1/32" Nichrome For Cutting Foam

I got this by mistake when ordering some Nichrome, but it was through Amazon and they just let me keep it even though it was errant delivered.
I cut three 48"+/- an inch sections of it, and want to send it to three people for free, on the premise that they use it to make a "Wire Knife", to cut a specific foam, that is commonly available at home supply stores.
The flat pink stuff. Sandable.
I've been playing around with making template for things out of foamboard, but for actual models it laeve some things that can be desired, especially if you are actually willing to engineer your own foamboard. Dollar Store is great for mock ups, but if you actually fly that stuff.....

Crumb Fire is in for a length.
Two more free lengths.

I think I have an old picture of this stuff from when I got it.

What is 1/32 in AWG or gauge? I will take a length.

Oh what the heck. I've been wanting to give fiberglass-on-foam NC's another spin. I'm in!

Looks like 1/32 is about a 21 or 22 AWg / .0312 in / .7-.8mm

dhbarr, you are lucky I checked the thread since you did'nt PM me. I think I still have your address from the cloth I sent you, back here in my PM inbox, but if I need it again I'll PM you.

That's all three lengths, they will get mailed on the 29th, as my "Mail stuff" budget is gone for the rest of this month.

Thanks for looking, and hope ya'll get some use out of it.


My digital caliper gives repeated readings of .78mm, but I don't know how AWG is figured.

I am very lucky! Hopefully I'll make one of these :
[video=youtube;FEMZZWjRDdw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEMZZWjRDdw[/video]
as well as one modeled after a wire bucksaw.

Got them all mailed out yesterday.

Woo hoo! I just got some 14500 rechargeable for my Estes E controller, can't wait to build the handheld cutter & the bucksaw-style.

I'm going to make a table with a foam cutting spool, with interchangeable guide stock sections fashioned from 1010 rail for ease of assembly and modular capability.
The wire guide box will be hinged at every turn so that it can be collapsed when not in use, since I live in a small house. There will be a cover and a fan, so as to draw any fumes away from the Operator.
It's all drawn up, I just need a safe, efficient and reliable scratch built wire cutter, and I'm about as good with electronics as I am with math. Lately, electricity even hates me, and I get a static shock from the most unlikely of objects, but especially when exiting my Vehicle. You can see the Bolts in broad daylight!

Wire's here, will try to make the smaller one tomorrow.

Attempt one failed, got too fancy and tried to use a flashlight tube body. Round 2 will be all PVC / cpvc, should be far more robust.

Thanks. I plan on making a lathe for nosecones for foam.

I recently scored a whole bunch of foam, and now have a source to get that much more at a time for free whenever I need it, so I started designing my lathe, and today I scored a working motor for free and now I need the wire foam cutter, and to get my butt in gear to make some cones!!

I can't wait to follow you build. I have the same plans but I am still planning.

cwbullet said:

I can't wait to follow you build. I have the same plans but I am still planning.

Click to expand...

Thanks, but I don't have any time to do a build thread. Rocket build threads, sure, but tools for making rockets, not so much. They only get built, then I'll share the pics' of what they are, like my tube cutter.
I actually threw together a small lathe yesterday and powered it with my rotary tool, but it made such a mess on my porch that I took it apart and promised myself that I would not do that again.

I got rods and bearings too today, angle steel with holes in it to make a frame, and a bunch of allthread and nuts of various aspects, but I stiil need the design to assemble itself in my head, and when it does, I'll just build it, without much time to think about anything else. Just like my recent tube cutter.

just takes pics of the fished product and we can try to relocate it.

I did use some of this nichrome to make a quick and dirty foam cutter that works.
I will be making a table style cutter soon so that I can cut circles for cones.
I tried it first with my 12V battery I use for launching, and it worked, so I spliced it onto this power supply, since I found a whole box of these various power supplies on the side of the road for free one day along with a bunch of old school phone wiring and caller ID boxes.
Pretty self explanatory:

Here's the method I will be emulating in my lathe construction principles.
This is probably one of you folks here on the forum, but I'm not sure who.

https://speedmotionrockets.com/Foam Lathe.html

I've managed to make a quick and dirty booster strut for my SA-5, so when the nice version with the straight wire is finished, it's going to crazy foam cutting craziness around these parts!!!
I held the paper template on by hand and freehand cut this one, so having the table style will make me a pretty nice part, which will get glassed and pinned for rigidity.



Here's the table style one I'm building.:

I just had to assemble the hardware after posting that.

Here's where I got the Idea:

[video=youtube;bqG5I7sl8kk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqG5I7sl8kk[/video]

This guy does a nice version too:

[video=youtube;gGuggoMeRhs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGuggoMeRhs[/video]

I like being able to make contact with the wire as close as possible to the dimension of the cutting surface needed, and that's why I went with clips. Wire that is not busy cutting does not need to be heated, so why waste energy heating it.
With this set up, I'll be able to make adjustments to the height of the heated segment of wire.

I need to read up on this info before selecting my power supply from my box of miscellaneous power supplies.

https://jacobs-online.biz/power_supply_design.htm

I have heard that model train transformers can be put to this use. When I build one, I will try it with the one i have from my old LIONEL train set from my childhood.

I just watched a video where I guy uses a car battery charger for the power supply.
I need to get rid of the transformer I'm using due to the sound it produces.
I may try one of those tomorrow since my Mom has one I can borrow.

Oh, and here is how my cutter is coming along: