would it be possible to modify a handheld hotwire cutter to be used in cutting out the holes for a fin box? instead of routing, you could have a wire shaped into the width of the box, and with something to control depth, then you could just cut through the foam to a perfect length, width and depth hole for your box? would be pretty easy for the straight rectangle boxes, no? seems easier to do then having to use a router, or buying the tools from the fin company.
I think its a lot more trouble than its worth.
Personally I LOVE routing work.
I initially used holesaws etc to make FCS plug holes… hated it…
Thought OK I’ll shell out for a router and it was like a knife through butter, perfect holes and depths, buy it, plug it in, turn it on and your away, no prior operating knowledge is necessary besides common sense or reading a manual.
I used a cheapie router, $50AUD and the routing bit is about $12…
$62 bucks isn’t much to pay for a brilliant tool that will give you accurate and perfect boxes / holes.
Routers are great tool for many other things as well…
… can you see I love routers 
Cheers
Ant
Having used both router and hotwire, for making neat precise holes in things, the router wins.
I saw a website somewhere that showed how to make hotwire cutters out of soldering guns like this:
You pull out the wire tip that it comes with and the site showed how to bend & install a custom wire of any shape you want. Sounded pretty foolproof to me, if that’s what you’re looking for. I didn’t bookmark it, but if you google terms like hot wire cutter & soldering gun you’ll probably find it.
Like the rest of your replies, though, I prefer a router. Set it up right & use it carefully, and its about the most accurate tool there is. Use it carelessly, it can produce all kinds of mayhem.
I use this with the adjustable sled for depth
http://www.hotwirefoamfactory.com/products/customer/video/video.htm
you can make a square shaped cutter from the router tool to bore out the box hole
but in most cases you’re gonna be doing high density foam or wood inserts for strength anyway for boxes and will need to rout those out as normal. unless you pre-mount yous fin boxes into the wood or high density foam support inserts before you put them in.
but a razor and a straight edge would work wonders too with eps…
routing EPS with a 1/2 plunge router seems a little over kill unless there’s glass on the outside youneed to bust through or a stringer to cut.
hmm. thanks. a razor and a straight edge sound simple enough. that “hot knife” and the engraving tool look handy as well. eps is really soft, so i could see just a straight razor working ok. time to experiment.
would it be possible to modify a handheld hotwire cutter to be used in cutting out the holes for a fin box? instead of routing, you could have a wire shaped into the width of the box, and with something to control depth, then you could just cut through the foam to a perfect length, width and depth hole for your box? would be pretty easy for the straight rectangle boxes, no? seems easier to do then having to use a router, or buying the tools from the fin company.
I think its a lot more trouble than its worth.
Personally I LOVE routing work.
I initially used holesaws etc to make FCS plug holes… hated it…
Thought OK I’ll shell out for a router and it was like a knife through butter, perfect holes and depths, buy it, plug it in, turn it on and your away, no prior operating knowledge is necessary besides common sense or reading a manual.
I used a cheapie router, $50AUD and the routing bit is about $12…
$62 bucks isn’t much to pay for a brilliant tool that will give you accurate and perfect boxes / holes.
Routers are great tool for many other things as well…
… can you see I love routers
Cheers
Ant
Having used both router and hotwire, for making neat precise holes in things, the router wins.
I saw a website somewhere that showed how to make hotwire cutters out of soldering guns like this:
You pull out the wire tip that it comes with and the site showed how to bend & install a custom wire of any shape you want. Sounded pretty foolproof to me, if that’s what you’re looking for. I didn’t bookmark it, but if you google terms like hot wire cutter & soldering gun you’ll probably find it.
Like the rest of your replies, though, I prefer a router. Set it up right & use it carefully, and its about the most accurate tool there is. Use it carelessly, it can produce all kinds of mayhem.
I use this with the adjustable sled for depth
http://www.hotwirefoamfactory.com/products/customer/video/video.htm
you can make a square shaped cutter from the router tool to bore out the box hole
but in most cases you’re gonna be doing high density foam or wood inserts for strength anyway for boxes and will need to rout those out as normal. unless you pre-mount yous fin boxes into the wood or high density foam support inserts before you put them in.
but a razor and a straight edge would work wonders too with eps…
routing EPS with a 1/2 plunge router seems a little over kill unless there’s glass on the outside youneed to bust through or a stringer to cut.
hmm. thanks. a razor and a straight edge sound simple enough. that “hot knife” and the engraving tool look handy as well. eps is really soft, so i could see just a straight razor working ok. time to experiment.