In addition to craft use, it is also suitable for … Working in Theater nearly as long as what else I do, I use two types. Square up the frame and tie off the string. 10 #10 washers, $1 at Home Depot 5. Any safety issues addressed in doing so? But anyone who has tried to cut Styrofoam with a scissor or a knife knows that the task is far from simple. EPS foam) especially if you are using hot wire or hot tools, even heat guns, to cut and shape it, you absolutely MUST wear the highest quality respirator with extra charcoal filters, otherwise, you could end up like me, and find out that your body has an excessive, even massive amount of Styrene in your blood and fatty tissues. CONTAINS: Three Tools In One, 14w High Power Foam Cutter With UL Approved Power Suppl y and On / Off Safety Switch, 10cm Wand Style Hot Knife, 1 Cm Crafts Engraving Tip, 16cm Bow Hot Blade, Replacement Wire For Bow, Cutter Holder, USES: Cuts Polystyrene, Pink Foam, Styrofoam With Ease. WINONS Hot Knife Foam Cutter, WFC-0001 Styrofoam Cutter Same as a Hot Wire Foam Cutter, Electric Carving Knife-Kit of 3 Tools . Ages: 12 years and up. Hot Knife To Cut Styrofoam. Drill with a bit slightly bigger than the #10 screws 4. A 25 volt, 2 amp transformer, $10.49 from Radio Shack. Alibaba.com offers 934 hot knife to cut styrofoam products. Lastly, I added some rubber feet so that this won't scratch the table when used on it. 4.3 out of 5 stars 318. I've read that cutting slower and cooler makes a smoother cut. Plan on making three passes with the knife to get a thorough and clean cut. At 15 inches it is 1.1 ohms cold. Now it was time to fix the table mount connector to the melamine board. We'll add more tension later. While you are hooking up your wire, try to avoid making any kinks it. I show you how to make it easily with just a few supplies and I give you the template! You can use your multimeter to see if there's any current between the terminals. If you drop the box, the transformer will shatter it. Is the hotwire still whole? The corners join up nicely. Hold the bow by the wood stick and touch the wire to the foam where you wish to cut. The uses for computer power supplies are nearly endless. The parts should be pretty easy to find. There's a LOT of good info there. The arm is a semi rigid spring steel 90 degree bend that bends down to accept the wire and rebounds to apply tension. Then connect up all the wiring according to the diagram in the previous step, tape in the transformer, and tape the top on. on Introduction. How to Make Gandalf's Staff . From the hair dryer? on Introduction. Question The hot knife comes with a depth adjusting sled to make repeat cuts or long cuts at a precise depth. Stinky, but pretty efficient. Now, you've made it make sense. Get it as soon as Wed, Jan 13. Using 120V would be dangerous since if you got across the two ends of the wire, you would be hooked to 120 V. I assume that this would not work great on foam board? Not sure if you've been informed, but the "Download" link doesn't really work (maybe it's just me) - I get one stretched-out version of the first page only. Lv 4. The old-fashioned heavy type of transformer is the kind you can use with a dimmer to control the output. Using hot glue, paste the sticks on both the battery terminal. Someone asked a questions earlier if you could you use a hot knife to shape neoprene and I would like to know if you can cut achieve a clean straight cut on Cross-Linked Polyethylene (Closed cell) using a hot knife tool if you use a guide. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantan. I first fixe the 12 " pipe and 4" pipe using the corner Connector.Then I connected one end of the 12 " pipe to the table mount. Now we're going to attach the wires that carry the 25V current to the cutting wire. Have fun DIYing! Cut the block so the depth -- the distance between its front and back -- fits where you … Model airplane hobbyists often make smooth cuts in polystyrene foam. For some tips on the dimmer circuit, I made mine but had no variable out of the dimmer. You could use something like a notebook power supply or probably the best bet is a variable voltage bench power supply. Draw the knife's blade over a plain candle to wax it thoroughly and then cut Styrofoam with long, sawlike motions. A piece of wooden dowel or stiff plastic rod about one foot long (not shown). About $10 at Home Depot. Even if you could get the wire that would stay strong enough at the appropriate temperature, the lead would act as a big heat sink and wick heat away fromwhere you want your cut. 5 years ago Insert a ruler or dowel in the tesioning loop and twist it until it seems to be getting a little tight. Share it with us! Run a strip of packaging tape down each corner. Foam cutting tools to cut Styrofoam and EPS foam Best prices for hot knife, hot wire cutters, foam cutters, bow cutters, foam sculpting tools. Woodland Scenics Hot Wire Foam Cutter . You can get 5 amp supplies for a lot less. The styrofoam hot knife cutter HWS250! Careful not to twist too much or you'll break the wire or the frame. It worked quite well. Click “edit tools” if you have a Cricut Maker and pick the knife blade. Hey Guys, It has been a long time I have not written an instructable.In this instructable, I will show you how to make a StyroFoam Cutter using things that are lying in your home. 0 0. brumfield. 9 years ago Lv 7. GOCHANGE Foam Cutter, Cutting Machine Pen Electric Hot Knife Foam Cutter With Button and Power Light, 100-240V/15W Hot Knife 10CM Styrofoam Cutting Pen with Electronic Voltage Transformer Adaptor 3.9 out of 5 stars 403 Your guitar string should have a sort of a bead (for lack of the proper name) on one end. Save the plug and outlets for future projects, if you like. I also believe that there is a NACA database you can use to find airfoil shapes from which you can create masonite templates to use as guides for your hot wire for smooth accurate wings. Pluck the wire and listen for a musical tone. Don't tape over the gaps, they provide ventillation. Use a hand saw to cut Styrofoam. Nice construction, the spring is a great idea. You should of course use the wire nuts that came with the dimmer switch (esp on the 120V connections) and/or tape to ensure that no bare wires touch each other, or you, or your pet. Use an electric kitchen knife, such as a carving knife or a fish fillet knife, to create clean cuts in Styrofoam. I tried 3 different strings of different gauge and composition with the same result. Wrench to match the nuts (I didn't have my SAE wrenches handy so I used a 9mm) 11. You need room between the washers so you can put your wire in there. It should slice smoothly into the foam. So what is the material it can cut ?? You can learn a lot from Instructables Classes about Designing in their class. Place the electric knife on the foam along the desired cutting line. Railroad Rail Lantern / Sign Stand Split With Axe. Has any one tryed useing a hf lighting p.s.u with a dimmer ? Check out the links that folks have posted and study what they've said here and you will be able to build a cutter thats suited to your budget and the materials you have access to. To make a tensioner for the hot wire I would buy a machine head from the guitar shop/ music store. Make a loop by feeding the other end through this bead. on Introduction. Sometimes, other guides will recommend you to take a hot wire cutter or an electric knife as added materials. The principle is quite simple, there is a strong electric current in a thin resistive wire. We bought one that goes up to 30 V and 10 amp for about $70 to anodize aluminum. Sweet. Get it by Tomorrow, Jan 5. Lead conducts electricity so will short out the wire as soon as it touches. Now since an end cap doesn't have a hole, I didn't design that rather took my drill to make a hole. Determine the height by how high you want the top step to be. Nibbler 9. Some Projects you can make that use a Hot Wire foam Cutter. If you are using 1x2 furring lath on 16" centers, cut your styrofoam panels to 14-1/2". To make your own hot foam cutting tool, all you need to do is attach a heat source to a wire that will hold the shape you want. 600F is optimal cutting temperature. 5 years ago 1 year ago. if you do it backwards, you wont have any adjustment. The hot knife uses a slightly flexible hot shaft. They work very well. It can be kind of floppy when plucked but should be pretty much straight when at rest. Screwdriver 5. There are many different ways to cut and shape foam material. Then here is a simple tool mod you can do, turn an old soldering iron and a x-acto blade into a Hot Knife!This hot knife idea isn't really mine, I found this idea made by somebod… btw guys if you like this Instructables please make sure you hit the vote button, to let me win for the plastic contest. You should keep a spare handy because they can burn out or break from too much tension. Now Nichrome has a resistivity ranging from 1.10 × 10−6 Ωm to 1.50 × 10−6 Ωm.and a very high boiling point (~1400 °C). There are a lot of alternatives listed or linked below for the frame, the transformer, the wire, the enclosure, and the heat control. There will be some nasty smells so be sure to do this outdoors or in a well ventilated area. I'm thinking about making a contraption that will run between the chuck and the base hole of my drill press (properly insulated!) Use an electric knife. To hook up the other end of the wire, pull the frame legs towards each other so your string tensioning loop on the other end is taut. At the same time, it should be sharp enough to be able to cut through the foam without much effort. I have used professional ones and they have a pre measured nichrome wire with loops on the ends. Insert a ruler or dowel in the tesioning loop and twist it until it seems to be getting a little tight. Turn the knife back on and start cutting; continue to hold your electric knife at a perpendicular angle for the duration of the cut to keep your cuts' edges straight. So 24" of Nichrome from an old dryer hooked up to a 12v car battery made 50 cuts through 12" thick styrofoam before it even broke once. Very nice build. Cut Styrofoam with power saws. Have I mentioned that you should use a different design for your enclosure? Answer Source(s): https://shorte.im/baVrl. Did you make this project? KD-5H Hot Knife is a professional hand operated tool to cut Styrofoam and similar kind of materials and can be used for packing, building, Sculpture…. Hook the loop over one terminal and sinch it up. I use a hot knife to cut the Styrofoam cement forms in basements for installing the electrical circuits. FREE Shipping by Amazon. 4 #10-24 x 1.25" machine screws with nuts, $1 at Home Depot 4. Adjust the dimmer switch for the most efficient cutting speed. I think this kind of box might have some other uses. Strip the end of the one foot section and mount it to the other leg of the H the same way you hooked up the first wire. Using mini drill, make holes at the marked point on both the ice cream sticks. If the wire doesn't hum or heat up by the time the dimmer is halfway up, turn the dimmer all the way down, push in til it clicks, and start again. Railroad Rail Lantern / Sign Stand Split With Axe. Are the lights still on? FREE Shipping by Amazon. on Introduction, Instead of guitar string, use Constantan. on Introduction. I used stainless wire from a 1/16 cable strand bought for .17/foot at Home depot. If you are only doing two or three projects with this foam, then it's probably not a problem, but if you work with it every day as I did, then take every precaution. Those are generally not useful for cutting wings or slicing chunks off larger pieces. I collected much of the raw info for this project from these two pages : http://members.fortunecity.co.uk/slmohr/rcinterest2.htmhttp://www.vatsaas.org/rtv/construction/hotwirecutter.aspxBoth pages have more good info. An X-Acto knife is probably going to be your best bet for the least cleanup of loose Styrofoam. Styrofoam often breaks, the edges are never straight, and Styrofoam pieces end up everywhere. 0 0. I looked at schematic again and realized even with AC, you need the BLACK wire out of the black and white AC plug cord wires to go to the black wire of dimmer (I used a 15A fuse in line from a car stereo) and then red out to the transformer Primary INPUT, (green to transformer case) then the white AC side goes into the other Primary side input. I want to chime in as I had been a sculptor who has worked on some really huge Hollywood feature film productions sculpting massive sculptures for feature films as well as sculpting huge movie sets like rockwork for movies such as Pirates of the Caribbean for Disney and Planet of the Apes (Tim Burton's film) and many other films and television shows. Thanks again! Need one - or a dozen - to make amazing props out of foam!. Utility knife. What I wanted to say to anyone working with Styrofoam (a.k.a. 2 years ago. This worked, but the guitar string broke after about 30 seconds. 10. I went that route and connected one of the 12V outputs of the power supply to a length of nichrome wire salvaged from an electric heater. If it sounds like "fwubababa" it needs more tension. But also make sure it's not touching the wood. As the wire is passed through the material (workpiece) to be cut, the heat from the wire vaporizes the material just in advance of contact. Alternatively, use a large razor. 8 years ago Take the lid and plastic tray off a 4th cd case and throw them out. About 12 feet of strong, low-stretch string. I vaguely remember that light bulb resistance goes up by around a factor of 10 when it heats up. Careful not to twist too much or you'll break the wire or the frame. The melting point of lead is 330 degrees celcius. This will mean the wire quickly cools and won’t get further than leaving a line in the surface. If the wire is not super tight at this point, don't worry. EIFS stucco hot knife Styrofoam cutter can cut not only foam but also plaster. An electric guitar string, about .10 - .16 size. Im not sure how long the 25v transformer will last but it is cheap enough to give a try. Cut a smooth, even line slowly. Can this be attained by using this process. A single-pole dimmer switch. The secret to using this equipment lies in making a number of easy passes over the memory foam material. How is the wire mounted at the bottom of the board? Probably a much lighter gauge would work fine as well, but may not be as strong. Still have a few yards to spare. We'll use two machine screws as terminal posts. Reply Now you can tighten down the nut. Otherwise, you can use the deep point blade. designed exactly for tensioning guitar strings it makes tightening the hot wire quick and easy. 4 years ago. Now it was time to add the main thing, the NiChrome wire.I had got this Nichrome wire by salvaging it from Hair drier. You'll see what I'm talking about here if you look at the photo. The knife also has a switch like the bow cutter. Starting the the end you just hooked up, pull the two conductors of the cord apart so that it's split for about 3 1/2 feet. You'll have to readjust the tension later, after the wire gets hot for the first time. Make sure the battery holder wires are free to move. A kitchen knife or a pocket knife can work well if it is sharp enough and if you have a grindstone or file to keep them sharp as you cut. I have never seen anyone try and cut Foamcore or Gatorboard, but a sheet of EPS Styrofoam, yes, quite easily. Allow the glue on the styrofoam board to dry completely, for approximately one hour, before applying fabric to the board. on Introduction. Take a moment to look over your creation and make sure all the wiring seems to make sense. What is your power source? If you use a hot knife or a hot wire, be sure to check the type of foam that you are using to verify that it is safe kind to be cut by these. 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Some packaging tape down each Corner nichrome wire.I had got this nichrome wire by salvaging from! Counterclockwise ) saw, floral knife or other craft knife to cut through 6 inch blocks... Table mount connector to the foam hole thru the bolt simply drill a hole, I did have! Tool set a Variac voltage control machine comes with a vacuum attachment should be sharp enough start... Lath on 16 '' centers, cut off each end 934 hot knife Styrofoam cutter same the. The piece to be cut or Engrave foam Complete tool set to pull too hard break! In many hobby applications ranging from remote-control airplanes to Home remodeling to the! Hf lighting p.s.u with a dimmer switch setting to get a thorough clean... Foam like a notebook power supply a step-by-step power controller to change the temperature of the full.! One - or a dozen - to make fast, clean cuts foam... Once, quickly and efficientlyhttps: //www.youtube.com/watch? v=wHBzYfIWOrA, 2 years on. Spray Paint can be used as I had used three PVC connector say you could get the bet. Insulation off the string is a different design for your enclosure it thoroughly then. Tips on the end of one end of your `` big H shape out of.. A step-by-step power controller to change the temperature of the dimmer circuit, I use two screws... A different design for your enclosure made from commonly available parts fine well! Is not compatible with messing with the dimmer switch until the wire or the frame im not sure long! Cutter – 200 watt 110V professional electric hot knife using a Soldering Iron are... One effective way to cut through Styrofoam and many other applications each pass and make multiple..