My DIY hot wire foam cutter made from leftover EPP foam, works very well (9)

I made a foam cutter from some leftover EPP foam and two threaded rods, I just pushed the rods through the foam. You can make it any size you want. Then add some tungsten wire between the threaded rods. Make sure that you use a foam that is flexible enough because you need to squeeze the foam a bit when you install the tungsten wire. The wire needs some mechanical tension after it's installed because it will expand a bit when it gets hot. Connect 5 volts DC (old PC power supply) at the bottom from the threaded rods. When you use a much longer tungsten wire you will need to use 12 Volt.

The big advantage from my D.I.Y. Design is that you can adjust the width by sticking the rods in a bigger piece of foam but you can also adjust the height by turning the bolts higher or lower on the steel rods, so you can cut square blocks of foam but also thin slices of foam And cutting in an angle is no problem at all. So it is ideal for cutting edges on the wings of an RC plane.

It does not work with 12 volt straight DC when you use a small wire to cut the foam, the wire will get too hot and snap. I am using the 5.34 volt output from an old PC power supply.

Feel free to use my design for personal use, but you can't and may not claim or patent it because it is my design and my intellectual property.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• D.I.Y.
• Foam
• cutter
• EPP
• DEPRON
• airplane
• RC
• Cheapest
• Hot
• wire

[xXDarkMidnightSunXx]

Don't tase me bro!

lol, that actually looks kind of cool.

[insAneTunA]

@xXDarkMidnightSunXx Thx, and it worked just fine for me, those foam cutters are not very expensive to buy but still it's easy to make one yourself. Most computer owners have all the materials needed in their homes or garage. The most important things are that the voltage must be lower when a short cutting wire from approx 20 cm. is used, and the amperage must be high enough. The specs from an old PC power supply are perfect. Enough amps and two different usable voltages.

[johnstarnes]

How does it work?

[insAneTunA]

@johnstarnes Stick some threaded rods through some EPP foam. At the bottom you connect around 5 volt DC to each threaded rod (old PC power supply) and at the top (the longer threaded rods) you add a tungsten wire. A wire that gets hot but doesn't burn away. Just ask for hot wirecutter wire at the hobby shop, it's cheap. The EPP foam works perfect because when you install the wire you can squeeze the foam a bit. Because the tungsten wire needs a little mechanical tension after it's installed.

[c0ldelement]

Alittle over dramatic for a piece of foam and 2 bolts dont you think?

[insAneTunA]

hahahaha

[linutas]

two bolts and a piece of foam. brilliant

[clampsrobot]

Very clever :) Now you have me thinking...

[insAneTunA]

@bjones625 It's a standard soundtrack that comes with the editing software that I used for this video. I have no idea how it's called. Soon I hope to have have my own music, I mean with rights owned by yours truly. A friend is helping me out with some music. Sorry that I can't tell you more about the music. You can always record it with some audio software.

Greets, iT

[insAneTunA]

I think you should build one if you want to see it in action. I don't have a use for it at the moment. I did what I had to do. Besides that, I can't film it in action, I don't have a computer with a camera where I did my foam cutting. I just wanted to share my idea with other people.

Greets, iT