Hot Wire Cutter - Building Guide

To make a pattern for the lost-foam casting an essential tool is a hot wire cutter. I've decided to make a building guide to show how I've made mine.

Step 1: Preparing Building Materials

First of all, it's important to prepare planks and a bottom base by grinding and sawing.

Step 2: Constructing

When a frame and a base are ready it's time to assemble everything in one object

Step 3: Bottom Stretcher and Energy Connection

Installing a bottom stretcher and energy connection

Step 4: Energy Supply

For energy supply I use automotive battery charger. It allows to get 12/6 V and 1-9 Amps.

Comments

[eisnic]

Looking at the substage bit -- the stretcher & energy connection -- is the wire tension created by winding the cutting wire on that bridging bolt? And are those aluminum flanges intended as a heat sink? Did you find you had to limit the time of use to allow it to cool down?

[DuralM]

Thanks for the questions. No need to limit the time of use. The most important to choose right voltage and amperage. Sometimes to do something really accurate and slowly I decrease amperage and when I need to cut some big parts then it's better to increase amps.

Aluminum flanges are just to stretch a wire (as an opposite part to the bolt on the top part). It seemed to me that it was the easiest way to use several aluminum pieces for this purpose.

Tension is created by the spring under the bolt.

[tomatoskins]

What type of wire did you use for this?

[DuralM]

I took this wire from an old heater. Probably it's nichrome.