Strings for cutting foam plastic. Making a device for cutting foam plastic with your own hands. The simplest homemade foam cutter
Polystyrene foam is quite practical and lightweight thermal insulation material. It is often used to create various crafts. However, in the process of working with it you have to deal with one trouble - the material is difficult to cut. Polystyrene foam 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 impact 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 plastic
The simplest foam cutter is easy to make 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 regular electric flashlight. They must be connected in series. A string is connected to the ends of the device, thereby completing the electric arc. Current will flow through the string, heating it.
When using such a device, the foam sheet will split into two parts immediately after touching the string. In this case, the material will melt along the cut edges. With this processing, the cut is as smooth 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. If such pieces are absent, it can be judged that the string is overheated.
When using such a simple device, about 3 foam panels can be processed. However, it is not suitable for large volumes of work. The batteries run out pretty quickly. To extend the operating time of the cutter, you will need to build a device that runs on mains power. 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:
- linear cutting device;
- thermal cutter, which is used to perform shaped cutting;
- device with a metal plate.
However, despite this classification, each device has one common element. To create cutters for foam plastic, you will need to find a step-down transformer. It is necessary that this element can withstand 100 W.
Line cutting cutter
To create such devices, you should prepare working space. Usually a table is chosen for such purposes. Two vertical risers are attached to it. Each of them must have an insulator. It is necessary to stretch a nichrome thread between the insulators. A freely hanging load is suspended from it. The nichrome thread is connected to the contacts connected to the step-down transformer.
The operating principle is quite simple. The nichrome thread heats up when connected, which makes it easy to cut foam. Thanks to the suspended weight, the thread remains taut. A weight is necessary because when heated, the thread begins to sag.
The moving foam is cut with 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 tensioned in a vertical position. In this case working surface made from chipboard. You need to attach a frame to it. It is better if this element is made from metal profile. However, wooden blocks will also work well.
The frame is equipped with a paw-holder, on which it is suspended nichrome wire. A weight is attached to its end. The wire is passed through a hole made in the working surface. To prevent it from touching the wood, the hole is protected from the inside with a metal hollow tube.
When using thermal cutters, foam plastic is not only easily cut into specific blocks. From large slabs you can cut out various geometric shapes, such as a square, a semicircle, a triangle. Before work, just run a marker along the surface of the slab, marking the cut line.
Shape cutter
When working with foam sheets big size using a stationary cutter will be difficult. Such panels hardly fit on the desktop. In these cases, a handheld foam cutter is used. This tool is often made from a jigsaw. The cutting blade in these tools should be replaced with nichrome wire.
It’s quite easy to build such an electric cutter with your own hands. To make cutting shaped elements more convenient, you can make several devices that have various shapes. First, remove the cutting blade from the jigsaw and connect the wire to the handle. The voltage will be low, but the handle and other metal parts should be insulated. Nichrome wire is connected to the cable. Nuts are used for this. The wire is bent in a certain way.
As a cutter for figure cutting foam, you can use a soldering iron. It needs to be modified a little. The device already has in its design electrical wire. 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 highly convenient to use. Thanks to this product, it is possible not only to cut slabs of material 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 simply need to replace the tip with a copper plate. Steel will also work, but it takes longer to heat up and is more difficult to sharpen. However, with proper sharpening, a steel plate can cut any synthetic material, including polystyrene.
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 blade of the plate. Such a cutter has one drawback - you will have to empirically find optimal temperature heating the knife.
conclusions
Making a foam cutter with your own hands is quite simple. The methods listed above will help you understand the structure and operating principle 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, depending on the available materials.
Have you tried cutting foam with a regular knife? It doesn’t work because the material crumbles. I'll tell you how to make a foam cutter with your own hands, and also offer three simple instructions step-by-step assembly cutters for foam and plastic.
What you need to know about cutting foam
Expanded polystyrene is a cellular material, the structure of which consists of many dense compressed bubbles. Bubbles are difficult to mechanically deform, as they can be pressed through even with a sharp knife.
The only way to accurately cut such material is to use cutting tool, heated to a temperature above +100 °C. A lower heating temperature will cause the material under the cutter to sag and tear.
The heating temperature of the cutting tool above +200 °C will cause the edges of the cut to catch fire and burn.
By the way, a properly assembled thermal knife can cut not only polystyrene foam, but also extruded polystyrene foam, polyethylene and other polymer materials.
Assembling a simple cutter from a regular soldering iron
There are situations when foam plastic needs to be cut right now and there is no time to make a complex machine. It is precisely for such cases that I propose a simple way to convert a regular soldering iron into a cutter for polystyrene foam.
The instructions are very simple, and therefore the tool will be ready in 10 minutes, and maybe earlier.
| Illustration | Description of actions |
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We prepare materials and tools. We will need:
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We take out the standard tip. Near the tip on the body of the soldering iron there is a clamping screw. The screw must be unscrewed counterclockwise. As a result, the sting will weaken and it can be pulled out. |
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Bend the wire. Bend a piece of wire up to 10 cm long in half. We squeeze the bend with pliers so that the loop on the bend is as small as possible. |
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Cutting the wire. We measure the bent wire along the length of the standard tip and cut it with a small margin. |
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Installing a new tip. We insert the bent and cut wire to the required size into the soldering iron. As a result, the fold should point outward. We tighten the fixing screw and secure the wire in the soldering iron. |
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How to cut? We turn on the soldering iron and wait until the wire heats up. After this, you can use the homemade cutter for its intended purpose.
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Assembling a hand cutter on nichrome thread
Now that you know how to make a simple thermal knife from a regular soldering iron with your own hands, I offer assembly instructions hand cutter with a cutting part made of nichrome wire.
This cutter is as simple as a thermal knife, but it can be used for neat, shaped cutting of foam.
| Illustration | Description of actions |
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We prepare everything you need. We will need:
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Attach wooden sticks to the battery pack. Apply hot glue to the edge of the sticks. We apply the sticks to the battery pack, to those walls where the metal terminals are located. |
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Drill holes in the strips for the cable. At a distance of 5 mm from the battery pack, we drill a hole in the wooden sticks. Considering small size sticks, the holes should be no more than 2 mm. |
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We bring out the wire. We pass one of the two wires from the battery pack through the first and second holes to the opposite wooden plank. |
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Attaching the button. We cut off a free piece of wire at a distance of 1 cm from the battery pack. We solder the button to the piece of wire, and on the other side we solder the cut piece of wire. We attach the button to the bar with hot glue and use the same hot glue to isolate the soldering areas. |
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Drill holes for attaching metal strips. In the upper edge of the wooden sticks, we drill one hole with a diameter of 3 mm at the same distance from the edge. |
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We fasten metal strips and wires. We insert bolts into the holes in the wooden sticks to secure the metal strips. We screw the bare ends of the wires from the battery pack onto the bolts and tighten the connection. |
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Attaching the filament. We stretch nichrome wire into the holes along the edge of the metal strips. filament between metal strips fix it using a screw with a nut and washer. We cut off the excess nichrome along the edge with pliers. |
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A device for cutting foam plastic in operation. We install two AA batteries, press the button and cut the foam.
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Assembling a stationary vertical cutting machine
Previous nichrome cutter When working, it is held in the hand. The model you will learn about now is stationary. That is, the device is stationary, and the foam will be fed manually to the filament.
| Illustration | Description of actions |
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Preparing materials. We will need:
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Assembling the bed. From multilayer plywood we cut out a square with dimensions of 70×70 cm. In the middle of the edge plywood sheet screw on a triangular piece of board. We fasten a piece of wooden blocks along two opposite edges of the plywood sheet. We fasten the pieces of timber with a 10 cm indentation from the edge. |
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We make fastening under the lanyard. On the bottom side of the frame, between the beams at a distance of 5-7 cm from the edge, screw in a self-tapping screw 2/3 of the way. The head of the self-tapping screw can be used to hook a lanyard. |
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Assembling the mast stand. Using two self-tapping screws, we attach a 50×50 mm block of length 60 cm to a corner pre-fixed on the frame. |
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Installing a crossbar on the mast. At the top of the installed rack, from a 50x50 mm block, we attach a horizontal crossbar 50 cm long. We strengthen the installed crossbar, as shown in the photo, with a diagonal spacer along the inner corner. |
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We determine the point of passage of the wire on the frame. A nichrome filament will run from the top crossbar to the frame. To determine the point of its passage through the frame, we apply a square with an angle to the frame and the opposite part to the crossbar. |
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Drilling the bed. We mark the corresponding point on the bed. Using the mark made, drill a through hole with a 6 mm drill. |
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Preparing the metal plate for the hole. We cut a rectangular plate with a side of 50 mm from millimeter steel. Mark the center of the plate and drill a through hole with a diameter of 2 mm in the center. |
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Installing a metal plate. We attach the plate to the frame so that the holes match. We trace the plate along the outline with a pencil. Using a chisel, we knock out the wood to the thickness of the plate. We put a plate into the recess made and drive it in until it is flush with the surface of the plywood. |
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Making a crossbar for nichrome wire. Bend a nail 100 mm long in a vice into a “P” shape. We cut off the head and tip with a bolt cutter. |
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Installing the crossbar. On the bottom side of the frame, above the hole into which the wire will pass, we apply a bent nail and mark the legs. Drill holes according to the markings suitable diameter 5 mm deep. Pour a little hot glue into the holes and insert a bent nail. |
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We attach the end of the nichrome wire to the crossbar on the mast. To do this, screw in a screw from the edge of the crossbar, at the point located above the hole in the frame. We wrap nichrome wire around the screw. Tighten the screw so as to press the wire. |
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We connect with nichrome wire top bar and lanyard. We pass the free end of the wire through a hole in the metal plate in the frame. We place the wire on the nail crossbar and tie it to the loose lanyard. We scroll the lanyard until the cutting nichrome wire is stretched. |
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Connecting the power. In our case, we use a battery charger with parameters of 12 V and 4 A. You can use a more powerful step-down transformer and use the secondary winding in it. We connect one cable through the terminals to the bolt on the crossbar, and the second cable to the lanyard at the bottom of the frame. |
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Standard construction has long since sunk into oblivion. This is noticeable when visiting low-rise construction zones. Each home is individual and unique. But every household requires insulation, if it was not provided for during the construction process. It is unlikely that foam manufacturers will produce slabs custom size for small order volumes. You'll have to cut it. But how to cut polystyrene foam when installing thermal insulation for a building with your own hands?
Foamed polystyrene foam can be easily processed by cutting. Before cutting polystyrene foam at home, you need to determine the required accuracy and cleanliness of the cut. After that select necessary device for cutting foam from the following:
- saw (hacksaw);
- string;
- thermal cutter;
There is no clear answer to the question: “What is the best way to cut?” as long as there is no certainty regarding the volume and linear dimensions of the parts being processed.
Foam plastic should not be milled due to the extremely low mechanical stability of the material.
Just cutting
When carrying out work on insulating foundations, underground communications, floors under screed, and facades under plaster, special precision and evenness of the cut are not very necessary. Moreover, if the building has a simple facade configuration. In this case, you can use hand tool for cutting foam plastic: knife, hacksaw, metal string.
Their use will lead to the loss of granules at the edge of the cut and the formation of a not entirely smooth edge. The presence of a loose fit of the slabs can be leveled by filling the voids with polyurethane foam.
Straight-line cutting with a finely serrated knife is justified with a material thickness of 50 mm; a hacksaw can cut insulation up to 250 mm thick. You can use a serrated kitchen knife to cut foam. We buy a hacksaw with a fine tooth at a hardware store.
To make it easier to use the string for cutting foam plastic (you can use old strings, for example from a guitar, that have a spiral winding), we install wooden handles at its ends. They cut the insulation with a back and forth motion, as if using a two-handed saw. Large slabs can be cut by two people. In this case, the sheet to be cut must be secured.
Before cutting the foam, cutting edges must be treated with liquid lubricant. This will create a certain comfort when working (improves gliding, reduces noise).
Figured carving on foam plastic using of this instrument extremely difficult.
We use a thermal knife
Cutting polystyrene foam with your own hands using a thermal knife is justified for slab thicknesses up to 50 mm. To cut a piece of polystyrene, the hot knife is advanced at medium speed, which ensures a quality cut without tearing out fragments or melting the edges.
Purchasing a longer blade for this device is not entirely beneficial. At manual cutting It is impossible to make a cut strictly perpendicular to the surface. The end of the sheet will have a bevel, which is extremely inconvenient during installation. In order to better cut a thick sheet, it is necessary to cut on both sides, deepening the hot knife to half the thickness or a little more.
We make and use a thermal cutter
To cut polystyrene foam with your own hands, devices with a thin hot element are most often used. General principle The actions of any thermal cutter for foam plastic are the same.
The heated element separates the material, followed by sealing of the opened volumes. Using thermal cutters for foam plastic, we get a perfectly smooth cut, which is very important for quality work on insulation.
Purchasing a factory-made foam cutting machine is not economically feasible.
Only if you don’t decide to do this professionally and permanently. In most cases, when cutting out shaped elements is not required, you can use a homemade foam cutter.
Making a foam cutter with your own hands is quite simple and quite inexpensive. After the work is completed, it will not lie like a dead weight and take up space. It can be assembled and disassembled as needed. If there is no need, its components can be used for other purposes.
Before you make a foam cutter, you need to prepare everything you need:
- work surface blank;
- nichrome wire;
- laboratory adjustable transformer (LATR);
Chrome-plated nichrome wire can be used without a step-down transformer, but this increases the risk of electric shock.
- electric wire, fastening for it,
- springs for thread tension;
- adjustment mechanism.
When manufacturing and using the device, follow the rules for the design and operation of electrical installations.
To make equipment for cutting foam plastic, start by marking and trimming the working surface. Determine its geometric dimensions in accordance with the dimensions of the cut slabs. It is better if the table surface is more area leaf.
We install racks (supports) with the possibility of adjustment. For this you may need small device in the form of hexagonal bushings with internal thread. They will make it easier to adjust the cutting height. The cutting wire is tensioned using springs. We lay and fasten the electrical wire on different sides of the thread. We connect the other end of the cable to the LATR (if there is no LATR, it can be replaced by using an autotransformer to charge the car’s batteries). The device is ready for use.
Cutting polystyrene foam at home should be carried out in compliance with safety measures. When heated, toxic smoke is released. Therefore, we cut out parts from foam plastic either outside, or use respiratory protection in a workplace equipped with exhaust ventilation.
Using such a device for cutting foam plastic allows you to speed up the process of preparing insulation fragments as much as possible.
We use automated systems
The delights of architectural design also require insulation. In order to preserve their expressiveness, it becomes necessary to manufacture complex elements. How to cut out such details? More affordable option- processing of insulation by milling. But milling of foam plastic is not carried out for the reason that the cutter, when rotating, tears out quite large pieces of material.
Dense polystyrene foam has a higher mechanical strength and mills well. Anything can be made from it: a letter, a number, a graphic element of any complexity. Even a hedgehog. It is recommended to cut penoplex at high angular speeds with an average linear feed. To install the manufactured fragments on the façade, ceresite is used.
Laser cutting polystyrene foam is the most advanced technology, combining hot cutting tools and precision automated system. Laser cutting of foam plastic allows us to produce parts of any complexity with the highest precision with a minimum level of waste. Laser cutting of foam plastic ensures absolutely smooth surface cutting using a hot beam of directional light moving at high speed. There are no restrictions on the thickness of the material and the complexity of the element.
Selection of cutting equipment used for foam boards and for extruded polystyrene foam must be conscious. Meet technological requirements for finished products and be economically feasible.
Surely this will also interest you:
flowersroom.info
Do-it-yourself foam cutting using nichrome
Polystyrene foam is a material widely used in construction. It is an excellent insulation material, as it has an extremely low degree of thermal conductivity. It is made from foamed polymer and has many advantages over other products based on the same composition (for example, Rockwool Light Bats). Polystyrene foam has high environmental friendliness, sound insulation, moisture and vapor resistance, and fire safety.
Polystyrene foam is very suitable material for insulation, which is due to its low cost, wide range and design features.
All his qualities are good, except one significant shortcoming- ability to crumble and difficulty in cutting.
This property greatly complicates working with this material. This becomes especially noticeable in frame housing construction, where it is most often chosen as insulation for walls and ceilings. Since in the construction of a house frame the distance between the posts where the insulation is placed is different and does not always coincide with standard sizes sheet, then there is a need to master this type of work, such as cutting foam plastic with your own hands.
DIY methods for cutting polystyrene foam using nichrome
If not known electrical parameters nichrome wire, then you need to first try to connect a low-power electrical device, for example a 200W light bulb (a current of about 1A will flow), then a 1kW (1A) heater, and so increase the power of the connected devices until the nichrome wire of the foam cutting machine heats up to the desired temperature. Electrical appliances can also be connected in parallel.
- cutting with nichrome wire: option 1.
You can assemble a simple machine for cutting foam plastic with your own hands. In addition to the nichrome string, you will need: a 12 or 24 volt step-down transformer, a piece of any pipe, a spring for tensioning the string, a small table. The hardest thing is to find nichrome. But an old hairdryer can help out here. The wire can be taken from it. The operating principle of the device is as follows: with the help of a step-down transformer, nichrome is heated to a certain temperature, foam plastic is supplied to it, which, when melted, is cut. In this way, you can obtain various shaped products from this material.
Assembling the device is simple: you need to fix a wooden block on the table, drill a hole in it and install a piece of pipe in it. We thread the wire into it and, using a spring secured with reverse side table, stretch the nichrome wire. We connect it to the transformer, and it to the electrical network. Slowly moving a piece of foam plastic with your hand towards the wire, we cut it.
- cutting with nichrome wire: option 2.
To make this device you will need:
- Hardboard in which you will need to make holes for perforation (using a drill and a thin drill).
- Aluminum rod 0.5 m long.
- Quick fix adhesive.
- Sections of wires with alligator clips.
- Small wooden blocks, 5-7 cm thick.
- Sheet of cardboard.
- Scotch.
- Power unit.
- Nichrome wire.
- Bolt and 4 nuts.
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Sequence of work for assembling a foam cutting machine
In fact, this is the same hot string, but brought to perfection. Professional tool allows you to achieve high cutting speeds, it is possible to use shaped attachments.
- Making the base for the apparatus. It is a square piece of hardboard (rib length 40-45 cm), which must be secured using self-tapping screws or nails to two wooden blocks. They will act as “legs”. This will create a fairly durable stand with a perforated surface.
- You need to drill a hole in one of the bars so that a pre-prepared aluminum rod fits firmly into it.
- We measure 30 cm on the aluminum rod and bend it at an angle of 90° at this point.
- We insert the rod into the hole drilled in the block.
- We find on the hardboard the hole closest to the free end of the rod and mark it with a marker.
- We cut the aluminum rod using metal scissors so that its tip is located exactly above the marked hole.
- To prevent the rod from rotating, we drill a hole through it and the support and drive a nail into it.
- We install nichrome wire. First of all, screw 2 nuts onto the bolt. We wrap the wire around it, tie it and screw 2 more nuts on top. They should be tightened well.
- Place the bolt and nuts on the base and fix the nuts on it with glue. It is important to ensure that the nuts do not rotate.
- Let's pay attention to the hole opposite the tip of the aluminum rod. We marked it with a marker. Let's thread the wire into it and, having made a loop, throw it on the rod and tighten it.
- We connect the power: using “crocodiles” we connect “+” to an aluminum rod, and “-” to a bolt.
- You need to make an adjustment on the power supply so that the nichrome heats up by no more than 100°. When working with the device, you must remember to keep your hands safe.
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Other ways to cut foam
- cutting foam plastic is possible using a grinder and the thinnest disk. But in this case it will not be possible to get a smooth edge;
- it is possible to cut foam plastic using sharp knife, but this method is very difficult due to chipping of the material;
- Some craftsmen suggest using wood saws with fine teeth when cutting foam plastic. But this method is also dubious;
- in shops building materials You can buy a special thermal knife for working with foam plastic. Working temperature of this tool is 600°, and the heating speed is no more than 10 seconds. But this is a rather expensive purchase. Therefore, if you are not going to open a workshop for cutting this material, it is easier and more profitable to assemble a free homemade machine with your own hands.
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1popotolku.ru
How to cut polystyrene foam with nichrome wire |
Polystyrene foam can be used in the country for various purposes, but it is mainly used as insulation. Many people buy foam plastic in huge blocks, it’s cheaper, but only then the question arises: how to cut foam plastic in this size?
Indeed, foam plastic, despite its “flowability,” is difficult to cut, because if you use an ordinary knife, the result will be not neat rectangles, but shapeless pieces. Then how to cut polystyrene foam at home?
An electric soldering iron copes well with this task. First, you need to flatten its end with a hammer, then put on a special device that can be obtained from a metal cap fountain pen and fix the hacksaw blade at the end. After that, heat up the soldering iron and cut and carve whatever your heart desires.
The most effective tool for cutting foam is nichrome wire. Get started with correct location cutting table, this is done to avoid transverse stripes on the material. The table is installed at an angle of 20-60 degrees, i.e. the sheet is served as if sliding across the table. Please note that your working tool, i.e. nichrome wire will become longer when heated, so secure its end with a powerful spring with the ability to choose the length of the lengthened wire.
To avoid electric shock, it is better to supply voltage to our structure through a step-down transformer (for example, a welding transformer with the ability to adjust the current). We cannot say exactly what current is needed, because... it all depends on the thickness of the wire, but we can say for sure that the heating for cutting will be enough even when it’s barely reddened nichrome thread, if you overdo it and the thread gets very hot, the cut will have too wide a thickness.
So, let's move directly to the process of cutting foam. Install the table at an angle, and the length of its surface should be twice the length of the foam. Now fasten the nichrome wire across the table, the second end of the wire through the spring, we have already talked about this, draw the wires from the transformer to the ends of the thread and turn on the transformer through the LATR. You lay the foam on top of the wire, and thanks to the set slope, the material gradually slides down, and the wire also gradually cuts it.
If you need to make recesses in the foam, you can make them with a file, periodically moistening it with water, then the surface of the foam will be smooth and the file will not become clogged with shavings.
If it is convenient to use the saw, then make sure that the saw is set apart.
gartenbau.ru
How to cut polystyrene foam with nichrome wire
Polystyrene foam can be used in the country for various purposes, but it is mainly used as insulation. Many people buy foam plastic in huge blocks, it’s cheaper, but only then the question arises: how to cut foam plastic in this size?
Indeed, foam plastic, despite its “flowability,” is difficult to cut, because if you use an ordinary knife, the result will be not neat rectangles, but shapeless pieces. Then how to cut polystyrene foam at home?
An electric soldering iron copes well with this task. First, you need to flatten its end with a hammer, then put on a special device, which can be obtained from the metal cap of a fountain pen, and fix the hacksaw blade at the end. After that, heat up the soldering iron and cut and carve whatever your heart desires.
The most effective tool for cutting foam is nichrome wire. Start by positioning the cutting table correctly to avoid cross-striations on the material. The table is installed at an angle of 20-60 degrees, i.e. the sheet is served as if sliding across the table. Please note that your working tool, i.e. nichrome wire will become longer when heated, so secure its end with a powerful spring with the ability to choose the length of the lengthened wire.
To avoid electric shock, it is better to supply voltage to our structure through a step-down transformer (for example, a welding transformer with the ability to adjust the current). We cannot say exactly what current is needed, because... it all depends on the thickness of the wire, but we can say for sure that the heating for cutting will be enough even when the nichrome thread is barely reddened; if you overdo it and the thread gets very hot, the cut will have too wide a thickness.
So, let's move directly to the process of cutting foam. Install the table at an angle, and the length of its surface should be twice the length of the foam. Now fasten the nichrome wire across the table, the second end of the wire through the spring, we have already talked about this, draw the wires from the transformer to the ends of the thread and turn on the transformer through the LATR. You lay the foam on top of the wire, and thanks to the set slope, the material gradually slides down, and the wire also gradually cuts it.
If you need to make recesses in the foam, you can make them with a file, periodically moistening it with water, then the surface of the foam will be smooth and the file will not become clogged with shavings.
If it is convenient to use the saw, then make sure that the saw is set apart.
flowersandgarden.ru
How to cut polystyrene foam with nichrome wire | Country house
Polystyrene foam can be used in the country for various purposes, but it is mainly used as insulation.
Many people buy foam plastic in huge blocks, it’s cheaper, but only then the question arises: how to cut foam plastic in this size?
Indeed, foam plastic, despite its “flowability,” is difficult to cut, because if you use an ordinary knife, the result will be not neat rectangles, but shapeless pieces. Or it may completely crumble into small pieces, which will be difficult to use for your purposes.
Then how to cut polystyrene foam at home? We will try to answer this question in this article.
How to cut foam?
An electric soldering iron copes well with this task:
- First, its end must be flattened with a hammer.
- Then put on a special device, which can be obtained from the metal cap of a fountain pen and fix the hacksaw blade at the end.
- After that, heat up the soldering iron and cut and carve whatever your heart desires.
Cutting foam using nichrome wire
The most effective tool for cutting foam is nichrome wire. Start by positioning the cutting table correctly to avoid cross-striations on the material. The table is installed at an angle of 20-60 degrees, i.e. the sheet is served as if sliding across the table. Please note that your working tool, i.e. nichrome wire will become longer when heated, so secure its end with a powerful spring with the ability to choose the length of the lengthened wire.
To avoid electric shock, it is better to supply voltage to our structure through a step-down transformer (for example, a welding transformer with the ability to adjust the current). We cannot say exactly what current is needed, because... it all depends on the thickness of the wire, but we can say for sure that the heating for cutting will be enough even when the nichrome thread is barely reddened; if you overdo it and the thread gets very hot, the cut will have too wide a thickness.
So, let's move directly to the process of cutting foam:
- Install the table at an angle, and the length of its surface should be twice the length of the foam.
- Now fasten the nichrome wire across the table, the second end of the wire through the spring, we have already talked about this, draw the wires from the transformer to the ends of the thread and turn on the transformer through the LATR.
- You lay the foam on top of the wire, and thanks to the set slope, the material gradually slides down, and the wire also gradually cuts it.
If you need to make recesses in the foam, you can make them with a file, periodically moistening it with water, then the surface of the foam will be smooth and the file will not become clogged with shavings.
If it is convenient to use the saw, then make sure that the saw is set apart.
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Cutting polystyrene foam with nichrome wire (video)
(Last Updated On: 12/30/2017)
Cutting foam with nichrome wire
There is a place for polystyrene foam in any home, because not every innovative insulator can replicate its excellent insulating properties, and even more so, it is rare that a material combines all the qualities of polystyrene foam at once. Of course, there are materials that are superior to polystyrene foam, but here another advantage of the latter comes into play - the cost of polystyrene foam is low enough that without extra costs execute high-quality insulation large area. Probably the only major drawback of this convenient and practical material- this is its tendency to crumble during cutting and adjusting to size, but this problem can also be solved - cutting foam plastic with nichrome wire allows you to make a high-quality and strong cut that will not allow the material to crumble into individual components.
“Is it really that difficult to cut foam? - you ask. “Pick up a knife and go!” That’s how it is, of course, so, but the productivity of such labor will be very low - cutting a sheet of polystyrene foam one meter long will take you about 3-5 minutes. What if you need to cut 100 such meters? No, manual labor not listed here. Here we quote the cutting of polystyrene foam with nichrome wire - a wire made of a durable alloy from which reliable threads 1 mm thick can be drawn. Such a thread is strong enough to cut, roughly speaking, a car of foam plastic. But the work process in this case is also not manual; electricity and engineering ingenuity come to the rescue.
Foam cutting equipment
In order for cutting foam plastic with nichrome wire to be productive and of high quality, it is necessary to assemble a small machine. To make the machine we will need:
- nichrome wire;
- surface for the desktop of the device;
- a piece of wooden block;
- metal tube;
- spring;
- transformer;
- switch.
First, let's decide on nichrome wire. Obviously, it is unlikely that you will be able to buy it in the nearest store. Yes, this is true, but it’s not for nothing that it was said above about engineering ingenuity. We find an old hairdryer in the pantry, stored away for better times, and ruthlessly dismantle it. The hair dryer uses the same nichrome wire to heat the air. Carefully remove it; if it is twisted into a spring, unwind it. That's it, the cutting element for the future machine is ready. Next, take any flat surface - it can be a wood panel, plexiglass, plastic or any other material to which other elements of the foam cutting machine can be quickly and firmly screwed.
We screw a piece of wood to the surface and install a piece of tube into it. We stretch the wire into it and secure it at one end with a spring, which will provide good tension. On the other hand, we connect the terminals of a transformer to the nichrome wire, which will supply the wire with a low voltage current sufficient to heat the wire. You can mount a switch on the table that will interrupt the supply of voltage to the wire - cutting foam plastic with nichrome wire that is too hot high temperatures, may end with her impulse. And you will have to disassemble another hair dryer. Therefore, after each cut sheet, it is recommended to let the wire cool for a couple of minutes. During this time, you can just remove the cut sheet of foam and prepare the next one.
Working with such a machine is productive enough that it will take at most a couple of hours to prepare an amount of foam plastic sufficient to insulate a floor in a private house. The machine is also assembled literally before our eyes, so the process of preparing the insulation for use is quite easy and quick. Therefore, cutting foam plastic with nichrome wire is one of the most common options today.
cassuspro.ru
hot knife and other devices, instructions on how to make, video and photos
All products in the picture are skillfully carved from foam plastic.
Have you tried cutting foam with a regular knife? It doesn’t work because the material crumbles. I'll tell you how to make your own foam cutter, and also offer three easy step-by-step instructions for assembling cutters for foam and plastic.
What you need to know about cutting foam
When processing polystyrene foam, each such ball slows down the progress of a cold knife; it’s a different matter if the knife is heated
Expanded polystyrene is a cellular material, the structure of which consists of many dense compressed bubbles. Bubbles are difficult to mechanically deform, as they can be pressed through even with a sharp knife.
These shapes are easy to cut out. professional equipment with CNC and here the principle of processing foam is the same as that of any thermal cutter
The only way to accurately cut such material is to use a cutting tool heated to a temperature above +100 °C. A lower heating temperature will cause the material under the cutter to sag and tear.
The heating temperature of the cutting tool above +200 °C will cause the edges of the cut to catch fire and burn.
By the way, a properly assembled thermal knife can cut not only polystyrene foam, but also extruded polystyrene foam, polyethylene and other polymer materials.
Assembling a simple cutter from a regular soldering iron
The photo shows simple knife for foam plastic, made in 10 minutes from a regular soldering iron
There are situations when foam plastic needs to be cut right now and there is no time to make a complex machine. It is precisely for such cases that I propose a simple way to convert a regular soldering iron into a cutter for polystyrene foam.
The instructions are very simple, and therefore the tool will be ready in 10 minutes, and maybe earlier.
Assembling a hand cutter on nichrome thread
In the photo there is a wire cutter for foam plastic and it can be used to cut both straight and curved lines
Now that you know how to make a simple thermal knife with your own hands from a regular soldering iron, I offer instructions for assembling a hand-held cutter with a cutting part made of nichrome wire.
This cutter is as simple as a thermal knife, but it can be used for neat, shaped cutting of foam.
| Illustration | Description of actions |
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We prepare everything you need. We will need:
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Attach wooden sticks to the battery pack. Apply hot glue to the edge of the sticks. We apply the sticks to the battery pack, to those walls where the metal terminals are located. |
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Drill holes in the strips for the cable. At a distance of 5 mm from the battery pack, we drill a hole in the wooden sticks. Given the small size of the sticks, the holes should be no more than 2 mm. |
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We bring out the wire. We pass one of the two wires from the battery pack through the first and second holes to the opposite wooden plank. |
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Attaching the button. We cut off a free piece of wire at a distance of 1 cm from the battery pack. We solder the button to the piece of wire, and on the other side we solder the cut piece of wire. We attach the button to the bar with hot glue and use the same hot glue to isolate the soldering areas. |
| Drill holes for attaching metal strips. In the upper edge of the wooden sticks, we drill one hole with a diameter of 3 mm at the same distance from the edge. | |
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We fasten metal strips and wires. We insert bolts into the holes in the wooden sticks to secure the metal strips. We screw the bare ends of the wires from the battery pack onto the bolts and tighten the connection. |
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Attaching the filament. We stretch nichrome wire into the holes along the edge of the metal strips. We fix the filament between the metal strips using a screw with a nut and washer. We cut off the excess nichrome along the edge with pliers. |
A device for cutting foam plastic in operation. We install two AA batteries, press the button and cut the foam.
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Assembling a stationary vertical cutting machine
The previous nichrome cutter was held in the hand when working. The model you will learn about now is stationary. That is, the device is stationary, and the foam will be fed manually to the filament.
| Illustration | Description of actions |
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Preparing materials. We will need:
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| Assembling the bed. We cut out a square with dimensions of 70x70 cm from multilayer plywood. We screw a triangular piece of board in the middle of the edge of the plywood sheet. We fasten a piece of wooden blocks along two opposite edges of the plywood sheet. We fasten the pieces of timber with a 10 cm indentation from the edge. |
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We make fastening under the lanyard. On the bottom side of the frame, between the beams at a distance of 5-7 cm from the edge, screw in a self-tapping screw 2/3 of the way. The head of the self-tapping screw can be used to hook a lanyard. |
| Assembling the mast stand. Using two self-tapping screws, we attach a 50×50 mm block of length 60 cm to a corner pre-fixed on the frame. | |
| Installing a crossbar on the mast. At the top of the installed rack, from a 50x50 mm block, we attach a horizontal crossbar 50 cm long. We strengthen the installed crossbar, as shown in the photo, with a diagonal spacer along the inner corner. |
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| We determine the point of passage of the wire on the frame. A nichrome filament will run from the top crossbar to the frame. To determine the point of its passage through the frame, we apply a square with an angle to the frame and the opposite part to the crossbar. |
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Drilling the bed. We mark the corresponding point on the bed. Using the mark made, drill a through hole with a 6 mm drill. |
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Preparing the metal plate for the hole. We cut a rectangular plate with a side of 50 mm from millimeter steel. Mark the center of the plate and drill a through hole with a diameter of 2 mm in the center. |
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Installing a metal plate. We attach the plate to the frame so that the holes match. We trace the plate along the outline with a pencil. Using a chisel, we knock out the wood to the thickness of the plate. We put a plate into the recess made and drive it in until it is flush with the surface of the plywood. |
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Making a crossbar for nichrome wire. Bend a nail 100 mm long in a vice into a “P” shape. We cut off the head and tip with a bolt cutter. |
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Installing the crossbar. On the bottom side of the frame, above the hole into which the wire will pass, we apply a bent nail and mark the legs. According to the markings, we drill holes of a suitable diameter with a depth of 5 mm. Pour a little hot glue into the holes and insert a bent nail. |
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We attach the end of the nichrome wire to the crossbar on the mast. To do this, screw in a screw from the edge of the crossbar, at the point located above the hole in the frame. We wrap nichrome wire around the screw. Tighten the screw so as to press the wire. |
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We connect the top crossbar and lanyard with nichrome wire. We pass the free end of the wire through a hole in the metal plate in the frame. We place the wire on the nail crossbar and tie it to the loose lanyard. We scroll the lanyard until the cutting nichrome wire is stretched. |
| Connecting the power. In our case, we use a battery charger with parameters of 12 V and 4 A. You can use a more powerful step-down transformer and use the secondary winding in it. We connect one cable through the terminals to the bolt on the crossbar, and the second cable to the lanyard at the bottom of the frame. |
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| Let's check how it works. Let's try cutting foam plastic. The temperature is sufficient and the foam predictably cuts even better than butter with a knife. |
Let's sum it up
Anyone who has a little free time and a simple tool from a home workshop can assemble a foam cutter. I am sure that the instructions provided were useful to you, and you will be able to make a suitable device. Don't forget to watch the video in this article, you will find a lot of useful information there.
The issue of home insulation is very relevant these days. Cladding house facades with foam plastic is one of the most popular types of insulation. And this is very justified, because... the process of such insulation is simple and clear, and all necessary materials always available for free sale.
But everyone knows that gluing foam plastic is very convenient on flat wall. With any method of gluing foam plastic to the wall: using dry-mix glue, foam or glue-foam, it is always very important that the foam sheet fits tightly to the wall and does not create air gaps.
If the wall is smooth, then no questions arise. But, unfortunately, the walls of old houses are not ideally even. Yes and different design features structures sometimes create differences in the plane of the wall.
This drawback can be partially mitigated by laying the foam at a higher level. thick layer glue. But the maximum permissible thickness of the adhesive layer often cannot cover the magnitude of the differences in the plane of the walls. In addition, too large differences lead to unjustified overuse of glue.
The only way out of the situation remains is to trim the foam according to its thickness. But doing this with a hacksaw is very inconvenient and time-consuming, especially if you need to cut a large amount of foam. In addition, during cutting, a large amount of debris is generated in the form of foam balls. And the surface turns out to be uneven and the accuracy of such cutting is very conditional.
In order to quickly and evenly cut foam to the desired thickness, you can use a foam cutting machine. This device can be made independently, absolutely with your own hands.
Operating principle and design of the foam cutting machine
The operating principle of the machine is based on the fact that foam plastic easily melts under the influence of temperature. Thus, if you run a thin heated wire over it, it is easily cut, forming a perfectly flat, smooth surface.
To manufacture the machine, the following components are needed:
- LATR (laboratory autotransformer) or car battery;
- nichrome thread;
- stands for fastening nichrome thread;
- spring (1-2 pcs.);
- board-tabletop;
- copper wire.
A nichrome thread (spiral) is used as a cutting object. You can either buy it in a store or extract it from old household appliances, in which they were used as filaments (hair dryer, for example). The thickness of the spiral can be 0.5-1 mm. The most optimal thickness is 0.7 mm. The length depends on the width of the foam that will be cut.
An important element of the device for cutting foam is LATR. But if it doesn’t exist, then it can be made using an old transformer and a device for charging car batteries.
You can also use a computer power supply, in which wires providing 12 W (yellow and black) are used to connect to the spiral.
To operate such a machine, it is enough to have an output voltage of 6-12 W.
It is necessary to correctly adjust the length and thickness of the filament so that it matches the voltage. If the thread gets too hot, it may burst. Well, if the thread heats up slightly, then cutting will occur slowly.
A car battery can also be used as a power source. It can be used in conditions where there is no electricity on the site.
For different tasks can be done different designs devices for cutting foam.
Basically, these devices will differ in the length of the spiral. To cut polystyrene foam into bars, you need a short spiral length.
You can install two spirals and cut the sheet into several bars in one pass.
Two spirals cut the sheet into three parts in one pass. The stand has guides for smooth feeding of foam.
But, as a last resort, foam plastic can be cut into bars with a hacksaw. It is much more difficult to cut foam plastic to thickness, and even to a given size. Therefore, let's look at how to make a machine for cutting foam plastic to width.
Step-by-step instructions for making your own machine and cutting foam plastic
Step 1. Preparing the tabletop. You can take any piece of chipboard as a tabletop for a machine for cutting foam plastic with your own hands. the right size. The surface on which the foam will move must be smooth. Holes for the racks are drilled in the tabletop. It is convenient to use metal pins with threads with a diameter of 10-12 mm as racks. The height of the racks should correspond to the thickness of the foam sheets plus a headroom. The pin is fixed with nuts.
To give the structure stability, bars are attached to the bottom of the tabletop, which will also serve for the safe passage of the electrical wire.
Step 2. Connecting the current supply wires. From below, under the tabletop, the wires are connected to metal stand rods: the wire is wound around the lower end of the pin and pressed with a bolt.
The second end of the wires must be connected to a power source, depending on the selected method. The most best connection there will be a connection through a plug that will connect to the LATER socket. Connection is possible through self-clamping terminals, as well as by twisting and soldering. This depends on the selected power source.
In any case, the connection must be made in accordance with the rules for working with electrical installations and devices, be convenient for work and safe during operation.
Step 3. Fastening the nichrome spiral. A nichrome spiral is fixed between two posts. A spring is attached to one end of the spiral (there may be two of them).
The spring is needed to tension the nichrome thread during operation. The fact is that when heated, the nichrome thread lengthens and sags. A thread in this condition will not produce a quality cut. Therefore, the thread is fixed in an initially tense state, so that the spring is slightly stretched.
To fasten the nichrome thread to the pin, washers with an internal diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the pin are used. A small hole is made in the washer for attaching the spiral itself. A small sharpening is also done on the side internal diameter so that the washer can be fixed on the thread of the pin.
A spring with a spiral attached to it is inserted into one washer and placed on the first pin. The second washer is put on the second pin and drilled hole thread a nichrome spiral. Next, it is tightened so that the spring stretches and fixed.
Step 4: Cutting the foam. To spread a sheet of foam into two sheets of a given size, the spiral is set to the desired height. The required distance is measured with a ruler.
The machine is then connected to a power source. The thread heats up and now you can cut the foam, smoothly moving it forward along the countertop.
The cutting speed depends on the filament temperature, which in turn depends on the applied voltage and the thickness of the filament itself. You should not try to apply more voltage to achieve high speed, because... this can lead to rapid filament burnout. Here, a balance between tension, thickness and length of the thread must be selected experimentally. The thread should not overheat during operation. When heated, it turns red or scarlet. But it should not turn white - this indicates that the thread is overheating and that it is advisable to reduce the voltage, otherwise the thread will not last long in this mode. Of course, smooth adjustment is easy to do if LATER is available. But if it is not there, then laboratory block food can be made from computer unit nutrition, the video below has more information. After you have made this foam cutting machine with your own hands, you need to make sure that the device is safe.
It must be remembered that all activities must comply with safety regulations for working with electrical appliances. The power source must be grounded and all connections must be carefully insulated. All work on assembling the machine must be carried out with de-energized wires. The machine is connected to the electrical network only while working with polystyrene foam. After work it must be turned off immediately. When operating the machine, avoid touching metal parts and the nichrome thread itself.
Step 4: Cutting the foam at an angle. Sometimes it becomes necessary to cut the foam so that one side is higher and the other is lower.
To do this, the spiral is set at an angle with the required parameters. In this way, foam sheets of various sections can be obtained.
Useful video
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