Your LJ rep has got it wrong. We have sold Bienfang/Hunt/Seal Foam Board for 15 years. Fome-Cor (the old Monsanto and now International Paper product) is less dense and tends to have sink holes and air pockets in it. The board was originally designed for silkscreening and die cutting due to it's crushable foam, and was then picked up by the framing industry to use for drymounting. High temperatures combined with pressure was not a concern of the printing industry.
Bienfang Foam Board, now SEAL Brands, was introduced later for the art and frame industry and was developed to overcome the sinkhole and airpocket problem that is a concern to the framing industry when the board is used in heat presses with mechanical or vacuum pressure.
Bienfang product has "memory" which means that when you push down on the board with a finger it wants to return to the original thickness due to the "spring" of the board. Fome-Cor/IP stays indented when pushed on due to the "crushable foam" designed for die cutting. Bienfang makes a board identical to Fome-Cor/IP and it is called "PilloCore." Both are used in the Commercial Graphics industry when they die cut the board with an intricate pattern want to give the board
some dimensional effects by embossing/debossing to highlight faces or images that have been printed or mounted on the board. When the die comes down to "stamp" out the image, the edges of the board "close" so that the foam does not show. This is possible due to the "crushable" foam under pressure of the die plates. You see these board used
for in retail stores for point of purchase displays, and movie standees.
Bienfang 3/16 Foam Board is made in the full 3/16" thickness. Bienfang 1/8 Foam Board is made in the full 1/8" thickness. Both with the resilient, "memory" foam. Because IP only manufactures a crushable foam for the Graphics industry, they have the ability to compress it down to an 1/8" from 3/16" foam. The graphics industry does not use
1/8 boards, so to compete with Hunt, they "squish" their foam down to make an 1/8 product for Framers.
Bienfang board is definitely denser than the Fome-Cor/IP product. To see, slice a "thin" strip of Bienfang and IP about 1/16" thick and hold
them up to the light. You will be surprised at what you see. It's like
comparing apples to oranges, the Bienfang will be much more solid and the Fome-Cor/IP will reveal lots of voids and holes due to the "crushable", collapsible foam.
However keep in mind that with millions of feet of board rolling through presses 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, all of the board companies and there are about seven of them, board can end up with some imperfections. It is likely that dimples (along with creases or other indentations) occur due to damaged release paper or release board that is "stamping" debris into the image. Either the debris can be cleaned off of a release board, or release paper should be discarded an replaced with a new sheet.
If they are "pimples" (raised), it could be static related and sucking debris into the mounting assembly. There are static eliminating products available to help avoid this problem. Floor mats for static are available to eliminate static that can be placed by the work table and/or press. As always, keep your area as clean as possible.
Alan Sturgess
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Accent Art Distributors Ltd
40 East 60th Avenue, Vancouver Canada, eh!
"The Retailer's Wholeslaler, Not the Retailing Wholesaler."
[This message has been edited by Alan Sturgess (edited November 27, 2000).]
