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Cutting styrofoam sheets

Started by TelePlay, August 19, 2023, 04:30:29 PM

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TelePlay

Unless you have a Nichrome wire foam cutting tool, cutting styrofoam ends up with charged particles of foam particles sticking to everything.

A simple and inexpensive cutting tool can be made out of a 7" long piece of bare 10 gauge solid copper wire attached to a Weller soldering gun. A 7" long piece of wire results in a 2.5" hot cutting knife.

After bending the wire to shape, the key trick is to pound the wire flat (10 gauge is 0.1" which is easily thinned to 0.05" with a hammer on an anvil.

When mounted to the gun, the thin cutting tool heats up quickly and cuts through up to 1" thick styrofoam sheets like a hot knife through butter.

The cutting is controlled using a metal yardstick as a straight edge.

Clean cuts to exact measurements with no foam dust particles.

Total cost, about $0.60 plus the soldering gun.