Foam cutter made from scrap materials. Homemade foam cutter Nichrome foam cutter

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, or maybe earlier.

Illustration	Description of actions
	We prepare materials and tools. We will need: Soldering iron 25 W; A piece of copper wire with a diameter of 3 mm; Pliers; Screwdriver with straight slot.
	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.
	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.
	Cutting the wire. We measure the bent wire along the length of the standard tip and cut it with a small margin.
	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.
	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. If the wire was new, the first few minutes after heating there will be a burning smell. It’s okay - the varnish will burn off the copper and after a couple of minutes the hot knife for cutting foam plastic will not smell

Assembling a hand cutter on nichrome thread

Now that you know how to make a simple thermal knife with your own hands from a regular soldering iron, I offer assembly instructions hand cutter with cutting part made of nichrome wire.

This cutter is as simple as a thermal cutter, but can be used for neat, figure cutting polystyrene foam

Illustration	Description of actions
	We prepare everything you need. We will need: Nichrome wire thickness 0.8-1 mm; Two popsicle sticks or similar wooden strips; Two metal strips from a children's construction set; Fastening bolts and nuts with the size for the holes in the metal strips; Block for two plastic AA batteries; Two AA batteries; Small button; Soldering iron, hot glue gun, pliers, drill, screwdriver.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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. We remember about safety precautions, as work surface The cutter heats up over one hundred degrees, so you can get burned on it

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
	Preparing materials. We will need: Plywood thickness of 10 mm or more or flat sheets of chipboard; Bar 50×50 mm; Small lanyard; Metal plate thickness of at least 1 mm; Nichrome wire diameter 0.8 mm; Power unit.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	Drilling the bed. We mark the corresponding point on the bed. We drill according to the mark made through hole 6 mm drill.
	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.
	Install 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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.

A foam cutter is a fairly simple tool that works on the principle of burning the material. It can be bought in stores building materials. This best option if there is a large amount of work to be done. If the cutter is needed for 1-2 days, it is easier to make it yourself, since the next time this tool may be needed many years later. But you can also use this option: rent a cutter in one of construction companies, having called in advance and found out whether they will provide such an opportunity.

How to make a foam cutter with your own hands?

The easiest way to make a foam cutter is based on a wood burning machine. In this work you will need nichrome wire, which, when heated, will cut the foam. The tool manufacturing process is simple: a spring of suitable diameter is mounted on a standard metal burning pin. It should fit this part tightly. A straightened nichrome wire is inserted into the spring. It can be found in any hair dryer. Turn on the burning device and when the spring heats up, start working with the foam.

You can also use a 60 W soldering iron to cut this material. You need to choose a tool that uses a blade knife instead of the usual tip. Once heated, it will easily cut foam or any hot-melt synthetic material.

To work with sheet foam, you will need a stable base on which to attach the soldering iron. This will ensure the quality of the cut. You can use heat-resistant plastic, a piece of plywood or a board as a support. At the bottom of the base you need to make low legs. They are necessary in this design.

Closer to one of the sides of the support, a vertical stand made of a metal tube is attached. There are two brackets on it into which the soldering iron is inserted. The longer the bracket blade, the farther from vertical stand soldering iron is located.
A copper plate is inserted into the cut of its plate tip. The edge of the knife is sharpened under small angle. The degree of heating of the cutting element is determined experimentally. This cutter is very convenient for working with both sheet material, the one with figured molding. It should be noted that the width of the cut will be at least twice as large as the thickness of the copper plate. This must be taken into account when performing finishing work.

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 available ways isolation.

Foam is a foam material and is mostly air, so it is very light and easy to work with. However, you should not think that no problems arise, because besides everything, foam is a rather fragile material. Therefore, if you use electric grinder, then you shouldn’t hope for smooth edges, and besides, the entire room and area 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 suitable for use, but cleaning will turn into a troublesome task. 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 it can be heated and ordinary knife. However, in this case you need to be very careful so as not to get burned, and the work will be significantly delayed.

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

The thermal knife heats up to 600 °C in just 10 seconds. However, this tool is quite expensive, so it doesn’t always make sense to buy it.

The way out in many cases will be a device for cutting foam sheets, made independently. It is probably somewhat cumbersome, but if you have 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 built for your big family, then the question of how to conveniently cut foam plastic, and even a lot and quickly, will not come up throughout the entire event, no matter how long it drags on.

In order to assemble a cutter for foam plastic, you will need a tabletop, a pair of springs, M4 screws and 28 mm long stands, as well as a nichrome thread, which will act as a cutting tool. First, we make two holes in the base, press the posts into them, and cut a small groove at the base of the screw head, thanks to which the thread will be securely fixed in the 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 tense position. The power source is connected to such a device using ordinary twists. This way 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 present detailed instructions what to do and how to do it.

How to cut polystyrene 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 the markup. So we take a ruler, a square, a tape measure, a pencil and make marks on the surface of the sheet, then we connect them into lines. In general, we draw the contours of the future cut. All movements are made “from ourselves”. After that, we simply break the sheet in the right place.

There are other ways you can. For example, using nichrome thread. In this case, a small current is supplied to it, which is capable of heating the string to the desired temperature, and cutting is carefully carried out along a 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. That's why this method is not always justified if you only need to process a few sheets, there is simply no point in spending time constructing a fixture. As you can see, it is impossible to give a definite answer as to what is better for cutting foam, it all depends on the volume and skills.

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 foam glue, 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 on a thicker layer of 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 is 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.

Can also be used as a power source car battery. It can be used in conditions where there is no electricity on the site.

For different tasks you can do 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 attach 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 inner diameter side 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 unravel a sheet of foam into two sheets 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

We also recommend:

Polystyrene foam is durable, lightweight and very good thermal insulation material. It is very easy to work with it. But there are some nuances in working with this material.

Because it is made in the form of slabs large sizes, then very often you need to resort to pruning them. This can be done using and regular knife, but no matter how carefully they try to do it, they will not succeed.

And all because mechanical impact will disrupt the structure of the foam. That is why experts recommend using only a cutter or, as it is also called, a foam cutter for such actions.

Such multifunctional tool You can, of course, buy it, but if you make it yourself, you can adapt it to your needs and, of course, save money.

If you plan to work with a cutter for industrial purposes, then it is still better to buy an electrical device that will be designed for large and frequent loads.

How to do it yourself

The need for a cutter can arise at any time if you do some household chores quite often. Perhaps someone has encountered the need to make a part using a special mold for casting with epoxy resin.

And to do this, you will need a piece of foam. For example, you can use foam from TV packaging. It is necessary to draw on it using a ruler, compass and ballpoint pen places where holes will need to be made in the future.

This is where the need arises electric cutter. After all, it will be difficult to perform this action without spoiling the foam sheet without such a tool. Let's consider one of the options for how to make a device of this type at home.

A homemade cutting device can be various designs. It is on it and the type of cutting that will depend on how exactly the cutter copes with its goals.

Species

Before you start making a cutter, you should decide for what purpose you need it, because depending on the purposes, they are divided into several groups:

with metal work plate;
for linear cutting;
for shape cutting.

Stages of creation

Since linear cutting is the most common, let's look at this option in more detail:

Cutting part. To do this you will need nichrome wire, approximately a spiral with a diameter of 0.6 mm. It can be taken from old electric stoves or other heating electrical appliances. The length of such a wire should be 14 cm (its resistance will be 2 ohms).
Transformer application. For everything to be correct, the first step is to calculate the voltage and current for heating the cutting part. This can be done using the formula - Ohm's law I=U/R. Thus, you can determine the power of the power transformer.
Making a cutter. The base can be made of any metal, but its length must be at least 11 cm. Next, an insulator - a PCB plate - must be attached to the end. Now fasten the contact groups along the edges of the plate; they can be removed from the electrical outlet. It is into these contacts that it will be possible to attach spirals of different shapes.
How does the cutter work? After the cutter is plugged in, the wire will heat up and become slightly reddish in color. This is exactly what matters, since a heated cutter will make it possible to easily and quickly cut the foam, which will not peel off.

Important to know: Having received such a device, in just three minutes it will be possible to cut the required shape from a sheet of foam plastic.

Be sure to follow all safety rules so as not to injure yourself and others. After all, the power of the cutter is enough to damage any part of the body during operation. And connecting to electricity further increases the risk of injury.

Step-by-step production of a thermal cutter

You can make a thermal cutter using a burner or soldering iron and an old jigsaw. Let's consider the manufacture of such a device step by step:

1. Sleeve. Initially, you need to make the main and most difficult thing - the bushing. So, to do this, the plate must be bent and turned. Next, you need to make a hole in the sleeve; the thread will be inserted there in the future.
2. Burner. You need to cut off the wire that leads to the hole, take suitable connectors, and then solder them to the break point.

Please note: Such areas must be isolated.

1. After everything is done, you can connect the thermal cutter. Old jigsaw cut in half. IN top part you need to attach the pre-prepared claw plate to the screws. But we attach the bottom to the base using self-tapping screws.
2. Insert the sleeve into the foot. Now with special attention From the hole you need to use a plumb line or a square to mark a point under the hole of the sleeve. Next, drill a hole in the base. The diameter of the hole in the base should be about 5 mm.
3. Thermal cutting machine So, when everything is ready, you need to straighten the nichrome wire. To do this, you should turn on the burner at full power and touch the nichrome with the wires from it. Everything must be done in such a way that there is a distance between the wires equal to the height of the device. If the thread does not heat up, but the burner begins to hum, find a thinner wire. This is necessary because the one you selected does not have enough resistance.

Take note: nichrome should be hot, but should not get red hot. If the string turns red, you need to reduce its heating using the regulator. In the event that the nichrome is red even at a minimum, then a compensator should be left 5-10-15 cm above the spring of nichrome wire. And only after that you can make contact.

Operation of the device. With a pre-installed guide, you need to cut foam dies to a given thickness, or you can make the shape curly.

Application

If you are making repairs or doing wood cutting, or you need to cut a piece of plywood, then an electric cutter will be very useful for you, which can also be used even for cutting thick fabric.