How does a foam cutter work?

How does a foam cutter work?

Cutting with Straight Wire On the picture below you can see a foam cutter cutting an inscription (logo) in a block of Styrofoam. The trolleys with a resistant wire spread between move freely in X and Y axis according to a drawing that has been generated e.g. in Corel. The third dimension corresponds exactly to a thickness of a material that is being treated. This cutting method is available in all the machines we produce.

Cutting with Lathe and Straight Wire Oour foam cutters can be equipped with a lathe tool that allows cutting of all possible solids of revolution, such as columns, banisters etc. The material that is intended for treatment is mounted on a steel spikes (spikes are located on a spike plate and on a lathe tail-stock). Corel Draw software is sufficient for creating a solid of revolution project as the solid is defined with two lines only: axis of rotation and external shape. Depending on what is required, the number of solid sides is determined in a controlling software FoamShaper (ranging from 1 up to 2000). Thus, depending on a number of sides that was declared in a software one can obtain for ex. four-sided column or six-sided column etc. If the number of sides is big enough one can obtain a perfectly smooth surface. While cutting a solid sides a lathe is also able to perform a rotational movement - it results in a spiral cutting line.

Cutting with  Lathe and Shapeable Wire Tool   Our foam cutters there is a possibility of replacing a straight resistant wire with a shapeable wire tool. With a properly shaped bent wire that is mounted in a shapeable wire tool and with a use of a lathe rotational movement you can do the incisions of any given shape in the previously prepared Styrofoam blocks.  You can also make a longitudinal incisions (chiseling) taking advantage of the trolleys movement in X and Y axis

Cutting with Turn Table and Shapeable Wire Tool   Our foam cutters can be equipped with a Turn Table - a very useful and offering unlimited possibilities device enabling you to cut out all the solids of revolution, including the sphere. The Turn Table is computerized and works in unison with the Hot Wire to produce flat 3D objects. Cuts done with Lathe and Shapeable Wire can also be done with Turn Table and Shapeable Wire.

Cutting with Turn Table and Straight Wire    With the use of a turntable and a straight resistant wire you can also cut a sphere and all similar shapes. 

Serial Cuts FoamShaper software (standard for all foam cutter models) allows automatic serial cutting of multi-various objects/ solids. The drawings (side views) can be created in Corel Draw. You may use pictures form a digital camera (converted to HPGL.plt files) for drawing preparation. This method (although time-consuming) gives perfect opportunities of creating almost any 3D object.