit through the primer, down to the bare metal!  Now, I have been forced into an early retirement, many of my friends who stood next to me have since died, and many others are still  suffering along with me. 

Now I realize that the high concentration of what we MUCH later found to be nitrogen tetroxide, an oxide of nitrogen such as that emitted from burning foam (along with another chemical which are STILL unidentified!)  I suffer from COPD, peripheral neuropathy, DAILY migraines and/or headaches...and the list goes on and on.  I have been told that I will not live to see my children graduate high-school, my oldest is now a junior (and I'm going to prove them ALL wrong! ) and my youngest is almost 12.

I don't normally like talking about all of this but if it can save ONE other person from having to go through all of this it's worth it!  Wear your safety gear and don't burn ANYTHING, you DON'T want to take a chance with this or any other chemical exposure, IT'S NOT WORTH IT!!