Whats up with the new foam material on the McKenzie forms? The whole form feels different. Just wanting opinions and wondering why the change?
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They changed the material the old forms were made out of due to health risks associated with the old material when burned or inhaled. Does feel a little different don't it though. Seems like the release doesn't come off as easy.
It's supposedly a law thing. regarding toxins and air polution, but I believe they are making forms less dense to save money. They Have some great forms but are monopolizing and ripping us off as far as I'm concerned they have us bye the "eye" Balls!
Hey LOOK OUT, THE SKY is FALLING!
And to Todd, let me help you out with your question. Look up foam propellants on the web and youll see some answers. The freon ban might help clear things up for you. Its hardly cutting costs, like a few would have you believe. The new foam isnt as nice as the good old original, but Ill tell you what, Ive played with so many "replacement" foams the last few years that Id say this one isnt all that bad. Itll take some getting used to, though. The biggest difference to me is the skin, and to a lesser extent, the texture inside while altering, which I do alot of. I usually appreciate ANY foam whenever I have to mess with a paper form though, hahaha!
Last, I never get this mentality that the suppliers, one in particular, are out to over-price us out of existence. Id think it would be alot like shooting ones self in ones foot...By the way, I suppose the auto industry has the same thing in mind, or just taking away air conditioning?
Yeah, McKenzie had nothing to do with having to use a new propellant. And I like their price structure. They give you discounts for the more you order. Order $1000 at a time and you save 12%. Not that bad.....
Les
Your logic is illogical. The new water blown foam does not expand as well as the old stuff. There is about a .40 cent per pound increase in the price and the molds require about 10% more of the water foam to fill the same area as before. McKenzie went to a system that required them to spend a fortune on fire suppression in an attempt to keep their products consistent. All of these FACTS cost a lot of money and it is simply the cost of doing business. The suppliers could just send all this crap to Mexico where they continue to use the freon blown foam without restriction. Taxidermy may no longer be a very profitable business for the cheap minded.
Thanks for the input guys, didn't mean to start an argument here! I am just a part-time taxidermist and when recently I purchased a form through McKenzie, I realized that it seamed different from the ones that i'd purchased last year. I wasn't trying to single out McKenzie, I deal with them almost 90% of the time. I keep forgetting how sensitive some people are on this site. It never even came across my mind about the extra cents that it costs me. I only purchase about 10 to 20 forms a year. Well thanks again for all your input.......Todd
Frankly, I don't remember any freon blown foam mannikins in years. The new foam types may have different composition, but it is a new, new foam and not a replacement for freon blown foams, unless they had a zillion gallon supply cached someplace.
Water blown foams will skin well if the density is upped, but then if you take the density from two to four pound you double the cost of the materials and guess what that does to your form price? Raw foam of any density costs the same amount by the pound, but the difference between them is based on weight per cubic foot. Two cubic feet of ten pound foam requires twenty pounds of materials. The same volume at two pound density requires four pounds.
I can make you mannikins that you can't drive nails into......but the price would have you running and hiding. I don't like the new foams any more than anyone else, but I am with Bill all the way. As an old man who has laid up more than one paper form - gimmie me the new foam, any day...Or should I say, the new, new, new foam. A lot of you guys aren't old enough to remember the "old" foam.
Im guilty of mentioning changes about this foam that have, of course, been changing over a few years, not just lately, propellants, and prices increases included. I might have suggested that these changes are "new".