Cutting foam

[tonyd453]

What would be best to cut a circle in 2" foam.

[johncolley]

depends how big! for 3/4" or so I use a tubular corer from the kitchen supply. For bigger holes, or to follow track size curves I use a thin serrated old breadknife and cut banks at a slope. A hacksaw blade works good too and you can get an adjustable holder so the blade sticks out whatever distance you want, at the hardware store.

[MisterBeasley]

A hot wire cutter works great, but it can only go 6 inches in from the edge. A chain saw works, too, but it's a bit messy.

[Anonymous]

I used a sabre saw with a long blade for curves. A regular hand saw works great for long straight cuts!

DON

[pcarrell]

A drywall saw would work,and it's handy for other things too, like...drywall for instance!

[selector]

Filleting knife.

[Anonymous]

If the piece of foam is movable to where you can take into you kiitchen, then get yourself a metal scrapper and sit /heat the scrapper on the stove. Have the faom maked where you want to cut. Remove the scrapper from the stove and cut. A scapper is a cheap and easy way to do this. I do it all the time. I didn't invest in a wire cutter because I may not need it for a lot of things. A scapper is my best friend in MRR. I can't do much without it. It's dirt cheap compared to a wire cutter and if the handle gets too hot, then put on a oven mitten. If your married, you wife might complain about the smell of burt foam- lol. Mine does, but I don't pay her any mind - lol

[Medina1128]

For large diameter circles, a length of string pinned in place to draw the circle with a marker. I use a utility knife with the long snap off blades. I found a construction site that was tossing out 3" x 4' x 8' sheets of foam. An old kitchen knife makes quick work of cutting it. I use a sanding block to keep a sharp edge on the blade. Cutting foam also dulls a knife in short order.

[tonyd453]

Thanks for the replies.

[dadret]

Hobby Lobby sells a "foam cutting knife" for about $6.00 that works great on cutting foamboard.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by MisterBeasley

A hot wire cutter works great, but it can only go 6 inches in from the edge.

Oooo, be careful if you do that!!! Hot wire cutters are great, but only use them on Woodland Scenics sheet goods. If you use them on any other kinds of foam, toxic gasses will be released from the foam!

Woodland Scenics makes a foam knife, but its blade might not be long enough for 2" foam (the blade is ABOUT 2", but I'm not looking at one and that's just an educated guess. Look at a description of it on Walthers; that might say how long it is).