Foam Hot Wire Table
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Description
Here's a simple DIY, 90% printable foam hot wire cutting table for hobbists who want to make stuff out of foam. This low-power tool is simple to make, and allows you to cut foam of various thickness. Of course, the thicker the foam, the slower the cutting, but the tool will be useful to many hobbists.
The whole thing is powered by a simple DC 5V and 2A power supply.
I call it “Foam cutting table for dummies”, since I'm not an expert when it comes to electricity :).
You can print everything with PLA except the Upper Wire Holder - this one should be printed with PET-G.
Warning
As you're working with electricity and hot temperatures, be very careful. If you're underage, seek adult supervision!
You will need:
- 2x V-Slot 2020 24cm long for the sides
- 1x V-Slot 2020 20cm long for the fence
- Hot wire (resistance wire) - 0.3 mm
- Power supply: 5V and 2 Amps with jack pin
- Power Switch - 3 pins rocker switch 30x13mm
- DC socket 5.5x2.5mm for jack power supply
- 2 electrical connectors
- T-Nuts M4
- T-Nuts M5
- M3x8 - 1x
- M3x10 - 8x
- M3x12 - 4x
- M3x16 - 3x
- M3x30 - 2x
- M3x40 - 2x
- M3 Nuts
- M4x6 - 8x
- M4x20 - 1x
- M4x50 - 1x
- M4 Nuts
- Small spring - 15 to 20mm in hight, for the tensioner
- 22x2mm round washer to act as a heat sink
- Wire/cable to connect everything
- Plastic ties to hold the cable
- Soldering gear
Known Issues:
Printing the flat bed proved to be the biggest issue for me, due to the warping of the corners. Use any methods you can think of to prevent such warping - use a brim, mouse ears, skirt, enclosure, or glue stick to increase the addhesion on the corners of the print.
Since the printed parts can get hot and melt, I recommend using this tool for short cutting sessions and letting the parts cool down. You can also print the wire holder pieces from PET-G that is more heat resistant. More updates to this design are coming so that this issue can be solved with future releases.
Update 10.11.2024
I added a new upper wire holder, that holds the wire on a spring and connects it with an alligator clip. This should deal with the melting problem of the upper holder.
I've added a documentation PDF to this item that you can download. The document contains the build instruction.
Documentation (1)
License
You shall not share, sub-license, sell, rent, host, transfer, or distribute in any way the digital or 3D printed versions of this object, nor any other derivative work of this object in its digital or physical format (including - but not limited to - remixes of this object, and hosting on other digital platforms). The objects may not be used without permission in any way whatsoever in which you charge money, or collect fees.
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