hot wire foam cutter

[Anonymous]

I am wanting to make my own hot wire foam cutter. Does anybody have plans on how to do so??

[Anonymous]

I am wanting to make my own hot wire foam cutter. Does anybody have plans on how to do so??

[Anonymous]

www.micromark.com sells one for around 25 bucks which is cheaper than trying to piece one together. Also, they are hot and dangerous and if you do it wrong the Emergency Room or undertaker will eat up any possible savings.

[Anonymous]

www.micromark.com sells one for around 25 bucks which is cheaper than trying to piece one together. Also, they are hot and dangerous and if you do it wrong the Emergency Room or undertaker will eat up any possible savings.

[Anonymous]

I got a battery-powered one from Michael's (an artsy-craftsy type store) - sposed to be used for cutting foam that they poke fake flowers into or something. It was under 10 bucks, as I recall, and comes with 2-3 extra nichrome wires. It has enough 'depth' to handle 2" thick foam, and about 3" or so 'reach'. It uses 2 D batteries, don't know how long they last because I've never replaced them, but am hapy with how long they've lasted so far.

I've also made my own foam 'gouger', to use for cutting out streams, etc. I used my soldering gun (not iron) that has replacable tips held in place with two set screws, which I removed. I took a hunk of 16AWG solid wire, stripped off the insulation (duh), and bent into the shape of the 'gouge' I wanted, with the ends bent so it would slip into the soldering gun. Works pretty slick, and I can just put the soldering tip back in to convert it back to a soldering gun.

[Anonymous]

I got a battery-powered one from Michael's (an artsy-craftsy type store) - sposed to be used for cutting foam that they poke fake flowers into or something. It was under 10 bucks, as I recall, and comes with 2-3 extra nichrome wires. It has enough 'depth' to handle 2" thick foam, and about 3" or so 'reach'. It uses 2 D batteries, don't know how long they last because I've never replaced them, but am hapy with how long they've lasted so far.

I've also made my own foam 'gouger', to use for cutting out streams, etc. I used my soldering gun (not iron) that has replacable tips held in place with two set screws, which I removed. I took a hunk of 16AWG solid wire, stripped off the insulation (duh), and bent into the shape of the 'gouge' I wanted, with the ends bent so it would slip into the soldering gun. Works pretty slick, and I can just put the soldering tip back in to convert it back to a soldering gun.

[AltonFan]

Craftsman used to make a heat gun, which had a foam cutting attachment.

I've never used mine, but one need to exercise great care in using such a device. There potential for injury is great.

[AltonFan]

Craftsman used to make a heat gun, which had a foam cutting attachment.

I've never used mine, but one need to exercise great care in using such a device. There potential for injury is great.

[ndbprr]

I just saw a URL on the internet where someone made one using a soldering iron. The trick was to use stranded wire roughly the diameter of the soldering tip and remove the insulation from the area where you want the hot wire to be and remove all but one strand. It would then heat up at the single strand allowing any shape or depth to be made. Because the wire is thicker than most commerical nichrome wires (typically .010-.030") it takes a little longer to cut through foam but it would allow special shapes like for cutting the banks between multiple tracks at the same time. the higher number of strands in the wire the more heat would be generated in the cutting area by removing all but one strand.

[ndbprr]

I just saw a URL on the internet where someone made one using a soldering iron. The trick was to use stranded wire roughly the diameter of the soldering tip and remove the insulation from the area where you want the hot wire to be and remove all but one strand. It would then heat up at the single strand allowing any shape or depth to be made. Because the wire is thicker than most commerical nichrome wires (typically .010-.030") it takes a little longer to cut through foam but it would allow special shapes like for cutting the banks between multiple tracks at the same time. the higher number of strands in the wire the more heat would be generated in the cutting area by removing all but one strand.