KwartzLab Makerspace » polystyrene http://www.kwartzlab.ca Home of Kwartzlab Makerspace in Kitchener/Waterloo, Ontario Sun, 19 May 2013 23:30:01 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 Regular discussions with hackers, makers and artists at the Kwartzlab Makerspace. We talk about what projects people are working on, what events are coming up and how you can get involved. kwartzlab no kwartzlab podcast@kwartzlab.ca podcast@kwartzlab.ca (kwartzlab) A hackerspace radio show kwartzlab, hackerspace, makerspace, diy, hardware, software, maker, hacker, artist, roundtable KwartzLab Makerspace » polystyrene http://www.kwartzlab.ca/wp-content/uploads/powerpress/light_box_logo.jpg http://www.kwartzlab.ca Kitchener, ON Hot Wire Polystyrene Foam Cutter Build http://www.kwartzlab.ca/2011/01/hot-wire-polystyrene-foam-cutt/ http://www.kwartzlab.ca/2011/01/hot-wire-polystyrene-foam-cutt/#comments Mon, 10 Jan 2011 06:54:19 +0000 karlw A small commercial hot wire Styrofoam cutter I was looking at was priced at $53 and had a small cutting length of 4.5 inches. For an upcoming project, I need to cut polystyrene foam with a thickness of 8 inches so I decided to build one myself.

cutter1

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Remembering that Darin White had built a hot wire cutter for his animeyes project, I sent him a message and he emailed me a more detailed picture of his device to use as a guide. I picked up a used hair dryer at the thrift store for $3 and harvested the nichrome wire to use as the hot wire. Nichrome wire is used in heating elements, because of two important properties: it is a poor conductor of electricity and it does not oxidize when heated. The chemical composition of nichrome (NiCrA) is 80% Ni, 20% Cr with an Approximate Melting Point of 1400 deg C. The nichrome wire in the hair dryer was coiled so I put one end in a vice and then pulled hard on the other end to straighten it out.

cutter2

I found an old computer power supply in the free junk box to use as the power source. It took about 2 hours to cut some scrap wood on the band saw, drill the holes and wire up the 5 Volt DC output from the power supply. The bottom wire holder cross piece is fixed to the handle and the top piece is hinged so that the spring on the right pulls the nichrome wire taut.

foamhead

slices

Karl Williams

]]> A small commercial hot wire Styrofoam cutter I was looking at was priced at $53 and had a small cutting length of 4.5 inches. For an upcoming project, I need to cut polystyrene foam with a thickness of 8 inches so I decided to build one myself.

cutter1

 

Remembering that Darin White had built a hot wire cutter for his animeyes project, I sent him a message and he emailed me a more detailed picture of his device to use as a guide. I picked up a used hair dryer at the thrift store for $3 and harvested the nichrome wire to use as the hot wire. Nichrome wire is used in heating elements, because of two important properties: it is a poor conductor of electricity and it does not oxidize when heated. The chemical composition of nichrome (NiCrA) is 80% Ni, 20% Cr with an Approximate Melting Point of 1400 deg C. The nichrome wire in the hair dryer was coiled so I put one end in a vice and then pulled hard on the other end to straighten it out.

cutter2

I found an old computer power supply in the free junk box to use as the power source. It took about 2 hours to cut some scrap wood on the band saw, drill the holes and wire up the 5 Volt DC output from the power supply. The bottom wire holder cross piece is fixed to the handle and the top piece is hinged so that the spring on the right pulls the nichrome wire taut.

foamhead

slices

Karl Williams

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