I have no experience with hot wire machines, so pardon the ignorance of the question. What are these used for?

 

I have been thinking about something like this where you can easily move the machine around a larger piece of stock so the actual build platform wouldn't have to matter.

 

What kind of wire are using to cut the foam? I have been using iconel on a hand held bow type cutter.

 

Can I do this letters with that CNC? & where I can find foam blocks locally?
This is my first time trying to do something like this, & I need A LOT of advice. Thats why Im here, perdon my ignorance.
Thanks in advance!!!

 

Yes, the "L", the "V" and the "E are easy cuts. The "O" has two options: opt one is easiest but requires the wire to pass through the body of the "O" to cut out the center cavity, leaving a kerf, which can easily be glued back or pinned together, if objectionable. Opt two requires drilling a hole through the the center of the "O", then pulling the wire through that hole, reattaching the wire, cutting the center out, then detach wire and pull back out, then reattach and cut the outside. Opt two is not as complicated as it seems and results in a much cleaner "O". Care must be taken, not to allow the block of foam to move as you attach, detach and reattach the wire. I stick the block of foam down with two or three dabs of hot glue, then place a weight on top, then place 4 strips of tape on the table/bed that represents the perimeter of the foam block. A bit of over kill but if the block of foam does get bumped and moves you need to be able to relocate as close to original position. Most of my parts are for aircraft and architectural customers and have to be pretty precise. Hint, when you place the block of foam with hot glue, put small pieces of masking tape on the table, then put the dabs of hot glue on the tape, before setting the block of foam, makes clean up much easier. Parts without a center cut or cavity, I generally just weight down the foam against a cleat fastened to the table that is parallel to the wire; i.e. a brick on top and a brick against the opposite side, parallel to the cleat.

 

I am in South Florida. When I first got started, I contacted Carpenter foam in North Florida, as they actually cast/manufacture the huge billets of foam. They were not interested in selling me a couple of 1ft X 2ft X 4ft blocks, as they have minimum order requirements. They did however give me a list of some of their customers near me that would re-sell small quantities to me. A few were not receptive, or just did not want to bother, but after about an hour on the phone, I had two peeps that would sell small quantities to me. I now buy it by the container load, direct, but that took a while, logistics of cash flow and storing that much foam, but much more economical. Just a note, make sure you specify "VIRGIN" clean foam, no re-grind and no bits of trash as this will "F" with your wire, resulting in a bad part. There was one guy near me that uses blocks of foam for flotation on docks, his foam had re-grind in it, and what appeared to be whatever was swept up on the floor. It did not matter to his application but was worthless to mine.

 

WOW. This is amazing, how quick response I have from both of you. Excuse my english (not my native language), I was trying to go the cheaper way in build my CNC DIY, but now I believe Im going to go the fast way & get the kit from here Openbuilds.com, just because of the help Im going to get with all my projects, like you guys just did & less than one day, even do this is an old post.
Im a DJ & I have my wife helping me & adding her hobby/business together which is decorations & the first project is that exactly the LOVE table letters, which is hot right now for wedding events.
I'll keep you post with the updates. I'll contact carpenter.com to see if they have any vendor near me that can sell small blocks. Thank you again Thunder911 & Gino, you guys rocks!!!
Looking to see those videos Gino!!! As I said before, basically my CNC Hot wire will be for doing anything related to decorations (for now), & that Coca Cola logo will be a plus, I could market to signs companies too. Great!!!

 

Hello Gino, I know this is an old post but I am so excited with this project, please post more videos and details on your construction, I would love to be able to replicate your work.

 

Gino,
I just saw OpenBuilds post this on their Instagram. I have been meaning to build one of these as well. I am curious as to if you have used it as an actual 4 axis machine? You mention it being 4 Axis, but all you examples are 2 axis (pairs of coordinated axis).

I am curious as to if devfoam can put out code for 4 independent axis (to do tapered wings etc.). I am also curious if you went this route how you compensate for the changes in wire length while maintaining constant tension. Those considerations have been my big barrier to get going on it.

Thanks,
-Alex

 

Thank you for you're reply. What software did you use to create the tapered cut code?

 

Hello i would love to build this but would like to expand the lineal to 1000 mm could i have the build list for this and would you sell the custom pc , that you made for wire E.T.C., and yes i have no ideal of what am doing . LOl this is my email ... [email protected]