Chris Reitz dot Com

OK, so I’ve been putting this off for WAY too long. I promised a tutorial on how to make old acoustic foam pretty, so here’s Part 1. (You’ll have to wait for the glue to dry for Part 2.) I should add that, although good acoustic foam is rated at least Class B for fire safety, chances are, my trick here is NOT Class B, so don’t try this in a commercial studio. This will also change the sound absorption qualities of the foam a bit (that disclaimer is just for the audiophiles). However, the stuff still works, just not as well as it could in an ideal world.

So we're going from this.....

....to this.

The materials you’ll need are some ok-quality 8′-long 1x2s (they don’t have to be perfect, but builder-grade furring strips don’t quite cut it — you also need them to be exactly 2″ wide which furring strips are not), the foam (duh), some 1/8″-thick particle board, and some nice-looking, thin fabric. Add to that some tools and glue, but I don’t want to list all of that, down to how many nails you need. That’s not the point.

1'x1' foam tile

OK, first, cut the foam into manageable sizes. I made my tiles 1′x1′, 2′x2′, and 1′x2′. That way, there’s a nice variety. Makes things prettier in the end.

Now, you’ll want to cut the 1×2 into whatever lengths you’ll need…four 2-footers, two 2-footers and two 1-footers, or four 1-footers. The closer you get to perfect measurements, the better, but remember it’s all going to get covered up by the cloth, so don’t spend hours trying to get these cuts perfect.

Marking off the lap joint

Now, we’ll cut lap joints on either side. Quick math lesson, but if you want a lap joint using a 2″x3/4″ board, you’ll need to cut a notch in each board that’s 3/4″x1″. Here’s the setup, and the finished product(s). As you can see, I’m making more than one tile, not one weird octagonal one.

The cut lap joints. Next step: glue!

As you can also see, I like using Titebond II glue.  It dries fast, is pretty strong, and doesn’t do weird stuff to the wood.

Note that all of the boards look the same, and that they have the lap joints on the same side. It is SO easy to put the lap joints on the wrong side, and then you have to buy new wood. Not fun.

OK, now, using plenty of clamps, glue it up, and then measure the diagonals of your tile, to make sure it’s square. Both diagonals should be the same length. If not, bend/twist/torque the tile until they are.  Then let dry.

Clamping hte frame

And I’ll see you again when the glue’s dry.

Actually, one thing to note. I mentioned it before, but you don’t need to make the frame look like it’s made by a master cabinetmaker. It’s going to be covered by fabric. Make sure things aren’t too far out of whack, but if they’re off by up to 1/16″, it’s not the end of the world. The fabric will hide it.

OK, gotta run some errands and wait for the glue to dry. Peace out!