May 20, 2025
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:
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.
License:
Standard Digital File License
VoyForges
