Hot Wire Scroll Saw

[19000rpm]

Apr 27, 2010 19:37:26 GMT -6 BTCat said:

Apr 27, 2010 19:19:33 GMT -6 akent said:

Umm, similar to the design of a scroll saw, where the wire comes out in the middle?

That's the plan. At least for the beginning. The fact that 30 inches of wire seems optimal with my power adapter will make me have to alter a few things, coil some of the extra wire or add a small resistor. Either that, or possibly get a slightly smaller gauge wire. There is an assortment on ebay for cheap.

It will be fun to get this up and going. I think it will make cutting easy. Maybe even fun.

Nice job BT.

[BTCat]

Well, I have everything for this, but I am actually getting some long hours at work (much needed OT) and haven't had time to put this together. My welder friend has some scrap metal to construct the frame. It is kind of an overbuild, but I can't say no to free stuff. It should turn out nice. I'll post an update when I have something.

[Solitaire]

So, you're off the DL now?
I bet it feels good to get back to work again.

[BTCat]

May 5, 2010 21:09:00 GMT -6 Solitaire said:

So, you're off the DL now?
I bet it feels good to get back to work again.

Not quite. I've been "working" but on limited duty. Which, in my field, is very limiting. The business has picked up enough to give me plenty within my limits. I still may have a scalpel in my future

[19000rpm]

Hope all goes well and your able to avoid the knife.

[BTCat]

I made some progress this week on the hot wire. I have the frame tacked together and would have completed it, but it got locked up in the welding shop. My welding is ugly, but the frame looks like it will work great. It is simple and will be able to cut angles as well as straight lines. More to come....

[BTCat]

I finally got the frame built and I believe I have everything to finish this. The frame is rather simple and would have taken a couple of hours if I had been able to work on it consistently.








The wire will be at a fixed vertical position and I will be able to adjust the size of wire if need be.

The work surface is going to be plywood with a small slit for the wire. The work surface can be adjusted to cut multiple angles.









I still need to run my wiring and I am going to put a "dead man switch" on it because if I walk away and leave it plugged in, burn the house down and have to explain it to my wife, I might be the dead man

I will be out of commission again for the next few days but hopefully I will be stinking up some foam this weekend.

[19000rpm]

Great looking saw. Nice detail to have the table tilt too. A lot of guys have difficulty cutting at an angle so that will really simplify the process.

I've been a dead man most of my married life. ;D

[akent]

Lookin Good, BT!

[Gabe]

Wow BT, that's a serious piece of work there. Nice job!

[BTCat]

I made a couple of videos to show how I built and wired it and to show it in action. It works very well. I still need to tweak a few things. I would like to get a good rheostat that can handle about 100 watts so I can better regulate the tempurature. The videos are kind of long. The first has the dirty details. The second has more of the hot wire in action.

[19000rpm]

Great job BT. I think you're going to make some nice stuff with it

[akent]

Most excellent!!!

I WANT ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[BTCat]

Jun 6, 2010 21:38:06 GMT -6 akent said:

Most excellent!!!

I WANT ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks Guys! I need to print another plan. I burned through the first one in no time and I don't have anything else printed.

This thing is fun to use, but I already want to make a bow that can do airfoils. I had a design in mind and then I saw a Youtube where someone had made one almost identical to what I had envisioned.

Kent, Got any idea where I could get a rheostat that would provide 0 to ~10 ohms residence and handle 4 or 5 amps (100 watts, give or take)? I actually used a piece of CF in one of my tests. It did the trick, but produced too much heat.

When I get bored of this thing, you can swing by on one of your visits to DFW and I'll load it up for you