How to make a styrofoam knife with your own hands. Homemade styrofoam cutters

We present to your attention a unique set: a foam cutter, a battery-powered soldering iron and a wood burner. A new development by Star Tec, which will definitely appeal to fans of crafts, pyrography and those who just work on creating original things with their own hands.

In fact, this multi-tool combines three tools, while remaining compact, easy to use and productive. And its main feature is the Plug and Start system, thanks to which you only need to change the tip of the main unit and you can work.

In the kit you will find:

And most importantly: the manufacturer does not limit the buyer only to this configuration. You can buy other nozzles of different shapes. All of them allow you to carry out truly jewelry work with high precision and very accurately.

Please note: the multitool is powered by 4 AA batteries, which are not included. They need to be purchased separately. You can also use AA batteries if you plan to use the tool frequently and don't want to buy new batteries regularly.

Naturally, you can separately buy a foam cutter, buy a battery-operated soldering iron and a burner. But you will have to spend an order of magnitude more, the ease of use is extremely doubtful, and the quality is not always at a high level. Here you can also purchase first-class products at an affordable cost from a world-famous manufacturer.

Application area

Of course, this is primarily a hobby tool, but the manufacturers made sure that the tool could be used more widely. At the moment, this is a great buy for advertising producers.

The multitool can be used to make:

Promotional materials made of polystyrene - three-dimensional letters and 3D objects; Bright and memorable signs; Advertising stands.

It is also used for original decoration of interiors and facades, creation of dummies and letters, impact-resistant packaging and the like. The scope of operation is limited only by your imagination and occupation. An excellent purchase for your money for everyone who is used to creating something new with their own hands and cannot imagine their life without it.

The advantages of buying a soldering iron or a foam cutter with your own hands in our company

At the moment, our offer is unique on the market.

A new product, which simply has no analogues and is unlikely to appear in the future. The original development of Star Tec, with which we cooperate directly and without intermediaries. Accordingly, we guarantee our customers the following benefits:

Prices from the manufacturer without unjustified markups and overpayments; 1 year warranty for each buyer; Products are shipped exclusively from Germany.

We will not deny that you can make a foam cutter with your own hands, and buy a soldering iron at a ridiculous price on some Chinese site. The question is, how high-quality, functional and reliable will such tools be? And are you ready to sacrifice the result for the sake of dubious savings?

Order a 3 in 1 multifunctional burner, cutter and soldering iron from us, work with pleasure and convenience, create something new and original every day!

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Polyfoam is used in many construction works. It has good thermal insulation.

However, this is a rather fragile and crumbling material. Therefore, when cutting it, special equipment is used. Otherwise, the edges will be uneven, and the material itself will lose its thermal insulation qualities at the joints.

Special equipment is on sale.

However, a foam cutter can be made independently. This will significantly save the family budget. How to create different options for a tool for cutting foam, it will be interesting for every craftsman to know.

Tool type

When creating a manual foam cutter, you should study the existing varieties of this tool. There are mechanical and electrical varieties. If the foam product is small in size, and the cutting accuracy is not so important, you can give preference to the first version of the tool.

However, in order to ensure a tight fit of the foam plates to each other, it is necessary to ensure high cutting accuracy. The edges must be smooth. In this case, it is possible to create a high quality insulation layer.

Its heat loss will be minimal. When cutting unevenly, large gaps form between the joints. Through them, the heat from the room will go outside.

Professional designers and builders use only electrical equipment for cutting foam. At home, it is quite possible to create a similar tool.

Simple electric cutter

When considering how to make a foam cutter, you should study the design of the simplest equipment of this class, which is powered by electricity. In this case, you will need to prepare a thin guitar string and several batteries (for example, from a flashlight).

The principle of operation of this equipment is simple. Battery construction forms a single unit.

A guitar string is connected to it. When electric current passes through the circuit, it will heat up. It is in this state that the string can easily cut the foam sheet.

When using such a tool, the material will melt. The string heats up to 120 ºС and even more. In this case, it is quite possible to cut several large foam plates.

If you need to perform a large amount of work, this option is not suitable. Batteries run out quickly. You will have to provide for the option of connecting the system to a household network.

Varieties of electric cutters

The electric foam cutter can be used for a variety of purposes. This will depend on the type of construction and the overall performance of the equipment. There are three main types of homemade cutters.

They are used by designers. To perform home repairs, this variety is used less frequently. There is also a tool with a metal working plate.

Such equipment necessarily has a step-down transformer in its circuit. It must be rated for a minimum power of 100 watts.

The secondary winding of the transformer must have a cross section of at least 1.5 mm. It must withstand a voltage of 15 V. In this case, you can achieve a high result of work.

Features of work

When studying how to make a manual foam cutter yourself, you must also consider the features of the functioning of such equipment. As mentioned above, such an instrument has a string. It heats up and melts the surface of the foam.

Such material reacts poorly to heat.

Therefore, it is important to maintain the technology of the entire process. Cutting with a hot thread is fast. This allows you to achieve a high quality cut.

Checking the heat level of the string is easy. To do this, a test is carried out on a test piece of foam. If, when the thread is immersed, long pieces of material remain on it, it has not yet warmed up enough.

If there is no foam on the string at all, then the temperature is too high. In this case, you will have to cool the tool a little. With the right heat, it is possible to perform fast, accurate cutting.

Cutter for linear cutting

Do-it-yourself linear foam cutter will allow you to create blocks of material of the required dimensions. This greatly speeds up the work of the wizard. If necessary, this tool can cut circles, triangles or squares in the foam.

Two racks are vertically mounted on the surface of the table. Two insulators are attached to them.

A nichrome thread is pulled between them. This alloy heats up quickly, providing sufficient temperature for cutting. A freely hanging load is passed through one of the racks. Contacts from the transformer are connected to the thread.

Passing through the nichrome filament, the current will heat it up. It will be taut all the time due to the weight hanging from one side.

This is necessary because the string can sag when heated. If desired, the design can be modified by adding a spring instead of a load. However, the original version is easier to implement.

Line cutting process

Considering how to make a foam cutter with your own hands, you must also understand how to work with it correctly. Cutting can be done vertically or horizontally. To do this, the thread is pulled in the appropriate position.

If the string is stretched horizontally, you can use it to make the same cuts. Styrofoam is evenly pulled across the table. The thread will evenly cut it into the required pieces.

When cutting the structure vertically, a metal or plywood frame is added.

A holder is installed on it. An insulator and a nichrome string are supplied to it. On the other side, a load is suspended.

It will go through a hole drilled in the table. It must be large enough and covered with a special insulating material. Next, you can perform vertical cutting.

Curly cutting

If you need to cut large enough sheets of foam or create decorative elements, sculptures from this material, a special type of equipment is used.

You can also make it yourself. This is a manual foam cutter. It is made on the basis of a manual jigsaw or hacksaw. In them, the cutting element is changed to a nichrome string.

If you want to create curly elements, you can make several tools of various shapes. A wire is connected to the handle of the jigsaw. It must be carefully isolated.

Otherwise, it will be unsafe to work with this equipment. A nichrome string is attached to the wire contacts. This can be done with nuts and screws with washers.

Also, to create such equipment, an impulse soldering iron or a wood burner may be suitable. This tool is considered convenient. Their working element is removed from such equipment and replaced with a piece of nichrome wire. In this case, the threads can be given a different shape.

Cutter with metal plate

There is a foam cutter that uses a copper plate in its design. A soldering iron can be converted to create this equipment.

Suitable equipment with a power of 60 watts. Remove the heating element from the device. Instead, a plate is installed here.

One side of the copper blank needs to be sharpened. This will allow you to create a more precise cut.

The sharpening angle should not be made too large. Cutting will be done by heating. To find its required level, you will have to experiment on a test piece of foam.

This method is also used by masters of various skill levels and profiles.

If necessary, the copper plate can be replaced with a steel billet. This option will require more effort when sharpening. But with the help of such a tool, you can also cut denser polymeric materials.

When choosing which foam cutter is more suitable for the work of the master, you should take into account the recommendations of professional builders.

The greater the amount of work performed, the more complex the design will be. A simple battery-operated cutter is fine for cutting a few blocks. However, to perform a large amount of work, you should give preference to network types of equipment.

When cutting, the foam is heated. At this point, substances unsafe for human health are released from it into the environment. Therefore, work is performed in a well-ventilated room or on the street.

In order not to make a mistake with the cutting configuration, you should mark all the lines with a pencil before starting the action. This will help avoid cutting errors. These simple recommendations will allow you to do the job quickly, correctly and safely.

Having considered what options for foam cutters can be made with your own hands, each master will be able to choose the best option for himself.

Hello. You can make a lot of interesting things out of polystyrene foam: three-dimensional letters and figures, models of ships and aircraft, art objects. It was for such purposes that I made a similar cutter from a polypropylene pipe.

We will need:

Polypropylene pipe with a diameter of 20 mm; Two brackets for 20 mm; Fittings; Furniture corners; Nichrome wire; Power transformer; Wire; Nuts with bolts.

The holder itself was assembled from a polypropylene pipe and fittings with the ability to control the depth of the cut.

To do this, the U-shaped part is mounted on brackets and can move freely relative to the handle. A 1.5 mm copper wire is laid in the cavity of the tube, coming out of the handle with one cable.

The whole design is light weight and fits comfortably in the hand. If necessary, it folds and does not take up much space.

The nichrome thread was taken from the Soviet, variable resistor SP5. It is attached to the corners soldered into the tube by heating.

A Soviet 150 W transformer was taken as a power source, which has one of the 2.5 Volt outputs. This voltage is safe for humans. True, of course, there is a danger of getting burned with a hot thread of nichrome.

The thread itself is not red-hot, but easily melts the foam. With little experience, you can cut the foam strips in a thin, even layer, like on a vegetable cutter. You can burn the pattern: in the middle of the workpiece, pre-burn a hole with a heated knitting needle, insert the nichrome thread and only then fix it in the holder. foam plastic. That's all, thanks for your attention! ILYA2018-05-20 00:242 In this article I will tell you how to make a foam cutter with your own hands.

With it, you can cut foam of various shapes, necessary for different purposes, for example, aircraft modeling. This homemade product is quite easy to manufacture, so everyone will have the materials necessary for assembly. Before reading the article, I suggest watching a video with a detailed assembly process for the foam cutter, as well as testing it. In order to make the foam cutter your own hands, you will need: * Construction corner * Two wooden bars * Self-tapping screws * Screwdriver * Nichrome thread * Unnecessary stool or plywood sheet * PC power supply * Metal corner * Copper tube * Piece of foam to check Step one. First you need to make a stand for the cutter, for this you can use an unnecessary stool or, if desired, make boxes from a sheet of plywood. Since an unnecessary stool was idle, it was decided to make a base out of it, in it we make a hole for a copper tube with a screwdriver and a drill for wood.

You can get a copper tube from the condenser of an old and unnecessary refrigerator, usually a tube of a suitable diameter is used there, in this homemade product it is needed so that the nichrome thread does not burn the wood. Step two. Next, we fasten the wooden block to the end of the stool using self-tapping screws and a screwdriver, while maintaining perpendicularity with the construction corner, so that in the end the cut on this cutter is as even as possible. Then, using a metal corner, we fasten another block to the wooden block at an angle of 90 degrees, in the end it should turn out something like this. Step three. Having sawed off the required length of the copper tube with a hacksaw, we press it with a metal plate to the bar, screwing in two screws, while also observing perpendicularity. To fix the nichrome thread, we screw a self-tapping screw into the upper bar with using a screwdriver. After that, we take a nichrome thread and thread it into copper tubes from above and below, then we wind it onto the bottom screw near the tube, then onto the top one, making a slight stretch. Now we connect the power supply from the computer, for it to work without a PC, you need to close the green and black wires together.

We wind the wires from the block onto the screws and turn on the power. After the first turn on, the nichrome thread stretches slightly, so we pull it again and you can check the cutter in action. Step four. We check the finished cutter on the foam. We turn on the power supply and move the foam in the right direction, the nichrome thread cuts through it and as a result a segment of the required shape is obtained.

When working with this cutter, you need to follow safety measures and in no case do not touch the nichrome thread with your hands. Using this cutter, you can make aircraft models, boats and much more where foam is used. That's all for me, thank you all for your attention and creative success .Become the author of the site, publish your own articles, descriptions of homemade products with payment for the text. Read more here.5Idea5Description7ExecutionFinal rating: 5.67 out of 10 (votes: 1)FacebookVKontakteTwitterGoogle+OK5To write a comment, you must log in to the site via social. networks (or register):Regular registrationInformationVisitors who are in the Guests group cannot leave comments on this publication.

Styrofoam is a versatile material. It is used in construction (insulation), in the production (repair) of household electrical appliances, interior design, advertising. One of the main characteristics of the material is density. The higher this value, the stronger the material. However, this greatly affects the price.

When using the material as a filler for wall insulation, the loosest structure is usually chosen (due to low cost). However, loose foam is difficult to process - when cutting, it crumbles a lot, making it difficult to clean up debris.

A foam cutting knife should be thin and sharp, but this does not prevent the edge from breaking. Even if you work outdoors, flying small balls litter the environment.

Therefore, professional builders cut the foam with nichrome wire or a hot plate. The material is fusible, despite the fire safety.

Important! When choosing a heater, pay attention to the characteristics. It should say "self-extinguishing". Such foam is perfectly cut with the help of temperature, but in case of fire it will not become a source of combustion..

An industrial foam cutting machine can process sheets of any size, cut material both across and along the array.

However, cutting foam at home does not involve such volumes and sizes. For repair work in your home (or garage), a compact thermal knife is quite enough. It can easily cope with both linear cutting and curly adjustment of plates, when laying in areas with complex shapes.


Any tool has a cost, and there is always an opportunity to save money on a purchase.

Do-it-yourself foam cutting tools

For linear cutting, the guillotine is excellent. Only the impact will not be mechanical, otherwise a lot of garbage will be formed. We use a proven technology - cutting foam plastic with a tension heated string.

Required Materials

• Nichrome (tungsten) thread
• Power supply, preferably adjustable
• Any structural materials: beam, metal profile, pipe, for the manufacture of a tension frame
• Furniture guides for drawers.

On a table, workbench, or other flat surface, we install vertical racks for attaching the guillotine. With the help of furniture guides, we fix the frame of the cutter so that it moves without distortions. Both sides must move synchronously.


The most critical part of the cutter is the wire mechanism. The first question is where to get the material. Nichrome can be purchased at stores selling radio components. But since we are striving for a shareware design, we will look for an alternative.

1. Old soldering iron. Models made in the USSR, designed for 36-40 volts, can be found in any home workshop. The heater winding is an excellent donor for a nichrome guillotine. True, the length of the wire is not more than a meter.
2. Iron with classic spiral heater. The wire is thicker, suitable for linear cutting. Curly cutting is acceptable, with low requirements for accuracy.
3. Spiral heaters from a hair dryer, or a fan heater. The principle is the same, they are not suitable for precise cutting.

note

Tip: When straightening the spiral, do not pull the wire along the spring. Loops may appear and the thread will break. It is better to unwind the turns as from a spool of thread. You can put a spiral on a nail or pencil, and pull the wire across the turns.

The principle of operation of the frame is shown in the diagram.

The wire cutter must be electrically isolated from the frame. Therefore, it can be made of metal. It is important to keep the tension on the wire constant. When heated, nichrome expands, adding up to 3% in length. This causes the string to sag.

Those who are planning to insulate an apartment or a newly built house with their own hands should definitely familiarize themselves with the methods by which foam plastic is cut at home, because this is one of the most popular and affordable methods of insulation.

Styrofoam is a foam material and is mostly air, so it is very light and easy to work with. However, you should not think that there are no problems, because, besides everything, the foam is a rather fragile material. Therefore, if you use an electric grinder, then you should not hope for even edges, besides, the entire room and the platform will be strewn with crumbled foam.

No matter how sharp the knife is, the material will still crumble. Of course, this is a minor defect and the sheets will be usable, but cleaning will turn into a troublesome event.. There is a way out of this situation, you can use a thermal knife. In this case, the edges of the material are melted and it does not crumble. But bad luck, such a device costs a lot, but in principle you can heat an ordinary knife. However, in this case, one must be very careful not to get burned, and the work will be significantly delayed.

For this purpose, you can use a different cutting tool, for example, a grinder, only then should you use the thinnest disk. Very often, builders use a simple sharp knife. Sometimes it is advised to take a hacksaw with very fine teeth, but the latter method is very doubtful. In addition, stores sell special thermal knives designed for working with foam.

The hot knife heats up to 600°C in just 10 seconds. However, this tool is quite expensive, so it does not always make sense to buy it.

The way out of the situation in many cases will be a device for cutting foam sheets, made independently. It is probably a bit cumbersome, but with the necessary components, it is absolutely free and always available. And if you have to do large-scale work, for example, in front of you, which you erected for your large family, then the question of how to conveniently cut the foam, and even a lot and quickly, will not pop up throughout the event, no matter how long it drags on.

In order to assemble a foam cutter, you will need a tabletop, a pair of springs, M4 screws and 28 mm long racks, as well as a nichrome thread, which will act as a cutting tool. First, we make two holes in the base, press the racks into them, and saw through a small groove at the base of the screw head, thanks to which the thread will be securely fixed in a given position.

When everything is assembled, we attach the string to the screws, but since it can sag during heating, it should be connected through springs, then the thread will always be in a taut position. The power source is connected to such a device by means of ordinary twists. So you can make a homemade and very effective foam cutter, while spending a minimum of effort, time and money.

Trying to cut the foam yourself

Now let's talk a little about various technologies, methods and, of course, we will give detailed instructions on what and how to do.

How to cut foam yourself - step by step diagram

Step 1: Preparatory work

It doesn’t matter what kind of tool you are going to use - a knife, nichrome thread or other cutting devices, you still need to start with markings. So we take a ruler, a square, a tape measure, a pencil and put marks on the surface of the sheet, then we connect them in a line. In general, we draw the contours of the future section.

There are other ways as well. For example, using a nichrome thread. In this case, a small current is applied to it, which is able to heat the string to the desired temperature, and the cutting is carefully carried out along the given contour. Of course, the quality of the cut in this case will be much better, but you will have to work a little to make the machine. Therefore, this method is not always justified if you need to process only a few sheets, it simply does not make sense to spend time designing a fixture. As you can see, it is impossible to give an unambiguous answer, what is the best way to cut the foam, it all depends on the volume and skills.

Styrofoam is a fairly practical and lightweight thermal insulation material. It is often used to create various crafts. However, in the process of working with it, one has to face one trouble - the material is difficult to cut. Foam plastic is produced in the form of large slabs, and in order to divide the panel into fragments, you will need to cut it.

Using a saw or knife for this purpose will not work. This is due to the fact that with any mechanical action, the structure of the material is destroyed. To avoid this, you will need to design a foam cutter with your own hands.

The simplest device for cutting foam

The simplest foam cutter is easy to do with your own hands. For this purpose, you will need to use the thinnest guitar string. In addition, you should prepare 5 large batteries for a conventional electric flashlight. They must be connected in series. A string is connected to the ends of the device, thereby closing the electric arc. The current will pass through the string, heating it.

When using such a device, the foam sheet will separate into two parts immediately after touching the string. In this case, the material will melt along the cut edges. The cut with such processing is obtained as even as possible. The string for cutting foam must be heated to a temperature of at least 120 degrees. However, it should not exceed 150 degrees.

Checking how hot the string is is quite simple. During cutting, stuck pieces remain on the edges of the material. If they are too long, the string is not heated enough. In the absence of such pieces, it can be judged that the string is overheated.

When using such an elementary device, about 3 foam panels can be processed. However, it is not suitable for large volumes of work. Batteries run out pretty quickly. To extend the time of the cutter, you will need to build a mains-operated device. A few simple tips will help you understand how to make a foam cutter.

Homemade electric foam cutters

If we divide such devices into groups, they should be classified as follows:

• device for linear cutting;
• thermal cutter, with which curly cutting is performed;
• device with a metal plate.

However, despite this classification, each device has one common element in its design. To create foam cutters, you will need to find a step-down transformer. It is necessary that this element withstand 100 watts.

Linear cutter

To create such devices, you should prepare a workspace. Usually a table is chosen for such purposes. Two vertical risers are attached to it. Each of them must have an insulator. A nichrome thread must be pulled between the insulators. A freely hanging load is hung on it. The nichrome thread is connected to the contacts connected to the step-down transformer.

The principle of operation is quite simple. The nichrome thread heats up when connected, which makes it easy to cut the foam. Due to the suspended weight, the thread remains in a taut position. The load is necessary because the thread begins to sag when heated.

Moving foam is cut with a nichrome thread quickly and evenly. How thick the processed sheets will be depends on the height of the thread above the working surface of the table. The main thing is that the foam is fed at the same speed throughout the entire cutting period.

To cut sheets vertically, you will need to use a cutter of a different design. In it, the cutting wire is stretched in a vertical position. In this case, the work surface is made of chipboard. A frame must be attached to it. It is better if this element is made of a metal profile. However, wooden blocks work well.

The frame is equipped with a paw-holder, on which a nichrome wire is suspended. A load is attached to its end. The wire is passed through a hole made in the working surface. So that it does not touch the tree, the hole is protected from the inside with a metal hollow tube.

When using thermal cutters, the foam is not only easily cut into certain blocks. From large plates, various geometric shapes can be cut, such as a square, a semicircle, a triangle. Before work, it is enough to draw a marker over the surface of the plate, marking the cut line.

Curly cutter

When working with large foam sheets, it will be difficult to use a stationary cutter. Such panels are difficult to fit on the desktop. In these cases, a manual foam cutter is used. Such a tool is often made from a jigsaw. The cutting blade in these tools should be replaced with nichrome wire.

Such an electric cutter is quite simple to build with your own hands. To make cutting curly elements more convenient, you can make several devices with different shapes. First, the cutting blade should be removed from the jigsaw, and the wire should be connected to the handle. The voltage will be low, but the handle and other metal parts should be insulated. A nichrome wire is connected to the cable. For this, nuts are used. The wire is bent in a certain way.

A soldering iron can be used as a cutter for curly cutting foam. It needs to be modified a bit. The device already has an electrical wire in its design. To create a foam cutter from a soldering iron, you will need to replace the element that heats up with nichrome wire.

This device is very easy to use. Thanks to this product, it is possible not only to cut material slabs into smaller sheets, but also to make recesses in them.

Metal plate cutter

There is another way to convert a soldering iron into a foam cutter. To modify the tool, you just need to replace the sting with a copper plate. Steel is also suitable, but it heats up longer and is more difficult to sharpen. However, if properly sharpened with a steel plate, it will be possible to cut any synthetics, including foam.

One side of the plate must be carefully sharpened. Sharpening can be done on both sides. It is necessary that the sharpening angle is not too large. The cutting of the material is carried out not only by the blade, but also by the plate blade. Such a cutter has one drawback - you will have to empirically find the optimal temperature for heating the knife.

findings

Building a foam cutter with your own hands is quite simple. The methods listed above will help you understand the device and the principle of operation of the foam cutter. Such devices are practical and easy to assemble. Each method has its own advantages, so home craftsmen can choose the most suitable one for themselves, depending on the materials available.

Styrofoam is a lightweight, durable, good heat-insulating material that is very easy to work with. But it has one unpleasant feature: it is usually made in the form of plates of rather large sizes, which in the process of work have to be cut into pieces of smaller sizes. No matter how sharp the knife and saw are, it will not work to cut the plate neatly, because the structure of the foam is destroyed by mechanical action, which is why it does not cut, but crumbles. Therefore, for cutting, you need to use a special foam cutter.

Styrofoam, like any material, requires cutting, this is why you need a cutter.

The simplest homemade foam cutter

Such a cutter is not difficult to make with your own hands. To do this, it is enough to take the thinnest guitar string and 4-5 large batteries for an electric flashlight. Having connected all the batteries in series into a single element, you need to connect and fix the guitar string with electrical tape to its ends, closing the electric arc. Due to the electric current passing through the string, the string will heat up.

Image 1. Diagram of a cutter that allows you to cut flat sheets from a block of foam.

At the point of contact with a string heated to the desired temperature, the foam sheet will instantly melt, dividing into two halves, the cut of which will turn out to be fused and even. But for normal cutting, the string must be heated to a temperature of at least 120-150º. When working, it will not be difficult to determine whether the string has warmed up enough, since when cutting the foam plastic, small sticky pieces will remain on the string. The longer such pieces remain, the lower the temperature of the string. But if they do not remain on the string at all, then this means that this kind of thermal knife is heated more than necessary.

Such a primitive foam cutter is able to easily cut 2-3 large layers of material. But with large volumes of work, the batteries run out quickly, so in such cases, a cutter powered by the mains is used.

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Options for homemade electric foam cutters

Conventionally, such devices can be divided into groups:

• cutter for linear cutting of foam;
• cutter for curly cutting of foam;
• cutter with a working metal plate.

But, despite this separation, all cutters have one common detail.

For their manufacture, you can not do without a step-down transformer.

Such a transformer must be designed for a power of at least 100 watts. Its secondary winding must be rated for a voltage of 15 V and have a winding wire section of at least 1.5 mm.

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Styrofoam Linear Cutter

Image 2. Scheme of a vertical cutter: 1 - cutting nichrome wire, 2 - load, 3 - frame, 4 - working surface.

Such devices are mounted from a working surface (you can use the table surface) with two vertical risers fixed on it, attached to the risers by two insulators, connected to two contacts connected to a step-down transformer and a nichrome thread stretched between the insulators, and also passed through one of the risers freely hanging cargo (image 1).

Such a foam cutter works very simply. Passing through the nichrome thread, the electric current heats it up, and the suspended load keeps the thread taut, preventing it from sagging, because when heated, it stretches quite a lot. Sometimes, instead of a suspended load, a spring attached to one of the risers is used to tension the thread.

The heated thread easily cuts the body of the moving foam, turning it into flat sheets, the thickness of which depends only on the distance from the table surface to the stretched wire. All you have to do is maintain a steady flow of foam across the table surface.

For vertical cutting of seams, a different cutter design is used, in which the cutting wire is stretched vertically (image 2). A frame is attached to the working surface made of thick plywood or chipboard (indicated by the number 4 in the diagram), preferably welded from a metal profile, but made of wooden bars (3) is also quite suitable.

The frame design provides for the presence of a paw-holder, to which a nichrome wire (1) with a suspended load at the other end (2) is suspended by means of an insulator, passed through a hole drilled in the working surface. Since the nichrome thread will heat up, it is better to make the hole larger and insulate the wooden parts by inserting a metal hollow tube of a hollow diameter into it, through the cavity of which the end of the wire with the load should be brought out.

Such a foam cutter will not only easily cut large pieces of foam into blocks of the desired size, but will also allow, if necessary, to cut squares, triangles, semicircles and other curly holes in the material. To do this, it is enough to first draw a cutting line on the surface of the foam with a marker.

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Styrofoam cutter

If you need to cut sheets of large size or thickness, which, due to their size, cannot be placed on the desktop, then in such cases a hand-held electric cutter is used, converted from a hand-held jigsaw or a hacksaw, in which the cutting blade is replaced by nichrome wire.

Image 3. Scheme of a manual thermal cutter: 1 - cutting nichrome wire, 2 - screw with nut and washer, 3 - textolite handle 4-5 mm thick, 4 - electric cord.

Such an electric cutter is not difficult to make with your own hands. At the same time, for the convenience of curly cutting, several working tools of various shapes can be made (image 3). At a jigsaw or a hacksaw, the cutting blade is removed, and an electric wire (4) is connected to the handle (3). Despite the fact that the voltage will not be too high, it is still better to insulate the handle, like other metal elements, at least with ordinary electrical tape. Instead of a cutting blade, a nichrome wire, bent as required (4), is attached to the connected electric cable with screws and nuts with washers.

As an option, you can also use a wood burning device or a pulse soldering iron for the device of such a cutter. Such a cutter will be even more convenient, since the electric wire was originally provided in the design of these devices. To turn these devices into an electric foam cutter, it is enough to replace the heating working tools in them with a piece of thick nichrome wire, giving it the desired shape.

Such manual cutters are convenient in that they can be used not only to cut foam sheets, but also to cut all kinds of recesses, cavities in them, remove chamfers, in a word, not just cut the foam into pieces, but sculpt real works of art from it.