Hot Wire

[Rcmaster199 at aol.com]

Recently, I purchased a HOT WIRE foam sculpting tool from Composite 
Structures Technology (CST) and have the following to share with the folks on 
the list who build their models:

The unit I purchased is the one with the 5" long cutting wire. The wire is 
flexible but gets hot enough where a minimal bending is observed when cutting 
the foam. I used it to honeycomb the foam wing panels on the replacement wing 
I am building for my Allianz. I used a 12 volt X 800ma transformer, directly 
connected to the hot wire device for power. There was no need to regulate 
this small power supply and it worked like a charm. No no crocodile clips and 
lead wires to mess with.

The beauty of this arrangement is its simplicity and very short time 
requirements to get the job done. I don't have to fish the NiCr wire through 
holes, attach crocodile clips etc, etc. to cut the required holes. I simply 
pushed the hot wire from one side only, through the holes marked on my 
cardboard template, and cut the foam to the prescribed outline. Since all the 
work is done from one side, it goes very fast, and you get a professional 
result in about 1/2 hour per panel.

Building season is practically here for much of the country. I will be 
writing about the technique in more detail in an upcoming KFactor, but by the 
time you get it, it will be spring and of little use then. So if you are 
interested in the device, go to the CST website and order one. It's 30$ and 
worth the money. 
 
A word of caution, don't use more than 1 amp of currnt or more than 12 volts. 
The wire could get red hot and get  destroyed.

Matt K
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