A Hot Knife For Foam Cutting...

[center442]

...is on sale at Harbor Freight.

I just got this ad in email. Yes, I know it's cheap Chinese stuff from Harbor Freight, and I wouldn't recommend it for anyone who cuts foam or plastics on a regular basis, but it looks like it might serve well for someone who has an occasional need to cut foam for a gun or rifle case.

Here's the specs and the price:

This heavy duty hot knife has five temperature levels and a built-in rheostat. Cuts foam, EIFS, ICF, nylon rope, webbing, synthetic fabric & plastic.

* For sculpting candles, foam or other craft materials
* Works great for cutting upholstery foam
* Knife heats through quickly to give you a quick precision cut every time
* Use flat side of the hot knife for smoothing and shaping
* Dual use cutting blade for line and groove cutting
* Adjustable cutting depth from 3-3/4" to 5-7/16"
* Easy push button activation
* Auto off feature
* Includes a depth adjusting sled


Overall dimensions: 13-1/2" L x 2-1/2" W x 4" H


ITEM 66182-1VGA

$14.99

I'm going to pick one up even though I don't have any foam to cut right now. If you get one, I would start on the coolest temperature setting and work your way up. If it turns out to be junk, at worst I'm out $15. I'll give it a shot.

 

[RKG]

I use one of those cut-the-tip-off utility knives from Home Depot -- they have one with a thin blade -- for cutting gun case foam. Gives lots of control and won't melt the foam (the way hot knives do). A better solution, I think.

 

[massgun]

I bought a cheap one from Michael's a while back. It turned out to work, but very slowly and it did melt the foam a bit. I wound up using a small, thin kitchen knife which worked faster than the hot knife, and got good results. I only used the hot knife for making small radius curved cuts which were just impossible to do with the kitchen knife.

 

[MXD]

I use them for building scenery on my model railroad. They are typically about 40 bucks and up. This seems like a great deal.

 

[jobowker]

When cutting foam, I use an electric knife - like the kind you use to cut the turkey. For large pieces, it seems to work the best for me.

 

[dreamer]

That one is crap. It melts the hell out of the foam and makes it pucker like mad. The blade is also really wide. My brother bought one last week, and we were terribly disappointed. I wish we could give Harbor Freight a bill for the wasted foam when returning it. Save your money for something better.

 

[groundscrapers]

If you sign up for their email listings you get coupons almost weekly for 15-20% off of an item.

 

[BossHarley]

When cutting foam, I use an electric knife - like the kind you use to cut the turkey. For large pieces, it seems to work the best for me.

+1 for electric knives, the vibrating action really seems to work well.

 

[center442]

That one is crap. It melts the hell out of the foam and makes it pucker like mad. The blade is also really wide. My brother bought one last week, and we were terribly disappointed. I wish we could give Harbor Freight a bill for the wasted foam when returning it. Save your money for something better.

Ah, thank you. I was going to give it a try, but you just saved me some $$. I posted it because it looked like it might work. Thanks for the heads-up.

 

[MassMark]

I wish I could find one that is not crap. Everyone who I know that has one has pretty much syas the same thing: "I used it once and it broke"... I ended up using pluck foam for my Nikons and it worked good enough...

 

[KMM696]

If you're looking for a DIY solution that gives very good results, google 'hot wire foam cutter'. A lot of different hobbies have a need for smooth cuts on foam, and there are a lot of options. Example I've seen consumer length pieces of nichrome wire on ebay regularly, the rest of the cutter is either Home Depot parts or scrounge.

In a previous career, we built one for cutting foam in toolboxes. USAF tool control policies are rather extreme......for very good reasons.

 

[rep308]

There was a post a while ago where someone used a heated wire cutter to make a really slick foam case.

 

[griffinwerks]

Lots of pics and some info on how to build a setup yourself. Also links to foam retailers.

http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=3&f=4&t=292695&page=1

 

[SecondAmdFirst]

Question here. Is it better to cut out a place for you gun, or use the eggshell shape to hold a variety of different guns? Just curious.

 

[KMM696]

Question here. Is it better to cut out a place for you gun, or use the eggshell shape to hold a variety of different guns? Just curious.

Well, if I were shipping a couple of rifles to Alaska to go hunting, then I would definitely use cutouts to protect everything from the tender care of airport baggage handlers. For anything I'm going to do with the case locally, I have too many different rifles that could end up in there to do cutouts. If I ever buy a full-auto, it would get it's own case/cutouts just because of the replacement cost.