Foam Cutter

How many of you have a broken heater??
Well do not throw it away.
By cannibalising the heater wire you can build yourself a nice polystyrene cutter.
You will need about a 10cm length of the wire a few pieces of wood,a 12v 1000mA txformer a pair of screws and an inline lightswitch.
Will post pics of the one i build yesterday evening in 30mins.
Walla a nice clean cut and no messy polystyrene balls floating everywhere.:idea:

 

Should have said so sooner. mine's at the bottom of the big bin outside. . Darn

 

Geez Slojo - tell me HOW, give me DIRECTIONS and show me PICTURES....PPPPPPLEEEEAAASSSEEEE It'll be great to be able to cut the foam without hassling (although I'm not sure how Gav does it but it is always a clean cut).

 

Ahaaaa... Nice one Slojo!

I use foam cutters extensively in my aircraft building to cut wing cores.
An old standalone PC power supply will work great, short out the green and black pins on the ATX connector to turn the unit on.

You can then use the molex connectors to get 5 or 12v DC.
I use the blue and yellow wires on the ATX connector to give me 24v DC.
Next you get yourself some .025 gauge stainless steel fishing leader for the cutting wire. (Or user the old heater wire like Slojo mentioned)

I have a crude cutting bow i made that keeps tension on the wire and move the croc clips closer together on the wire for more heat and further apart for cooler.

The cutting bow consists of a plank of pine as the base and then two threaded rods and sink one end into the plank at an angle.

Kind of like this. I then have a normal nut and wing nut on each end that i use to clamp the wire... add tension by bending the bars closer together and taking up the slack on the wire.

Will take a pic when i get home today.

 

Guys this sounds good when are we getting pics

 

Seems like we are going to have to do the "nag" thing again before we get some pics :wondering:

 

Okay....nag nag nag nag nag nag nag nag nag nag nag.....any pics yet?

 

LOL Sorry bought a Ford Cortina 3L the weekend and it kept me busy.(you know patching the oil leaks ,retentioning the Binding wire,Looking for the sidecutters.....)

Will take pics when i get home today.

 

And the wire around the carburator.... And the wire around the air filter..... And the wire on the hand brake..... And the wire on the accelerator.... And......LOL

 

I have returned from the land of Tool Shed, and come bearing two old, non-regulated broken heaters

 

Can't wait to see some pics I have to cut a Polystyrene this weekend this will be a great help......

 

At long Last PICS!!

I made my Wire about 20 cm long.
I used a 12 volt 1000ma Txformer.
I made my cutting depth about 50cm and hight 20cm.
The thicker the Polystyrene the slower you must "cut",but i,ve cut 10cm thick polystyrene comfortably.
I've also used an inline switch to cut power to the wire so as not to burn out the wire while i'm looking for the next piece of polystyrene.

PS Excuse the poor pic quality as i cannot find the camera's batteries.

 

Great idea using the switch Slojo!

Here's my cutter...

 

Ja i've burned myself enough times!

Have you used the 5v rail as well or only the 12 volt?

 

I started off using the 12v rail. Once i switched to 24v i didn't look back, that wire really cooks...

 

You guys do realise that a sharp knife works just as well. And if you do it outside, rather than in the garage, or formal loung/dining room... the little balletjies just blow away into the neighbours pool.

Then to neaten everything up... just wrap insulation tape around... looks a lit neater and better too!

 

i no longer bear two broken heaters, i salvaged parts from one (the coil) and fixed the other for a small quarantine tank...

 

Now that is resourceful Ferryman !!!!!!!!

 

lol, thanks, luckily its the old type of heater where the insides can still be tampered with, sadly the one i threw away was in perfect condition except for the fact that i could not remove and replace the broken glass tube...
i might want to replace this "fixed" heater once i have some funds, for a regulated one, and leave this one for emergency

why does one need to use heater wire for the cutters, could the copper "telkom wire" one uses for electronics kits work as well?