Hi there,
I bought a 448 block of 2 lb EPS from insulfoam near Tacoma Washington. The thing weighs like 250 pounds and when I tried to cut it in half with the hotwire it just glued itself back together due to the weight. Not sure if anyone has any experience with something like this but I thought it wouldn’t hurt to ask.
My strategy was to set up a wire two feet off of a table and then push the thing through but like I said when I got to the other side it wouldn’t come apart.
Thanks
Is there anyway to position the wire vertically?
I would also suggest to try it vertically, but I would also guess that something is wrong with the temperature of the wire when it melts back together. I remember that it sometimes felt like the two parts were still sticking together because of the large surface area and all the tiny irregular spots that cause a lot of friction, but I never had it actually melt back together, vertically or not.
Thanks for the suggestions. The block was just so big and heavy I couldn’t manage it by myself. Turned out to be a breeze with a helper.
i cut 16’ long blocks so standing them up is not a posability howeve i took a ali scafold pole and put a lead weight inside with a pully at the top and bottom to creat a system that draws the wire through at a nice consistant speed so you get a perfect cut every time, just ajust the weight to get the speed right for your wire temp its super simple but very efective and easily made. There is a link to a video clip below
https://www.facebook.com/GreyPaddleboards/videos/611986772308478/
yes that would have been my suggestion. A helper at the other end.
Regarding the above block of two pound EPS: I have a bit more than I can use. I have an insane hotwire setup and a bunch of rocker templates if anyone is in the Columbia river gorge area I could sell you some cheap blanks or just a chunk of foam. The blocks are eight feet long but I don’t think a glue joint would be too much of in issue if you want a longer blank than that.
Reedo
