Deanna
12/31/09
Happy New Year! We are about to break ground on a new wing here in St. Louis. Just outside of the construction vibration zone we have a life size Chinese seated wooden figure (weight unknown). I want to protect the figure from any potential vibrations. I was thinking that an ethafoam pad beneath the object would be a simple way to do this. Does anyone have any suggestions on the best way to use ethafoam to isolate an object from vibrations in the casework?
Thanks, Deanna
pg 1/4/10
Deanna, I am sure there are more tried and true methods and even engineered backed info that you can gather from this group. When dealing with minor vibration in Chicago, I have found that if you can put a dampening layer of foam not only under the object but under the pedestal and case you can lower the vibration more than just placing it under the statue. You will need to find a foam that will not fully compress under the weight of the object. I have only had to do this once or twice and did it by trial and error testing out different materials in the studio prior to applying it to the real object. We used varying thicknesses of ethafoam for a very light weight object. So far so good. If it is out side of a case or under a case you might find using a layer of neoprene to be a more shock absorbing material. Hope this is helpful. Happy new year! Pam
Bruce Metro 1/4/10
you might consider Sorbothane: http://www.sorbothane.com/
Deanna
1/8/10
Pam, thanks for the suggestions. I ditched the ethafoam idea, I am going to isolate the board that the sculpture will rest on. I will be using a silicone gel pad from Advanced Antivibration Components www.vibrationmounts.com.
Bruce, I ordered some samples of sorbothane last year. The samples that have been wrapped up are fine, but the samples that were subjected to oddity testing and sitting out on my desk for the past year are getting sticky. The 30 duro sample is the least stable and will stick to anything, 60duro is only slightly tacky.
Deanna
Deanna 1/8/10
Our oddity test results for the sorbothane ( S30, S60) are in the
posted file Oddy 11-26-08 (mountmaking materials doc)