Dec
6

Animeyes – Hotwire foam cutting and iris application

By DW

I hooked up the hotwire foam cutter I made last week. After considering building a FET-driven circuit to regulate temperature, I opted for the simpler approach of just putting 5V across it from a PC power supply.

The background noise is my homebrew ventilation system running. Expanded polystyrene (EPS), which we know by the more familiar trademark Styrofoam, when burned at low temps, like this, creates CO and other nasty fumes. So crack a window.

Stills after the break…

Here are some trials with their irises applied. I made relief cuts around the iris to better form to the curve and then applied them to the styrofoam. Used both glossy and matte Mod Podge glue applied with a brush.

The hotwire does a beautiful cut. Much nicer than the hacksaw blade. I found through trials that you need to be deliberate with the wire cut and not dilly-dally, otherwise you overcut due to the radiant heat.