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I made a basic hot wire foam cutter
(beehaw.org)
Hi everyone! Figured I'd introduce myself to the community by posting a thing I just made this morning.
I needed to cut 2" thick memory foam for some cushions I was making for my wife - using scissors felt awkward, so I grabbed some nichrome wire and ceramic insulators from a different project, and hooked them up to a variac to control the heat.
I was sure to connect earth ground to the stainless steel wire support and to the table to ensure it was safe-ish. All in all, not a bad result for an hour of side questing.
Finished cushion next to one of the backing plywood pieces:
Nice! Was the nichrome wire bought directly, or did you cannibalize a thrift store hair dryer?
It's from a spool I bought a few years ago - but I do have a project involving a heat gun strapped to a leaf blower that I'll be sharing once it's a bit further along :D