{"id":1061,"date":"2022-11-06T02:57:39","date_gmt":"2022-11-06T02:57:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/Home\/?page_id=1061"},"modified":"2024-03-10T01:43:29","modified_gmt":"2024-03-10T01:43:29","slug":"building-a-hotwire-foam-cutter","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/Home\/building-a-hotwire-foam-cutter\/","title":{"rendered":"Building a Hotwire Foam Cutter"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"1061\" class=\"elementor elementor-1061\" data-elementor-post-type=\"page\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-bb1729c elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"bb1729c\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-33 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-96daef5\" data-id=\"96daef5\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f83920a elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"f83920a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.22.0 - 26-06-2024 *\/\n.elementor-widget-image{text-align:center}.elementor-widget-image a{display:inline-block}.elementor-widget-image a img[src$=\".svg\"]{width:48px}.elementor-widget-image img{vertical-align:middle;display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"186\" src=\"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Hotwire-Cutter-300x186.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium wp-image-1124\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Hotwire-Cutter-300x186.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Hotwire-Cutter-1024x636.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Hotwire-Cutter-768x477.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Hotwire-Cutter.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-fa5208c elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"fa5208c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"217\" src=\"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Attachment-Detail-300x217.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium wp-image-1123\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Attachment-Detail-300x217.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Attachment-Detail-1024x740.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Attachment-Detail-768x555.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Attachment-Detail.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1740d77 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"1740d77\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"278\" src=\"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Monochrome-Wire-300x278.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium wp-image-1125\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Monochrome-Wire-300x278.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Monochrome-Wire-1024x948.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Monochrome-Wire-768x711.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Monochrome-Wire.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-66 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-b8eeb89\" data-id=\"b8eeb89\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-da6ca6d elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"da6ca6d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.22.0 - 26-06-2024 *\/\n.elementor-heading-title{padding:0;margin:0;line-height:1}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title[class*=elementor-size-]>a{color:inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-small{font-size:15px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-medium{font-size:19px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-large{font-size:29px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xl{font-size:39px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xxl{font-size:59px}<\/style><h4 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Building a Hotwire Foam Cutter<\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9fd75ea elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"9fd75ea\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.22.0 - 26-06-2024 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<p>Hot wire foam cutters apply electrical current through a tightly strung monchrome wire making it very hot.\u00a0 When slid along a template such as my radiator shape or a wing rib, it slices through foam like a hot knife through butter.<\/p><p>While one can always simply carve the foam to the desired shape without a hotwire cutter, anytime you have a very specific shape or need to produce multiple foam pieces that are all identical, the hotwire foam cutter really pays off.\u00a0<\/p><p>In my case, it&#8217;s only one item and I could easily have carved and sanded it to the desired shape, but I already had the wood bucks so why not?\u00a0 It will make it so much easier.<\/p><p>The build is very simple.\u00a0 I used 1&#8243; PVC with 90 degree elbows at each end.\u00a0<\/p><p>Eyebolts were attached at either end that accepted one wire from the power supply and also was used to string the monochrome wire.\u00a0 I used 22g monochrome wire I bought from Amazon.<\/p><p>I had a variable electrical power supply I used for some crazy idea experiments of the past laying around so I planned on using it to provide the 12V at 5 amps.\u00a0 Unfortunately, it would not go that high so I bought one from Amazon.<\/p><p>The wires run inside each end and come out together at one end and make their way to the power supply.\u00a0 The monochrome is stretched across the back-prebowed 1&#8243; PVC.\u00a0 I heated it with a heat gun while bowing it backwards.\u00a0 Be careful not to heat it up to much or you will get a kink like I did.\u00a0 I caught it quickly though and let it cool, so no real damage was done.\u00a0 That way when you attach the monochrome wire, pull it real tight so the PVC frame straightens itself out thereby keeping tension on the wire.\u00a0 This guarantees the best and most true cut when following your template.<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-3d566c0 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"3d566c0\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-33 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-c83d5e5\" data-id=\"c83d5e5\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6c5d52c elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"6c5d52c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Completed-Hotwire-Cutter-300x225.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium wp-image-1207\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Completed-Hotwire-Cutter-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Completed-Hotwire-Cutter-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Completed-Hotwire-Cutter-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Completed-Hotwire-Cutter.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8269d0a elementor-widget elementor-widget-video\" data-id=\"8269d0a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;youtube_url&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/youtu.be\\\/CcyOn-bPj8A&quot;,&quot;video_type&quot;:&quot;youtube&quot;,&quot;controls&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"video.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.22.0 - 26-06-2024 *\/\n.elementor-widget-video .elementor-widget-container{overflow:hidden;transform:translateZ(0)}.elementor-widget-video .elementor-wrapper{aspect-ratio:var(--video-aspect-ratio)}.elementor-widget-video .elementor-wrapper iframe,.elementor-widget-video .elementor-wrapper video{height:100%;width:100%;display:flex;border:none;background-color:#000}@supports not (aspect-ratio:1\/1){.elementor-widget-video .elementor-wrapper{position:relative;overflow:hidden;height:0;padding-bottom:calc(100% \/ var(--video-aspect-ratio))}.elementor-widget-video .elementor-wrapper iframe,.elementor-widget-video .elementor-wrapper video{position:absolute;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;left:0}}.elementor-widget-video .elementor-open-inline .elementor-custom-embed-image-overlay{position:absolute;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;left:0;background-size:cover;background-position:50%}.elementor-widget-video .elementor-custom-embed-image-overlay{cursor:pointer;text-align:center}.elementor-widget-video .elementor-custom-embed-image-overlay:hover 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class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c9a8cf2 elementor-widget elementor-widget-video\" data-id=\"c9a8cf2\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;youtube_url&quot;:&quot; https:\\\/\\\/youtu.be\\\/CcyOn-bPj8A &quot;,&quot;video_type&quot;:&quot;youtube&quot;,&quot;controls&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"video.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-wrapper elementor-open-inline\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-video\"><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-66 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-96c33f7\" data-id=\"96c33f7\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-21039e4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"21039e4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Nov 11<\/strong><\/p><p>My new power supply arrived today so I was eager to plug it in and get on with it.\u00a0 But of course, nothing goes according to plan.<\/p><p>Once connected, it started to work but then stopped.\u00a0 I was puzzled and decided the pin connector on the power supply was at fault, so I cut it off and hardwired the power supply directly to my foam cutter wires.\u00a0 I did it all properly with solder, heat shrink sleeves and then wrapped it in wire tape.\u00a0 While I was at it, I cut off the monochrome wire, and restrung a new piece on with much greater tension.\u00a0<\/p><p>When I plugged it in this time, everything worked as planned.\u00a0 You can smell the burning wire as it heats so you know it&#8217;s working.\u00a0 The foam gives off very harmful fumes so I put on my respirator for good measure.<\/p><p>The cutter worked well enough, albeit not as quickly as I had expected.\u00a0 I found I had to move the hotwire up and down to get it to move along the template.\u00a0 In all honesty, I could have just whacked off the excess foam with my knife and then sanded down the foam in far less time than it took to build this contraption and perform the\u00a0 cut on my radiator project.<\/p><p>I had built a hotwire foam cutter about 30 years ago, and it seemed it worked better then.\u00a0 But I wasn&#8217;t cutting through three-inch thick foam back then so that might be why it went slower.<\/p><p>Once again, I reminded myself, I am doing this for the learning experience.\u00a0 I believe there will be plenty more opportunities to cut more parts, so I am still glad I built this so it&#8217;s plug-in ready for the next project.<\/p><p>So I&#8217;ll call this a success and move on.<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Building a Hotwire Foam Cutter Hot wire foam cutters apply electrical current through a tightly strung monchrome wire making it very hot.\u00a0 When slid along a template such as my radiator shape or a wing rib, it slices through foam like a hot knife through butter. While one can always simply carve the foam to &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/Home\/building-a-hotwire-foam-cutter\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Building a Hotwire Foam Cutter<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"no-sidebar","site-content-layout":"page-builder","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1061","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1061"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1061\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1213,"href":"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1061\/revisions\/1213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}