Wearing regulatory graded vapor and dust respirator masks like this one are recommended when working with foam. This means it is best to work with foam in a well-ventilated room and consider using a respirator.ĭo I Need to Wear a Respirator Mask for Cutting Foam with a Hot Wire Knife?
Try to avoid the dust particles from sanding and mechanical cutting methods. If you’re using a hot wire cutter for terrain modeling or sculpting with common packing or insulation foam, e.g., EPS foam, you should be okay as long as you take proper precautions. Melting EPS foam releases mostly water vapor and carbon dioxide (CO2), which are natural by-products of your exhaled breath. For example, fumes like hydrogen halides and other vapors should be vented away from your working space.Ĭutting EPS foam with a good and even cheap hot wire knife is much less harmful than other common products you may use in your modeling hobby, e.g., aerosol sprays, paint thinners, and volatile adhesives ( source). Some types of foam you may use with a hot wire cutter may produce more toxic fumes. The smoke and vapor of melting foam can smell. Melting almost any material will release fumes into the air. Of course, a hot wire foam cutter works through the melting process of the foam material. The fine particles produced by these shaping techniques can irritate your respiratory system. To underscore this: the dust from cutting foam with physical saws or sanding methods can be harmful. Is Melting Foam with a Hot Wire Cutter Safe?Ī band saw or other non-heated foam board cutting machine will produce dust and aerosolize tiny particulates that you should avoid inhaling. Pink insulation foam holds details better, and you can cut it with more precision using a hot wire foam cutter. Pink Insulation Foam is an ideal material for more rigid structures than EPS. So, for small scale modeling and DIY terrain pieces, pink foam will allow you to add more detailed texture, such as brick face or stone facade like you see on the sides of bridges, tunnels, or ancient ruins and columns. Because the foam material is more dense, smaller cuts, grooves, and shapes will appear in the surface with better resolution. Good hot wire foam cutters and tools slice through pink foam like a hot-knife through butter (to borrow the cliche).įinally, rigid pink foam boards hold details a lot better than EPS foam. This melting attribute is great for using hot wire foam cutters for shaping pink foam. The usefulness of pink foam for building terrain and modeling scenery is incredible.īecause it melts at relatively low temperature (compared with hard plastics or other crafting material), pink foam is some of the most favored materials for scale modelers, hobby model train enthusiasts, and wargamers. To form its shape, manufacturers melt the polystyrene raw material and force the liquified foam into dies or molds of the needed shape, e.g., boards of various thicknesses. Made from polystyrene resin, Pink insulation foam is a rigid type of building material. A hotwire cutter is great for shaping and cutting EPS foam. Pink insulation foam is closely related to EPS foam (above), and functions primarily as a construction material for insulating commercial and residential buildings.
The Craft Foam Block is a pack of 6 expanded polystyrene (EPS) white foam blocks. Your hot knife or wire cutter will travel a lot smoother during a cut through EPS. EPS has a relatively low melting temperature (as compared with pink insulation foam), and doesn’t create a sticky mess when melted. For crafting purposes, low density EPS is ideal due to its cost and ease-of-use.Ī hot wire foam cutter works best on EPS foam.
Depending on the need, EPS can vary in density, compressive strength, and load bearing. Because EPS holds a lot of air pockets, lightweight, and inexpensive, EPS foam is a very popular and common material in home and commercial building construction. The purpose of EPS is primarily as an insulation material. Expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam (also known as “Styrofoam”)ĮPS is also known as “Styrofoam”, which is actually a trademarked name for closed-cell EPS.
There are two kinds of foam I recommend you use with a hot wire foam cutter:
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