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Step 2: Arms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Step 6: .................................................................................................................. 8
Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
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http://www.instructables.com/id/Adjustable-Hotwire-Foam-Cutter-with-Fence/
Intro: Adjustable Hotwire Foam Cutter with Fence
Initially starting with Creativeman’s Mighty Goliath I decided to create a foam cutter that was adjustable for various angles, had a fence to facilitate straight cuts, made
removal and installation of the hotwire easy, and folded for taking less space when stored. Additionally, I wanted the table to be an element unto itself – the idea was to
use a battery charger as my transformer, along with a separate control box and foot pedal (that are used in other projects) so that I would not have to have a single
power source and controller for the three tools I use them with.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Adjustable-Hotwire-Foam-Cutter-with-Fence/
Step 2: Arms
1.A small spring at the top of the arm puts some pressure on the wire and will take up slack as the wire heats up – I use #10 guitar string and also bought #12, 14 and 16.
This #10 cuts well even with multiple layers (up to 4 inches thick) so I haven’t tried anything else. The wire arm is adjustable past 45 degrees however you have to keep
in mind that you must cut in-line or parallel to the axis of the arm – meaning the fence has to be parallel to the bolt on which the arm rotates to have a true 45 degree cut.
I put witness marks in ink on the back of the lower support that the vertical arm is bolted to. The lower attachment is a smooth shank bolt, screwed into the lower vertical
arm that the wire wraps around and continues over to a small cable clamp. The clamp makes it easy to adjust the tension of the wire and bolt gives the wire something
smooth to curve around and provides good contact for electricity. The lead is attached with a small bolt to the head of the smooth shank bolt after drilling and tapping it. I
attached it to that instead of the aluminum bar as the bolt is not tightened down and doesn’t have good electrical contact to the bar – again it’s purpose is to give the
wire a smooth radius to pull around as it goes to the clamp. This bolt should be on the same axis of the adjustable arm but even if it isn’t the spring on the top arm will
stretch to compensate for the wire being pulled tighter when you reposition the arm.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Adjustable-Hotwire-Foam-Cutter-with-Fence/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Adjustable-Hotwire-Foam-Cutter-with-Fence/
Step 3: Battery Charger Connections
1. Two bolts at the ends of the leads (white wires that follow the two horizontal arms) are where the leads for my battery charger are attached. This is the same spot you
could attach your configuration of a power supply and control box (transformer and dimmer switch for example).
http://www.instructables.com/id/Adjustable-Hotwire-Foam-Cutter-with-Fence/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Adjustable-Hotwire-Foam-Cutter-with-Fence/
Step 5: Foot Pedal
1. A very beneficial addition to any hotwire system is a foot pedal – credit for this idea goes to this website;
http://www.horrorseek.com/home/halloween/wolfstone/HalloweenTech/fotmak_MakingFoamTools.html - I got some great information from these folks. For any of you
working with foam I highly recommend a foot pedal, I cannot emphasize just how handy it is. For the pedal to work I have a light switch (common in older Italian homes)
that is a simple spring contact switch – push and hold to turn it on. To disconnect the pedal from the rest of the system I used an old lever-type switch (see inside box in
previous step) that my grandfather had amongst his bits and pieces collected over many years in refrigeration (Depression Era folks didn’t throw anything away, luckily
for me). When the switch is closed electricity flows through it but when open electricity can only pass through the foot pedal. A regular plug could be used in place of my
three-pronged telephone plug, but I wanted something that couldn’t be accidently plugged into with anything else. Again, I am not an electrician and am not including any
schematics here. A basic idea of wiring is all I used and you would need to adapt your materials to your use. My stuff is a bit different as I live in Italy.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Adjustable-Hotwire-Foam-Cutter-with-Fence/
Step 6:
1. This is how the system looks when connected. The battery charger is plugged into the box and the box is plugged into a regular wall outlet. The foot pedal is plugged
into the box and the lever switch inside the box is opened. The leads to the battery charger are connected to the bolts on the arms of the cut table, and I am set. Before
actually cutting any pieces I make a few test cuts to make sure the wire isn’t too hot for the type and thickness of foam I am cutting. As far as storage, with the wire
loosened from the cable clamp and the arm resting all the way down against the table this table (hanging vertically) takes up about 6 inches of wall space.
I welcome any corrections, comments, or alternate ideas!
http://www.instructables.com/id/Adjustable-Hotwire-Foam-Cutter-with-Fence/
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Comments
17 comments Add Comment
Thanks in advance
John
http://www.instructables.com/id/Adjustable-Hotwire-Foam-Cutter-with-Fence/
jafo says: Jun 4, 2010. 10:12 PM REPLY
So, let me see if this is right. You are using the complete #10 guitar string length, and 12 volts DC for cutting. Do you know what the string resistance is?
While the foot pedal is a good idea, is it necessary to use the pedal on and off to keep the wire at cutting temperature, or is that just a safe way to insure that
it is not left in the on position? BTW, I like the fact that you can pour complex parts with the foam variation of the "lost wax" method of making jewelery. Very
clever! How small (diameter) must you maintain to get a guaranteed good pour? I too, am pleased with the nice workmanship of this project.. One last
question. Other than sand, what material would you use to make smaller aluminum castings if you had to make a small part?
I built this foam cutter to supplement my metal-melting hobby. Basic pattern making for aluminum casting generally involves making a pattern out
of wood then putting this pattern in a 2-part sand mold, packing the sand around the pattern, then opening the mold and removing the pattern.
Then you pour molten aluminum in that empty space and once it cools you have a copy in aluminum of your original pattern. The big benefit of
foam however, is that you do not have to remove the form from the sand - you just pour the molten aluminum on top of it and it vaporizes instantly
(molten alum being around 700 degrees), filling that space with the metal. It makes it MUCH easier to create complex shapes (I also use a hot
glue gun to attach foam-to-foam pieces, the glue melts/vaporizes also) that might prove very difficult to remove from the sand without ruining the
sand mold.
I included a picture of a couple of things I have made in aluminum, they are exact replicas of what the foam pattern looked like. Regarding
the metal gear blank - I used adhesive spray to glue a white paper gear blank to a foam circle and followed that outline with the hotwire
cutter. The gear was a missing piece in a set of compound gears on my metal lathe. I wanted to cut a particular thread on my lathe and of
course Murphy decided I needed that one missing gear to cut that particular thread. While generally one would machine-cut the teeth on a blank
metal circle, I didn't have that setup. It wasn't perfect (I made three patterns, used the best one, and still did a bit of hand-filing to get that good
one to run smooth), but in the end it worked. Yes, I could have bought one and saved myself quite a bit of time but what fun would that be? The
main reason is that, though - to create patterns for metal casting. An added benefit is that this cutter keeps my 6 year-old son occupied cutting
three scrap pieces of foam into 30000 totally useless little pieces while I work on other projects in my shop :) It is pretty easy for my kids to
manipulate too!
http://www.instructables.com/id/Adjustable-Hotwire-Foam-Cutter-with-Fence/
plasticisfantastic says: Feb 28, 2010. 5:12 PM REPLY
Thanks for your posting. Is it possible the pdf is broken? can not download
http://www.instructables.com/id/Adjustable-Hotwire-Foam-Cutter-with-Fence/