FT Viggen Hot Wire Templates

UPDATE: The templates work INCREDIBLY well. Photos have been uploaded.

We were able to adjust the temps on the hot wire and cut through foam great, and the template at 3mm thick printed from eSUN PETG held up very well. You have to keep moving, or the wire will start to sink in to the plastic, but we started to get the hang of it.

I will be writing up a more thorough set of instructions with measurements as we near completion. We're still figuring it out as we go. I have an additional 3 templates that I had to design to make this work, and I will be uploading them as well.

I will say this: This project is not for the faint of heart, and it is impossible without either 2 sets of hands, or some sort of incredibly clever way of holding pieces while you wire cut.

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FT Viggen Page: https://www.flitetest.com/articles/ja-37-viggen-scratch-build

Viggen Build Blog: https://www.flitetest.com/articles/ja37-viggen-edf-build-log

I want to make a hot wire Viggen. I do not have a laser cutter, but I believe that by using a relatively heat resistant material such as ABS or PETG, I will be able to 3D print the templates, and hot wire cut the foam using 3D printed templates.

Depending on your material and your wire temp, you may need to reinforce the edges of the templates with superglue/epoxy, or expand them on the Z axis to make them thicker... But if your wire is adjustable temp, you should be able to cuz through foam just fine without damaging something like PETG.

I created these by tracing and then vectorizing the plans. I have not tested these templates yet, and have not begun wire cutting, but I wanted to get the files uploaded here as I do not see others like them anywhere else on the internet.

I will upload pictures of my progress as I go, and will be updating this project as needed.

These should be scaled correctly now, to verify, perhaps print the H (exhaust) first, the inner diameter should be 60mm. The F ones with the cutout are where the EDF go, and should be 70mm.