Hot wire foam cutter - hand held - HOTWIRE
Rated 4/5 based on 7 reviews.Simple and basic but will cut through polystyrene and styrofoam with no more mess. Includes Instructions.
Battery operated Hot Wire Cutter for cutting polystyrene foam or styrofoam. It comes complete with wire (but advisable to order extra wire) and only requires 2 x AA size batteries to be operated - Don’t use alkaline but you can use Zinc Chloride, Carbon Zinc or Lithium. Can also be used with our 3 volt power pack.
The unit can be adjusted for cutting foam up to 60 mm thick and has a throat size of 180mm. (This means you can come in from the edge this far)
Hot wire polystyrene cutters are used to contour polystyrene foam (styrofoam) into many different shapes. Model railroad builders shape foam landscapes, model aircraft builders use this also in construction. Many scratch modellers also use the hot wire cutting tool. Any one working with polystyrene or similar type foams will find many uses for this tool.
The ideal tool for making and shaping all those Christmas tree ornaments also very handy for your children's school projects.
You can search for "how to make a hot wire cutter" and realise that it's cheaper and easier to buy this inexpensive kit - and also a little less complicated as well.
A good tip for using this unit is to mount it in a vice (using soft jaws or wrap the cutter to protect it) and then feed your work through it. Much easier to handle this way and gives you a lot more freedom with your designs.
We sell this for cutting polystyrene and styrofoam. Denser type foams will be a very slow process to cut and could also be problematic.
Also make sure wire is stretched tightly around the ends - otherwise it wont cut.
Extra 5 meters of nichrome wire for hot wire cutter can be purchased separately.
(HOTWIRE)
| SKU | HOTWIRE |
| Shipping Weight | 0.2000kg |
| Shipping Width | 0.330m |
| Shipping Height | 0.050m |
| Shipping Length | 0.180m |
| Shipping Cubic | 0.002970000m3 |
Better than I expected
By: Melissa on 9 January 2016I came across this tool through google search as I needed an easier way to carve up some styrofoam for a project I was working on, and hobby tools had it listed for a reasonable price. Knowing how fiddly cutting polystyrene can be I wanted something to cut down on the mess and hopefully make my work easier. Woweeee This tool has been excellent to use so far, really really easy to use and wow im amazed at how quickly im getting my pieces cut and shaped with no mess. For putting the wire on it was a bit fiddly, but if you begin by making a loose small loop first then putting it on one of the rods and then stretching it out and tying off on the other rod it makes it easier. Also using tweezers to tighten the wire and try and tie of on the outside of the rods will ensure no catching when your are slicing. The only part I don't like about the device ( this is directed as feedback to the makers not hobbytools) is that where you plug in the Power pack is at the top of the tool too is close to the wire. One needs to hold it back along the top and down the side while working so as not to accidentally slice it while working. Thanks for your service hobby tools, your fantastic!!
(4)
Impressive,
By: Ben on 22 January 2015For the price, this is an outstanding tool. The overall build quality is a little lacking but it does a great job and can be adjusted to handle most projects. Using Lithium batteries ensures consistent and long lasting output of heat. Compared to the price of most other hot wire cutter, you can't go past this one!
(4)
A useful cutter for railway modellers
By: David on 11 April 2013I have tried out this hot wire cutter with polystyrene up to 25mm thick and it cuts very well. The wire cutter heats quickly and is ready for use in seconds but there is no pilot light to indicate when the cutter is operative and it's easy to leave it on by mistake. Otherwise the cutter is fine and good value for money if used for things like making scenery for model railways.
(4)
Pretty basic but does the job
By: Terry on 26 March 2013Winding the wire onto the arms is pretty problematic. Works OK if you have some overlap on the windings. Nonetheless, it does the job, which is good value for the price.
(3)
hand held hot wire cutter
By: Chuck on 26 February 2013I just wanted a cheap cutter to do a little job i had and this product did the job no worries. only problem i had was getting the wire to connect and stay in place on the arms. problem solved by just using more wire haha so don't get caught out trying to use as little wire as possible LOL! hmm might have to put an order in for some spare wire! should of done it to start with
(4)
