I'd like to cut some foam as it comes off of a 50 yard roll. The final cut shape is basically a rectangle, sharply tapered on the edges. The project seems very doable however I do not have the vocabulary I need to adapt an existing solution. Most hot wire cutters I've seen are two XY frames with a wire run between them. Plenty of project seem to have been able to use Ramps and Grbl controllers to perform tapered cuts for RC airplanes. So there's an Xleft, Yleft and Xright, Yright. I'd like to propose a build where the material is fed via belt driven rollers Xleft would drive belt rollers to pull foam of the roll and move it across the cutting plane Yleft would be fixed in the X direction, moves as normal Xright would not move in absolute terms, it needs to move relative to Xleft. So Xright become Xdiff between what would have been Xright and Xleft in a traditional build Yright moves as normal Does this problem statement make sense? Have I missed anything fundamental? Is it possible to modify gcode streams or add modifiers to achieve Xdiff? Recommendations on further reading etc would be greatly appreciate Links I've been looking at - 4Axis CNC foam cutter build - 4-Axis CNC Hot-wire Foam Cutter (Arduino+Ramps1.4) DevFoam Pro - DevFoam 2, 4 axis hot wire foam cutting CNC application
How thick is the foam? There is a machine called PhlatPrinter that Mark, the owner of Openbuilds, made many years ago. I had a machine like that. It works with rollers just like you are looking for. It is not cutting with hotwire but with a router bit. I had cut a lot of foam on it, making model airplanes. It's 27" wide and can cut endless foam. Google it and you may find someone selling one. Look mostly for the PhlatPrinter III
