Salmo sez some stuff which is snipped for brevity then he sez:
Good luck with machining lightweight poppers.
Seems like you might need a styrofoam, because of its rigidity.
One last thing nobody has mentioned yet:

in general, the smaller the gas bubbles, the lighter the foam,
if the bubbles are both small and tightly packed, that is.
(foam has an opposite relationship to buckshot in a mason jar,
if you think about it).
So maybe you want a styrofoam of some kind, with microscopic gas bubbles.

Thanks for the idea. Jeeze there's a lot to learn about these foams. One
of Company A's styrofoams may look and act like one of Company B's EVAs and
so on. I can't tell whether they are any good until I get them in the
water. But g that takes a minimum order and was part of your original
rant anyway!!!

I've been futzing with foams pretty seriously now for almost 6 years and
echo your sentiments but mine are toward popper bodies. The fly shops and
fly tying suppliers don't have a clue. I really hate all kinds of available
hard foam, injection molding, drill bit on sandpaper machining, etc.
Someone raved about Ole Sleazy Steve (gotta be the second worst business
name I ever heard)
http://www.jvlnet.com/~swinters/ who peddles foam but his rides too low in
the water for me and he has lousy colors.

Oooops! I'm sorry. This was YOUR rant. Please forgive me. I'll zip it!

Good luck!
John

PS: Well I DO agree with you! OK, OK I'll let it go.