I built a hot wire cutter a while back and, have been using templates made of thin plywood with good results, but they are a pain to make. I was wondering what others use for this purpose. I thought I might try card stock since this could be cut with a razor knife. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Pepster

Originally Posted by pepster

I built a hot wire cutter a while back and, have been using templates made of thin plywood with good results, but they are a pain to make. I was wondering what others use for this purpose. I thought I might try card stock since this could be cut with a razor knife. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Pepster

Hi Pepster! I use cardstock & cardboard templates myself! Only thing is be carefull how hot you set the Hot-wire or it will cut into the cardboard template.

Pepster. . . . .that would be a great name for a new Soda Lol!

Whatever material you use for the templates they need to have absolutely smooth edges that stay they way, even with a hot wire running over them.

Some people use aluminum, formica, posterboard, and various other materials. If using card, it could be worth hardening the edge with CA, (cyno), but that edge has to be smooth or you will get ripples and grooves across the foam if the wire snags, even for a part of a second.

I use thick posterboard and also fiberboard .

Have a look at this thread, post number 32, http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...3#post21350615.

Yes ,templates are a pain to make. I'll spend 12 to 15 hours to make templates for a DLG wing.

The easiest way to make them is to have someone CNC cut them! Mountain Models as well as many others offer this service.

Below is a picture of temps made from Formica, Ply and Aluminum Flashing that has Balsa glued to sides .

One tip when cutting Flashing or Card stock with scissors, cut in a direction so that when you make the next cut with the scissors that the wire does not hang up on the next step that you just created. Very carefully line up the scissors to make the next step, try to make it one continuous line.

Hope This helps.............Blue Skies......................Tim

Thanks to all for your replies. I would have no problem making the templates out of Formica, aluminum or even stainless steel if I only had a few small parts to make such as templates for an airfoil, but right now I'm building flat foamies and there are lots of parts that range from quite small to fairly large. I think I will experiment with the heavy card stock or posterboard and harden the edges with CA like you suggest.
Pepster

I use the posterboard you get from Dollar Tree, but I double the stuff up (2 sheets think). If I need to stiffen up an edge, I use some metal tape, like the copper tape you find in most hardware/garden stores. Its sold as a way to keep slugs and snails out of garden areas, and is not too expensive.

Ive also used the copper tape to smooth out edges of a template if I had to extend out an area, and was unable to get a smooth joint at the extension.