Machines for cutting foam plastic: operating principle, types, prices. Design features of a CNC foam plastic cutting machine How to make a foam plastic cutting machine drawings

Heat and sound insulation building materials on the market are presented in wide range, is polyethylene foam, mineral and basalt wool and many others. But the most common for insulation and sound insulation is extruded polystyrene foam and polystyrene foam, due to its high physical and chemical properties, ease of installation, low weight and low cost. Polystyrene foam has a low thermal conductivity coefficient, a high sound absorption coefficient, and is resistant to water, weak acids, and alkalis. The foam is resistant to ambient temperatures, from the lowest possible to 90˚C. Even after decades, polystyrene foam does not change its physical and chemical properties. Polyfoam also has sufficient mechanical strength.

Polystyrene foam also has very important properties, such as fire resistance (when exposed to fire, foam plastic does not smolder like wood), environmental friendliness (since polystyrene foam is made of styrene, even food products can be stored in containers made from it). Fungi and pockets of bacteria do not appear on the foam. An almost ideal material for insulation and sound insulation during the construction and renovation of houses, apartments, garages, and even packaging for food storage.

In shops building materials polystyrene foam is sold in the form of plates of different thicknesses and sizes. When repairing, foam sheets of different thicknesses are often needed. If you have an electric foam cutter, you can always cut sheets of the desired thickness from a thick plate. The machine also allows you to turn shaped foam packaging from household appliances into plates, as in the photo above, and successfully cut thick sheets of foam rubber for furniture repair.

The video clip clearly demonstrates how easy it is to cut polystyrene foam on a homemade machine.

If you want to make a cutter for foam plastic and foam rubber, many are stopped by the difficulty of organizing the supply of supply voltage to heat the nichrome string to desired temperature. This obstacle can be overcome if you understand the physics of the issue.

Machine design

The base of the device for cutting foam plastic was a sheet of chipboard (chipboard). The size of the slab should be taken based on the width of the foam plates that are planned to be cut. I used a furniture door measuring 40x60 cm. With this size of the base, it will be possible to cut foam plates up to 50 cm wide. The base can be made from a sheet of plywood, wide board, secure the cutting line directly to the work table or workbench.

Pulling a nichrome string between two nails is the limit of laziness home handyman so I implemented the simplest design, providing reliable fixation and smooth adjustment of the height of the string during cutting above the surface of the machine base.

The ends of the nichrome wire are attached to springs mounted on M4 screws. The screws themselves are screwed into metal posts pressed into the base of the machine. With a base thickness of 18 mm, I selected a metal stand 28 mm long, so that when fully screwed in, the screw would not extend beyond the bottom side of the base, and when fully unscrewed, it would provide a foam cutting thickness of 50 mm. If you need to cut sheets of foam or foam rubber of greater thickness, then it will be enough to replace the screws with longer ones.

To press the stand into the base, first a hole is drilled in it, with a diameter 0.5 mm smaller than the outer diameter of the stand. In order for the posts to be easily hammered into the base, the sharp edges from the ends were removed using an emery column.

Before screwing the screw into the rack, a groove was machined at its head so that the nichrome wire could not move arbitrarily during adjustment, but would occupy the required position.

To make a groove in a screw, you must first protect its threads from deformation by putting on a plastic tube or wrapping it in thick paper. Then hold it in the drill chuck, turn on the drill and attach a narrow file. In a minute the groove will be ready.

To prevent nichrome wire from sagging due to elongation when heated, it is secured to the screws through springs.

A spring from a computer monitor, used to tension the grounding conductors on the kinescope, turned out to be suitable. The spring was longer than required, so we had to make two of it, for each side of the wire fastening.

After preparing all the fasteners, you can fasten the nichrome wire. Since the current consumed during operation is significant, about 10 A, for reliable contact of the current-carrying wire with the nichrome wire, I used the fastening method by twisting and crimping. The thickness of the copper wire at a current of 10 A must be taken with a cross-section of at least 1.45 mm 2. You can select the wire cross-section for connecting nichrome wire from the table. I had at my disposal a wire with a cross-section of about 1 mm 2. Therefore, each of the wires had to be made of two with a cross-section of 1 mm 2, connected in parallel.

If the electrical parameters of the nichrome wire are not known, then you should first try to connect a low-power electrical device, for example a 200 W light bulb (a current of about 1 A will flow), then a 1 kW (4.5 A) heater, and so increase the power of the connected devices until the nichrome The cutter wire will not heat up to the required temperature. Electrical appliances can also be connected in parallel.

The disadvantages of the latest connection scheme for a nichrome spiral include the need to determine the phase for correct connection and low efficiency (efficiency factor), kilowatts of electricity will be wasted.

*When using 4th and 5th axes, the working field may be reduced!

**The manufacturer reserves the right to improve the machine without the buyer’s consent.

***Additional equipment is discussed INDIVIDUALLY for each order!

Kamensky Machine Tool Plant produces 5-axis CNC machines for shaped cutting of foam plastic of the Penorez+5 series. The machines allow you to create products of complex shapes from polystyrene foam, expanded polystyrene, foam rubber and other similar materials. The 5D machining performed by the machine is more complex than the standard 3D machining used in most CNC machines.

Thanks to 5-axis processing, it is possible to create not just a relief surface, but also various undercuts, when the cutter processes the material at an arbitrary angle, and not just being in one vertical position, while the cutter can change the angle not in one, but in two planes .

Using artistic 5-axis cutting of foam plastic, CNC machines make it possible to produce artistic panels for finishing the interiors and facades of buildings, company logos, and advertising products. The all-welded machine frame is assembled at our plant and made from components from leading manufacturers. Wide selection of working table sizes.

By purchasing a 5-axis Penorez+5 machine, you will be able to create three-dimensional figures from foam plastic of almost any shape. Which is especially important for such areas as outdoor advertising, decorations for theater, cinema, photography and video filming, as well as exterior decoration of buildings.

DISTINCTIVE FEATURES OF 5 CNC FOAM MACHINES

Travel speed: up to 10,000 mm/min;
Cutting speed: up to 6,000 mm/min;
Z-axis drive system: ball screw;
Drive system along the X and Y axes: rack, pinion, gearbox.

Our achievements

Powerful steel frame of a 5-axis CNC foam plastic machine

The basis of CNC machines for 5-axis processing of foam plastic from the Twitte plant is a powerful steel bed. It is made of 10 mm steel. Due to the powerful bed, the machine has high rigidity, ensuring its correct operation and high processing accuracy.

The frame design ensures the machine's resistance to static and dynamic loads, as well as vibration. The plant’s specialists process areas for guides with high accuracy. This is done by milling the sites using CNC machines of our production.

These advantages provide the CNC foam cutting machine with high processing accuracy.

Powerful steel portal of a 5-axis CNC foam plastic machine

A steel portal of increased rigidity is installed on CNC machines for 5-axis processing of foam plastic from the Twitte plant. The portal is made from sheet steel up to 10mm thick! Withstands loads of up to several tons.

A powerful steel portal transfers load only along the axes of the guides. Allows you to eliminate the adverse effects of vibration that occurs during processing.

Due to the fact that the design of the 5-axis CNC machine for foam plastic is characterized by increased rigidity, it allows processing foam plastic of special hardness and density.

High-precision rail guides for large-scale CNC machines

On large CNC machines Kamensky Machine Tool Plant Rail guides are installed, and a gear drive is also used here. Rail guides provide greater rigidity compared to round guides, which allows processing on this machining center stone and steel. Rail guides minimize vibration and make the stone processing center more resistant to static and dynamic loads.

Rail guides are also less maintenance intensive than round guides. Due to these factors, the service life of our CNC machining center increases significantly.

Professional industrial spindle with a power of 2.2 kW and a rotation speed of 24,000 rpm

High-quality professional spindles from the world's leading manufacturers are installed on 5-axis CNC machines for processing foam plastic produced by the Twitte machine-tool plant.

The rotational speed of the spindle installed on our 5-axis CNC machines is 24,000 rpm. CNC machines for polystyrene foam are equipped with spindles with a power of 2.2 kW.

Control unit for 5-axis CNC foam plastic machines

5-axis CNC machines for foam plastic are equipped with control units produced by our plant. The control unit is a necessary electronic link that connects the mechanics of the machine with the computer with the software installed on it.

The reliability of its electronics ensures the reliability and correct operation of the entire machine. Our blocks are made from high-quality components and are tested before installation on CNC machines.

You can also buy a professional CNC machine or computer, or bring your own computer for setup.

The 5-axis CNC machine is equipped with high-quality stepper motors

In the design of CNC machines for 5-axis foam cutting from the Twitte plant, stepper motors are used to move the spindle, support, and portal. Stepper motors allow you to achieve very high precision movement at a low cost. This feature allows them to be used in inexpensive models machines, while achieving high quality products.

A feature of stepper motors is that its windings are activated sequentially one after another. As a result, the rotation of the engine occurs discretely in the form of “steps”.

Flexible cable channel 5 coordinate CNC machines for foam plastic

Flexible cable channels (cable layers) are installed on 5-axis CNC machines for foam plastic from the Kamensk plant Twitte so that the cables used on the machines are correctly laid when moving moving parts, do not get tangled and do not interfere with the operation of the machine itself.

Our plant uses cable channels from the world's leading manufacturers, time-tested. They are made from glass-filled polyamide, which makes them flexible and durable at the same time, as well as impact and oil resistant. Cable layers have good dielectric properties.

Software

Kamensky Machine Tool Plant Twitte provides buyers of its machines with all the software necessary for full operation of the supplied equipment.

When purchasing a machine, you receive reliable, proven programs on your computer, fully configured and prepared. In addition, plant specialists conduct training courses on how to operate the machine and software.

Transport packaging

Kamensky Machine Tool Plant packages all supplied products. Delivery is carried out by transport companies.

All supplied equipment is packaged in plastic packaging with additional protection for the protruding parts of the CNC machine.

At the buyer's request, special transport packaging of machines is possible at additional payment.

• 1 Machine.
• 2 Control block.
• 3 Set of cutters.
• 4 Digital media with instructions.
• 5 Connecting cable for control unit.
• 6 Tool zeroing sensor.
• 7 Limit inductive sensors for all axes.
• 8 Workpiece clamps - 4 pcs.
• 9 Cooling system for the spindle (pump).
• 10 Brush for removing chips on the spindle.
• 11 Spindle keys.

The orderliness and uniformity of the structure of high-density polystyrene makes heavy types of foam an ideal material for the manufacture of all kinds of models, crafts, and design elements. Sometimes you just need to cut a sheet of foam longitudinally, which turns out to be not so easy to do by hand. If you have to halve a dozen thick slabs, you can significantly simplify the task by making a machine for cutting foam plastic with your own hands. The construction of such a device will take a maximum of a few hours, but foam cutting can be done in unlimited quantities.

How to make a foam cutting machine

Processing foam blocks or sheets is possible in two ways:

• Mechanical cutting using a rotating high-speed cutter;
• Heat treatment, most often using hot nichrome wire.

Advice! With any method of cutting foam plastic, a large amount of foam dust or products of thermal decomposition of polystyrene foam is formed upon contact with a hot surface, so you will need to collect the dust with a vacuum cleaner or a powerful exhaust fan.

Any other cutting methods, for example, with a sharp knife, melting with alcohol-acetone mixtures or a laser beam, turn out to be either unproductive or ineffective. Moreover, if you need to cut a sheet along a plane in any other way than with a wire machine, it is almost impossible to do this with the appropriate level of quality.

Practical diagrams of foam cutting machines

Due to its very low thermal conductivity and low melting point, foam plastic can be cut quite easily even not with a hot metal, but simply with a metal cutting edge or wire heated to the melting temperature. Therefore, the diagram of the machine shown below does not pose a particular danger to the environment and humans, but you should work on it with caution due to the risk of getting burned.

Nichrome foam cutting machine

Structurally, the foam cutting machine consists of four main parts:

1. Beds with supports for wire tension;
2. Power supply;
3. Nichrome wire with tension system.

The best material for making the machine bed will be thick plywood and fiberglass or getinax strips. The structure of the machine is shown below.

For ease of operation, the bed is made of a sheet of plywood with a width of at least 60 cm. At the edges of the working plane of the machine, two threaded rods with a height of 150 mm are attached to fiberglass supports.

On the back side of the plywood base, the first contact from the power supply is connected to one of the studs.

Advice! It is best to use a regular LATR as a power supply.

Foam plastic can be cut with a metal knife heated to 270-300 o C. To ensure a good cutting speed, the nichrome thread must be heated to 500 o C. The actual conditions and cutting temperature on the machine will have to be selected by adjusting the operating voltage with a LATR.

Nichrome wire 0.7-1 mm is used as a working tool. It is secured to the stud posts of the machine using a tension spring, while the second contact must be secured, as in the photo, to the “ear” of the wire. If a copper core is simply screwed to a spring or pin of a machine, then during operation the current will heat up the spring steel, and after a certain period of time the tension system will fail.

The optimal solution for attaching nichrome thread would be to use ceramic earthenware barrels used for wall-mounted electrical wiring. In this case, the red-hot thread does not transfer part of the heat to the steel racks, and accordingly, cold zones of the wire do not form at the fastening points.

For cutting with nichrome, a current of at least 10A will be required, for a wire with a diameter of 0.7 mm and a length of 60 cm, the operating voltage will be 18-20V, a wire 1mm thick must be connected to 12V. When starting the machine, you need to use the LATR to set 50% of the operating voltage and smoothly raise it by turning the handle on the power supply. As soon as the color of the nichrome wire begins to acquire a dark crimson color, you can begin cutting.

If the fastenings of the nichrome thread are made sliding, then you can cut the foam at an angle, as in the photo.

After cutting, the surface of the foam is far from ideal and resembles a rough, untreated edged board. Such plates are easy to glue polyurethane foam or bitumen mastic to brick, concrete or even metal.

Mechanical foam cutting machine

More interesting project is a device for shaped cutting of foam plastic. Given the small amount of force required to cut soft foam, it is possible to make a CNC foam cutting machine from commercial parts. Estimated cost components purchased is $650.

The basis of the machine is a body assembled from a plywood board, 15 mm thick. To make the case, the main parts are printed on a printer and transferred from paper to plywood base. The machine parts can be milled or cut with a regular jigsaw.

After cutting the parts, the body is assembled according to the diagram below. All parts are glued sequentially using polyurethane glue and connected with M8 bolt-nut fasteners. The upper rest and work table of the machine are additionally strengthened with aluminum corners.

The machine provides cutting in three directions, so a belt drive system from three stepper motors is used. The motors are controlled using a programmable controller and a laptop. For guide rails, steel, chrome-plated or nickel-plated tubes with a diameter of 12 mm are used. Plastic or aluminum guides are not suitable; brass tubes are ideal.

A hand engraver or a high-speed engine is used as a working executive tool direct current, with a power of at least 40 W. Due to the soft surface, when cutting foam plastic, you need to use a working tool designed for high speed rotation. To cut foam plastic, you can use chromium-cobalt disk and end mills with a working speed of 7-8 thousand. For finishing grinding of the model, the rotation speed should reach at least 15 thousand rpm.

Using the machine, you can perform figured cutting and engraving of the most complex curved patterns, make inscriptions and cut parts for all kinds of decorative coatings. The cutting speed of foam with a seam width of 4 mm and a cutting depth of 15 mm is 30 cm/min.

The machine can be used for milling and cutting foam blocks, as well as plywood, blocks of soft wood, linden, poplar, birch, and aspen. The quality of the surface and productivity are determined by the power of the engine; on average, it takes 60-90 minutes to finish a rough-cut model.

Conclusion

Except listed options, often used for cutting foam plastic band machines for sawing lumber. The cutting width is only 1 mm, which is comparable to the cutting parameters on a homemade thermal cutter. The width of the foam board that can be cut on such a machine reaches 40-50 cm, the cutting speed is 10 cm/s.

Polystyrene foam is a wonderful material used in many areas of construction and decoration. With its help they equip hydro- and thermal insulation, create decorative ceiling coverings, baguettes and much more. For all its versatility, it is also cheap. The only problem that arises while working with it is cutting.

Cutting foam: do-it-yourself machine

It is extremely difficult to cut polystyrene foam yourself so as to get a clean and even cut. It crumbles and bursts if you use a saw; even a blade or razor does not solve the problem.

Hot metal can be a solution, but how can you use it at home? Design a homemade foam cutting machine!

Method number 1.

To implement this venture you will need:

• table, it is better if each of its sides is no shorter than 2 m;
• metal springs with low current resistance;
• a transformer that converts current from 220 to 24 Volts;
• high resistance string, if you have an old heater, remove it.

You will also need a string height adjuster. Use a couple of beams for it. The cutting string with the holder will move between them.

A transformer is not necessary in every case. It depends on what material the string is made of. If it is chrome plated, a current of 220 Volts is also considered acceptable. But when working with such a discharge, you must strictly follow safety rules, otherwise the matter may end sadly.

If you work with a 24 Volt discharge, then there is no danger to life and health. It is simply not noticeable, and if it is affected, you just need to rinse the affected area with water.

It should also be remembered that when cutting foam plastic with hot metal, toxic fumes are released, so it is imperative to use a protective mask and ventilate the room well, otherwise poisoning will occur. In general, it is best to work outside, but this is possible if you have your own yard.

To make it easier to assemble a foam cutting machine from the above materials, below is a schematic drawing:

Method number 2.

In the absence of a suitable table, a sheet of chipboard, plywood, or board is quite suitable as a base for the device.

Sequence of assembling a homemade machine:

1. Attach nichrome wire to the springs, put the springs on M4 screws, and screw them, in turn, into special racks.

2. Press the metal stands into the table roof in advance, chipboard board, or any other surface selected as the base. The height of the stand and the thickness of the base depend on the needs of the machine owner. If the thickness of the slab is 1.8 cm, and the height of the stand is 2.8 cm, then when fully screwed in, the screw will not go through the base, but when completely unscrewed, it will be able to cut foam plastic 5 cm thick.

3. If thicker cutting is required in the future, the short screws will need to be removed and the long screws screwed in their place.

4. To press fit, drill a hole in the base. Its diameter should be half a millimeter less than the diameter of the stand. Hammer the posts into the holes, but before doing this, to make this procedure easier, run sandpaper along the sharp edges of the ends.

5. Before screwing the screw into the rack, cut out a groove just under the screw head. To do this, clamp its end with a screwdriver, place a thin file under the head and turn on the rotation. This groove is needed in order to fix the wire in one position, which otherwise may move during adjustment.

6. To prevent the wire from sagging, elongating due to heating, attach it first to the springs, and then to the screws.

7. Once all the fasteners are ready, secure the nichrome wire. To ensure reliable contact between it and the current-carrying wire, use the “twisted and crimped” fastening method. The copper wire must have a cross-section of at least 1.45 sq. mm.

8. Remove the insulation from the ends of the wires by about 2 cm. Wind the copper conductors onto the wire in the places where it is attached to the spring. Hold the end of the wire with pliers and wrap it around the conductor. Thanks to this winding, the contact between the wire and the current-carrying wire will have a large area, and when the machine starts working, the connection points will not become hot.

9. To be able to adjust the cutting thickness of the material, make a branch of the conductive conductors in the form of a loop. To prevent the wires from getting tangled under your hands when using the machine, make holes in the base, pass the interfering piece through them and attach it to the back of the surface using staples.

10. It is best to put the wires together and twist them into a loose bundle. This way they won't get confused.

11. Solder jumper terminals to the ends of the wires to connect them to the power source.

A device designed according to the instructions described above will be quite sufficient for use at home. In addition, it can be used as a machine for shaped cutting of foam plastic.

During cutting, the speed of material movement should be medium. If you move the foam very quickly, then it will crumble in the same way as when cutting with a saw. If, on the contrary, you move it very slowly, the edges of the cut out figure will melt.

If polystyrene foam is required to insulate a house during construction, then it is better to purchase a thicker one. Because of easy to manufacture and low demand, such material is much cheaper than thin material.

If you have a Mayak stereo tape recorder lying around in the attic since Soviet times, then do not buy a transformer, but take it from it. It is just suitable, because... supplies 24 Volts.

In cases where work is carried out in a lack of electricity, connect three 9-volt crowns to each other and use them. Thus, the device will be able to function for 30-40 minutes.

But using car batteries for this purpose is strictly prohibited. Despite the low voltage, they have a very high current strength, which can burn the string and it will simply burst. This will happen in a good situation, but in a bad situation it will splash hot metal.

Choosing foam plastic for thermal insulation

There is a special foam designed specifically for insulating facades. The packaging usually has a corresponding marking in the form of the letter “F”. It has a high density compared to conventional material and is resistant to mechanical impact. It springs well, making it difficult to break.

When cutting foam plastic, for thermal insulation, you should not set the string below 50 mm. The fact is that thinner material will not be effective enough, and when wet it will generally lose most of its wonderful properties. At high humidity, such thermal insulation will be permeable to cold air, just like ordinary brickwork.

Use a slab as an additional material for thermal insulation mineral wool. In addition to the properties mentioned, it has another important advantage - in the event of a fire it will not burn.

Foam cutting machine, video:

recn.ru

DIY foam cutting machine: how to cut foam

The issue of home insulation is very relevant these days. Cladding house facades with foam plastic is one of the most popular types of insulation. And this is very justified, because... the process of such insulation is simple and clear, and all necessary materials always available for free sale.

But everyone knows that gluing foam plastic is very convenient on flat wall. With any method of gluing foam plastic to the wall: using dry-mix glue, foam or glue-foam, it is always very important that the foam sheet fits tightly to the wall and does not create air gaps.

If the wall is smooth, then no questions arise. But, unfortunately, the walls of old houses are not ideally even. And different design features of the structure sometimes create differences in the plane of the wall.

This drawback can be partially mitigated by laying the foam on a thicker layer of glue. But the maximum permissible thickness of the adhesive layer often cannot cover the magnitude of the differences in the plane of the walls. In addition, too large differences lead to unjustified overuse of glue.

The only way out of the situation remains is to trim the foam according to its thickness. But doing this with a hacksaw is very inconvenient and time-consuming, especially if you need to cut a large amount of foam. In addition, during cutting, a large amount of debris is generated in the form of foam balls. And the surface turns out to be uneven and the accuracy of such cutting is very conditional.

In order to quickly and evenly cut foam to the desired thickness, you can use a foam cutting machine. This device can be made independently, absolutely with your own hands.

Operating principle and design of the foam cutting machine

The operating principle of the machine is based on the fact that foam plastic easily melts under the influence of temperature. Thus, if you run a thin heated wire over it, it is easily cut, forming a perfectly flat, smooth surface.

To manufacture the machine, the following components are needed:

• LATR (laboratory autotransformer) or car battery;
• nichrome thread;
• stands for fastening nichrome thread;
• spring (1-2 pcs.);
• board-tabletop;
• copper wire.

A nichrome thread (spiral) is used as a cutting object. You can either buy it in a store or extract it from old household appliances in which they were used as filaments (hair dryer, for example). The thickness of the spiral can be 0.5-1 mm. The most optimal thickness is 0.7 mm. The length depends on the width of the foam that will be cut.

An important element of the device for cutting foam is LATR. But if it doesn’t exist, then it can be made using an old transformer and a device for charging car batteries.

You can also use a computer power supply, in which wires providing 12 W (yellow and black) are used to connect to the spiral.

To operate such a machine, it is enough to have an output voltage of 6-12 W.

It is necessary to correctly adjust the length and thickness of the filament so that it matches the voltage. If the thread gets too hot, it may burst. Well, if the thread heats up slightly, then cutting will occur slowly.

A car battery can also be used as a power source. It can be used in conditions where there is no electricity on the site.

Polystyrene foam cutting machine field conditions. Connection to car battery.

For different tasks, you can make different designs of the foam cutting device.

Basically, these devices will differ in the length of the spiral. To cut polystyrene foam into bars, you need a short spiral length.

You can install two spirals and cut the sheet into several bars in one pass.

Two spirals cut the sheet into three parts in one pass. The stand has guides for smooth feeding of foam.

But, as a last resort, foam plastic can be cut into bars with a hacksaw. It is much more difficult to cut foam plastic to thickness, and even to a given size. Therefore, let’s look at how to make a machine for cutting foam plastic to width.

Step-by-step instructions for making your own machine and cutting foam plastic

Step 1. Preparing the tabletop. You can take any piece of chipboard of the required size as a tabletop for a machine for cutting foam plastic with your own hands. The surface on which the foam will move must be smooth. Holes for the racks are drilled in the tabletop. It is convenient to use metal pins with threads with a diameter of 10-12 mm as racks. The height of the racks should correspond to the thickness of the foam sheets plus a headroom. The pin is fixed with nuts.

To give the structure stability, bars are attached to the bottom of the tabletop, which will also serve for the safe passage of the electrical wire.

Step 2. Connecting the current supply wires. From below, under the tabletop, the wires are connected to metal stand rods: the wire is wound around the lower end of the pin and pressed with a bolt.

The second end of the wires must be connected to a power source, depending on the selected method. The most best connection there will be a connection through a plug that will connect to the LATER socket. Connection is possible through self-clamping terminals, as well as by twisting and soldering. This depends on the selected power source.

In any case, the connection must be made in accordance with the rules for working with electrical installations and devices, be convenient for work and safe during operation.

Step 3. Fastening the nichrome spiral. A nichrome spiral is fixed between two posts. A spring is attached to one end of the spiral (there may be two of them).

The spring is needed to tension the nichrome thread during operation. The fact is that when heated, the nichrome thread lengthens and sags. A thread in this condition will not produce a quality cut. Therefore, the thread is fixed in an initially tense state, so that the spring is slightly stretched.

To fasten the nichrome thread to the pin, washers with an internal diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the pin are used. A small hole is made in the washer for attaching the spiral itself. A small sharpening is also done on the inner diameter side so that the washer can be fixed on the thread of the pin.

A spring with a spiral attached to it is inserted into one washer and placed on the first pin. The second washer is put on the second pin and a nichrome spiral is threaded into the drilled hole. Next, it is tightened so that the spring stretches and fixed.

Step 4: Cutting the foam. To spread a sheet of foam into two sheets of a given size, the spiral is set to the desired height. The required distance is measured with a ruler.

The machine is then connected to a power source. The thread heats up and now you can cut the foam, smoothly moving it forward along the countertop.

The cutting speed depends on the filament temperature, which in turn depends on the applied voltage and the thickness of the filament itself. You should not try to apply more voltage to achieve high speed, because... this can lead to rapid filament burnout. Here, a balance between tension, thickness and length of the thread must be selected experimentally. The thread should not overheat during operation. When heated, it turns red or scarlet. But it should not turn white - this indicates that the thread is overheating and that it is advisable to reduce the voltage, otherwise the thread will not last long in this mode. Of course, smooth adjustment is easy to do if LATER is available. But if it is not there, then a laboratory power supply can be made from a computer power supply; the video below has more information. After you have made this foam cutting machine with your own hands, you need to make sure that the device is safe.

It must be remembered that all activities must comply with safety regulations for working with electrical appliances. The power source must be grounded and all connections must be carefully insulated. All work on assembling the machine must be carried out with de-energized wires. The machine is connected to the electrical network only while working with polystyrene foam. After work it must be turned off immediately. While working with the machine, you should avoid touching metal parts and the nichrome thread itself.

Step 4: Cutting the foam at an angle. Sometimes it becomes necessary to cut the foam so that one side is higher and the other is lower.

To do this, the spiral is set at an angle with the required parameters. In this way, foam sheets of various sections can be obtained.

Useful video

o-builder.ru

Homemade machine for cutting foam plastic Design, calculation, electrical diagram

Heat and sound insulating building materials are presented in a wide range on the market, including polyethylene foam, mineral and basalt wool and many others. But the most common for insulation and sound insulation is extruded polystyrene foam and polystyrene foam, due to its high physical and chemical properties, ease of installation, low weight and low cost. Polystyrene foam has a low thermal conductivity coefficient, a high sound absorption coefficient, and is resistant to water, weak acids, and alkalis. The foam is resistant to ambient temperatures, from the lowest possible to 90˚C. Even after decades, polystyrene foam does not change its physical and chemical properties. Polyfoam also has sufficient mechanical strength.

Polystyrene foam also has very important properties, such as fire resistance (when exposed to fire, foam plastic does not smolder like wood), environmental friendliness (since polystyrene foam is made of styrene, even food products can be stored in containers made from it). Fungi and pockets of bacteria do not appear on the foam. An almost ideal material for insulation and sound insulation during the construction and renovation of houses, apartments, garages, and even packaging for food storage.

In building materials stores, foam is sold in the form of plates of different thicknesses and sizes. When repairing, foam sheets of different thicknesses are often needed. If you have a foam cutting machine, you can always cut foam sheets of the required thickness from a thick plate. The machine also allows you to turn shaped foam packaging from household appliances into plates, as in the photo above, and successfully cut thick sheets of foam rubber for furniture repair.

The video clip clearly demonstrates how easy it is to cut polystyrene foam on a homemade machine.

If you want to make a machine for cutting foam plastic and foam rubber, many are stopped by the difficulty of organizing the supply of supply voltage to heat the nichrome string to the desired temperature. This obstacle can be overcome if you understand the physics of the issue.

Design of foam cutting machine

The base of the device for cutting foam plastic was a sheet of chipboard (chipboard). The size of the slab should be taken based on the width of the foam plates that are planned to be cut. I used a furniture door measuring 40x60 cm. With this size of the base, it will be possible to cut foam plates up to 50 cm wide. The base can be made from a sheet of plywood, a wide board, and the cutting wire can be secured directly to the desktop or workbench.

Pulling a nichrome string between two nails is the limit of laziness for a home craftsman, so I implemented a simple design that provides reliable fixation and smooth adjustment of the height of the string during cutting above the surface of the base of the machine.

The ends of the nichrome wire are attached to springs mounted on M4 screws. The screws themselves are screwed into metal posts pressed into the base of the machine. With a base thickness of 18 mm, I selected a metal stand 28 mm long, so that when fully screwed in, the screw would not extend beyond the bottom side of the base, and when fully unscrewed, it would provide a foam cutting thickness of 50 mm. If you need to cut sheets of foam or foam rubber of greater thickness, then it will be enough to replace the screws with longer ones.

To press the stand into the base, first a hole is drilled in it, with a diameter 0.5 mm smaller than the outer diameter of the stand. In order for the posts to be easily hammered into the base, the sharp edges from the ends were removed using an emery column.

Before screwing the screw into the rack, a groove was machined at its head so that the nichrome wire could not move arbitrarily during adjustment, but would occupy the required position.

To make a groove in a screw, you must first protect its threads from deformation by putting on a plastic tube or wrapping it in thick paper. Then hold it in the drill chuck, turn on the drill and attach a narrow file. In a minute the groove will be ready.

To prevent nichrome wire from sagging due to elongation when heated, it is secured to the screws through springs.

A spring from a computer monitor, used to tension the grounding conductors on the kinescope, turned out to be suitable. The spring was longer than required, so we had to make two of it, for each side of the wire fastening.

After preparing all the fasteners, you can fasten the nichrome wire. Since the current consumed during operation is significant, about 10 A, for reliable contact of the current-carrying wire with the nichrome wire, I used the fastening method by twisting and crimping. The thickness of the copper wire at a current of 10 A must be taken with a cross-section of at least 1.45 mm2. You can select the wire cross-section for connecting nichrome wire from the table. I had at my disposal a wire with a cross-section of about 1 mm2. Therefore, each of the wires had to be made of two with a cross-section of 1 mm2, connected in parallel.

After removing the insulation from the ends of the wires to a length of about 20 mm, the copper conductors are wound onto a string of nichrome wire at the point where it is attached to the spring. Then, holding the nichrome wire by the loop with pliers, the wrapped copper wire is wrapped with the free end of the nichrome wire in the opposite direction.

This method of connecting a current-carrying copper wire with a nichrome wire will provide a large area of ​​contact between them and will eliminate strong heating at the junction when the foam cutting machine is operating. This was confirmed by practice: after prolonged cutting of foam plastic, the PVC sheath of the current-carrying wire did not melt, and the copper wire in the connection area did not change its color.

To be able to adjust the thickness of cutting foam on the device, the outlet of the current-carrying conductors is made with a loop. To prevent the wires from interfering during operation, they are passed through holes in the base and secured on the back side with brackets. The same brackets are nailed to the corners of the base as legs.

The current-carrying wires are twisted together to avoid tangling. At the ends of the wires for connection to the power source, plug-in terminals are sealed.

Nichrome wire appearance not much different from steel wire, but it is made from an alloy of chromium and nickel. The most common wire is X20N80, containing 20% ​​chromium and 80% nickel. However, unlike steel or copper wire, nichrome wire has a higher resistivity and can withstand, while maintaining, high mechanical strength heating temperature up to 1200˚C. Nichrome wire is available in diameters from 0.1 mm to 10 mm.

Nichrome wire is widely used as heating elements in household and industrial products such as electric hair dryer, iron, electric stove, radiant heaters, soldering irons, water heaters and even in electric kettles. And this is not a complete list. The so-called heating elements type heaters are also made of nichrome wire, only the spiral is placed in a metal tube, which is filled to insulate and transfer heat from the spiral to the walls of the tube, quartz sand. The list of devices was not given by accident, it was simply something that was out of order heating element you can take nichrome wire to make a machine, of course, if it has not had time to burn out from long work.

Cutting polystyrene foam on a machine involves melting it along the passage line of heated nichrome wire. The melting point of polystyrene foam is about 270˚C. In order for the foam to melt upon contact with the wire, its temperature must be several times higher, since the heat will be spent not only on melting, but also due to thermal conductivity will be absorbed by the foam itself, reducing the temperature of the wire. The amount of heat absorbed by the foam will directly depend on its density. The denser the foam, the more thermal energy required.

From the above it follows that, depending on the density of the foam, for cutting it it is necessary to select a wire of the appropriate diameter so that the nichrome wire does not melt from the heat generated on it. The higher the density of the foam, the larger the diameter of the nichrome wire. It is worth noting that a machine on which a wire is installed for cutting dense foam plastic will successfully cut loose foam plastic, but it will only need to be advanced faster.

The length of the nichrome wire for the device is selected based on the size of the foam plates intended for cutting, and does not depend on the density of the foam.

As a result of the conducted experiments, it was determined that for effective cutting of foam plastic, the power that must be supplied per unit length of wire should be in the range of 1.5-2.5 W per centimeter of wire length; for this operating mode, nichrome wire with a diameter of 0 is best suited .5-0.8 mm. It allows you to generate enough heat to quickly cut foam of any density, while maintaining its mechanical strength. Therefore, nichrome wire with a diameter of 0.8 mm was used to make a foam cutting machine.

Calculation of power source parameters for heating wire

It should be noted that for heating the nichrome wire of a foam cutting machine, a power source of both alternating current and direct current is suitable.

Taking into account the fact that no more than 2.5 watts of power must be allocated per centimeter of wire length and the wire length is 50 cm, the power of the power supply can be calculated. To do this, you need to multiply the amount of power released by the length of the wire. As a result, it turns out that to heat up the wire of a foam cutting machine, you will need a power source of 125 W.

Now you need to determine the voltage value of the power supply. To do this, you need to know the resistance of the nichrome wire of the foam cutting machine.

The resistance of a wire can be calculated from the specific resistance (resistance of one meter of wire). The resistivity of nichrome wire grade X20N80 is given in the table. For other brands of nichrome, the values ​​differ slightly.

As can be seen from the table, for a wire with a diameter of 0.8 mm, the resistivity is 2.2 ohms, therefore, a nichrome wire 50 cm long, which was chosen for the foam plastic cutting machine, will have a resistance of 1.1 ohms. If you choose a wire with a diameter of 0.5 mm, then the resistance of a piece of wire 50 cm long will be 2.8 Ohms.

Using the transformed formulas of the Ohm and Joule – Lenz laws, we obtain a formula for calculating the value of the supply voltage for a foam plastic cutting machine. The value of the supply voltage will be equal to the root of the product of the amount of power consumed and the wire resistance. As a result of the calculations, it turns out that a power source with a voltage of 11.7 V is required. In this case, the current consumption from the source will be 11.7 A. In order to find the current value, you need to divide the power consumption by the voltage value. Dividing 125 W by 11.7 V we get a current of 11.7 A.

As a result of calculations, it was determined that to heat the nichrome wire of a foam cutting machine, an AC or DC power source is required that produces a voltage of 11.7 V and provides a load current of 12 A.

When decreasing or increasing the length of the wire, the voltage of the power supply will need to be proportionally reduced or increased accordingly. In this case, the current value will not change.

The calculation performed is an estimate, since the transition resistance at the points of connection of the wires and the resistance of the current-carrying conductors are not taken into account. Therefore, the optimal wire heating mode ultimately has to be set directly when cutting foam plastic on the device.

Electrical circuit of the power supply of the foam cutting machine

You can apply power voltage to the nichrome thread of a foam cutting machine using several circuits.

Diagram of a machine for cutting foam plastic using LATR

Most simple option The power source of the foam cutting machine is an autotransformer with the ability to smoothly adjust the output voltage. But this circuit has a significant drawback: it does not have galvanic isolation from the power supply network, since the output of the LATR is directly connected to the power supply network. Therefore, when using LATR, it is necessary to connect it in such a way that the common wire is connected to the neutral wire of the supply network.

Electrical diagram for connecting a nichrome spiral of a foam cutting machine to LATR.

What is LATR and how does it work?

The industry produces laboratory autotransformers, which are commonly called LATR (adjustable laboratory autotransformer). They are connected directly to a 220 V household power supply and, depending on the type of LATR, are designed for different load currents.

LATR is toroidal transformer with one primary winding, along the turns of which, when the handle located on top is rotated, a graphite wheel moves, allowing you to remove voltage from any part of the winding. In this way, the voltage at the LATR output can be changed from 0 to 240 V.

The wires to the LATR are connected using a terminal block, on which its electrical diagram is drawn and the inscriptions “Network” and “Load” are written. A cord with a plug is connected to the “Network” terminals to connect to a household network. The “Load” terminals are used to connect a product that needs to be powered with a voltage different from the household power supply.

Attention! One of network wires, lower terminals in the photo, connected directly to one of the load wires. Thus, if a phase gets on the lower terminal, then touching this circuit will be dangerous for a person.

Therefore, in the case of using LATR to heat the nichrome wire of a foam plastic cutting machine without an isolating transformer, it is necessary to check the absence of a phase on the common wire with a phase indicator. If there is a phase on it, remove the LATR supply plug from the socket and, turning it 180 degrees, insert it again. Recheck the bottom wire for phase presence.

Usually there is a label on the LATR body that provides data on its load capacity. On the LATR shown in the photo, the label is installed directly on the adjustment knob.

From the label it follows that this is a LATR of the LOSN type, the output voltage can be adjusted in the range from 5 to 240 volts, the maximum load current is 2 A.

If the design current does not exceed 8 A, then it is quite possible to power the nichrome wire through an LATR type RNO 250-2.

This LATR allows you to connect a load with a current consumption of up to 8 A, but given the short duration of operation of the device for cutting foam, it will completely withstand a load current of 10 A.

Before using LATR as a power source, it is necessary to check its functionality. To do this, you need to connect a power cord to the “Network” terminals of the LATR, and a multimeter or pointer tester turned on in the alternating voltage measurement mode to the “Load” terminals, to a limit of at least 250 V. Set the LATR voltage adjustment knob to the minimum voltage position. Insert the plug into the socket.

Slowly turn the LATR knob clockwise to make sure that the output voltage increases. Return the LATR handle to the zero position. Remove the plug from the network and connect the wires coming from the nichrome thread to the “Load” terminals. Insert plug power cord into the socket and use a phase indicator to check the absence of phase on the nichrome wire. Having figured out the phase, you can slowly turn the LATR knob to apply voltage to the nichrome wire. It should be taken into account that the wire heats up gradually, over several seconds.

Attention! It is strictly forbidden to touch the wire with your hand to check the degree of its heating when the supply voltage is applied to it! The temperature of the wire is very high and you can get burned!

When the wire heats up to a slightly noticeable glow, you can begin cutting the foam on the machine.

Diagram of a machine for cutting foam plastic using an LATR step-down transformer

If the amount of current consumed by the nichrome wire of the foam cutting machine is greater than the LATR can provide, then you will have to additionally turn on a step-down transformer after it according to the electrical diagram below.

As you can see, unlike the previous diagram, the network winding of the power transformer is connected to the output of the LATR, and the nichrome spiral is connected to the secondary output winding of the transformer. In this circuit, thanks to the isolating step-down transformer, the nichrome spiral is not galvanically connected to the electrical network and is therefore safe for operation. In addition, it became possible to more smoothly adjust the output voltage and, therefore, more accurately set the temperature for cutting foam plastic on the machine.

The power of the transformer and the voltage on its secondary winding are taken based on calculations performed using the above method. For example, for the proposed design of a machine for cutting foam plastic, with a nichrome wire diameter of 0.8 mm and a length of 50 cm, the power source was an LATR with an output current of 2 A, followed by a step-down transformer with a power of 150 W and a voltage on the secondary winding of 12 V.

To power the nichrome spiral of a foam cutting machine, you can use a transformer with taps in the secondary winding. This is the simplest, most reliable and safe option, especially if the foam cutting machine will be used regularly. After all, when cutting foam plastic on a device, there is no need to regulate the heating temperature of the nichrome wire. The temperature is selected once when setting up the machine. Therefore, having selected the desired voltage, the wires from the terminals of the nichrome wire are soldered to the terminals of the secondary winding of the transformer forever.

Despite the simplicity and reliability of this circuit, there are no standard ready-made transformers with taps, and even for the required voltage. You will have to find a suitable transformer for voltage and current on the secondary winding and unwind the extra turns. You can disassemble the transformer and, having unwinded part of the secondary winding, wind it again, but with taps. But this work requires knowledge and experience.

Diagram of a machine for cutting foam plastic using a step-down transformer and current-limiting capacitors

You can establish a stable output current from the secondary winding of the transformer using ordinary capacitors connected to the primary winding of the transformer.

The capacitor must be designed for a voltage of at least 300 V and have a capacity, depending on the type of transformer and the current consumption of the nichrome spiral, of the order of 50 μF. Based on this principle of stabilizing the current on the secondary winding, I have developed a charger circuit for car batteries. The transformer must be of appropriate power and have a 10% voltage reserve.

Diagram of a machine for cutting foam plastic using a step-down transformer and a thyristor power regulator

Another, somewhat unusual circuit for controlling the heating temperature of nichrome wire using a thyristor. It is similar to adjustment using LATR with a transformer, but small-sized. The classic thyristor regulator circuit is not suitable for this circuit, as it distorts the shape of the sinusoidal current.

Therefore, a special thyristor regulator circuit is required that produces a sinusoidal signal at the output and is designed to work with an inductive load.

It is possible to turn on the thyristor regulator after the secondary winding of the transformer. In this case, when choosing a regulator circuit, it should be taken into account that it must be designed for the current that is necessary to heat the nichrome wire.

Diagram of a machine for cutting foam plastic using any electrical appliances

If none of the above electrical diagrams heating nichrome wire to accommodate cutting foam cannot be implemented, then I propose a non-standard scheme for heating it.

When connecting any electrical appliance, it consumes current from the mains. The amount of current directly depends on the power of the electrical appliance. The greater the power, the more current will flow through the wires. The resistance of a piece of nichrome wire of a foam cutting machine is slightly greater than the resistance copper wires and, therefore, connecting the machine to a break in one of the wires of an electrical appliance will not affect its operation, and the nichrome wire will heat up. This is what you can use.

When using the connection of a machine for cutting foam plastic according to this scheme, you must ensure that the nichrome wire is not connected directly to the phase wire of the electrical network. Physically, the connection is best done using an adapter, like the one described for measuring current consumption.

Continuous electrical appliances, such as a heater or vacuum cleaner, are suitable for operation in the circuit. You can estimate how much current electrical appliances consume using the table on the website page “Choosing the cable cross-section for electrical wiring.”

If the electrical parameters of the nichrome wire are not known, then you should first try to connect a low-power electrical device, for example a 200 W light bulb (a current of about 1 A will flow), then a 1 kW (4.5 A) heater, and so increase the power of the connected devices until the nichrome wire The wire of the foam cutting machine will not heat up to the required temperature. Electrical appliances can also be connected in parallel.

The disadvantages of the latest connection scheme for a nichrome spiral of a foam cutting machine include the need to determine the phase for correct connection and low efficiency (coefficient of efficiency), kilowatts of electricity will be wasted uselessly.

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Do-it-yourself foam cutting machines (drawings, video)

Foam cutting machine is important element equipping many enterprises and home workshops. With their help, the production of various blanks used in construction, repair, decoration, interior design, etc. is carried out.

Photo of a foam cutting machine

If you study the range of factory models of machines for cutting foam plastic or simply PSA, then there are several types:

• Mobile. Such PSA are more reminiscent of an ordinary knife designed for working with polystyrene foam with your own hands. With a mobile machine you can make various simple workpieces. Quite often found in everyday life when processing polystyrene foam, expanded polystyrene;
• Machines for transverse and horizontal processing. PSA data is cut in a certain direction, that is, achieving complex figures is problematic. But the machine provides highly efficient production, cutting large materials;
• CNC machines. PSA equipped with a CNC module are modern models of machines for processing expanded polystyrene and polystyrene foam. With its help, you can make machines and 3D models of a wide variety of parameters, complexity and configuration. The current furniture, repair and construction production cannot do without the use of CNC PSA.

Diagram of a foam cutting machine

If you want to buy a PSA or make it yourself, first you need to understand the operating features of the device.

• The operation of most types of machines for working with foam is based on a single principle;
• The cutting part of the machine heats up and affects the material being processed;
• The cutting element moves according to the drawings;
• The process is similar to passing a hot knife through butter, that is, the process is carried out easily, with minimal damage to the foam or polystyrene foam;
• The simplest model of the machine has one cutting string. This installation is easy to do with your own hands, having at your disposal the appropriate drawing;
• To work with complex 3D shapes and perform high-precision cuts, a PSA with a CNC module is used. The machine itself can have up to 6 cutting strings;
• The advantage of the machine is that additional edge processing is not required due to a clean cut. This simplifies production and minimizes the cost of finishing parts.

Device Features

• If you want to make a cutting device for foam plastic with your own hands, this can be done using two methods - vertical and horizontal cutting of a sheet of foam plastic;
• To make a vertical cut, the cutting line is installed perpendicular to the work table;
• For a horizontal cut, you need to make an appropriate design, the opposite of the first example;
• To get an even, neat cut, you will need a competent drawing and template for subsequent processing;
• The drawing is widely available on the Internet, which allows anyone to make a machine at their own discretion, based on personal needs or materials available for assembling the PSA;
• It is recommended to use nichrome thread as a cutting element. Almost every drawing provides for its use;
• To process complex parts and obtain 3D models, the current production of machine tools has reached high level. Special models of CNC units designed specifically for figure cutting are widely used. The workpiece is processed in several projections at once. Thanks to such equipment, it is possible to establish the production of models of cars, people, airplanes, animals and much more. Moreover, in reality, the resulting 3D products accurately repeat all the curves, lines, and configurations of the copied product.

Making a machine with your own hands

The production of special machines for cutting foam plastic has been put into active production. At the same time, the cost of equipment seems high for many potential buyers. In addition, having the opportunity to assemble a machine for cutting foam plastic without unnecessary help, with their own hands, many simply abandon the idea of ​​​​purchase. The estimated price of a factory machine is from 40 thousand rubles. But there are models costing 100 thousand rubles and more.

Yes, for that kind of money you can get an excellent foam cutting machine equipped with a CNC module. A CNC machine is far superior to homemade simple devices. At the same time, not everyone has a real need for CNC and automated cutting of foam plastic. Therefore, we will give an example of how you can make an excellent unit for processing expanded polystyrene or polystyrene with your own hands. It will not be a bad idea to consolidate your skills with video lessons.

1. Drawing. It is not necessary to use a drawing specifically for a given machine model. It is not needed here, since the design is quite simple. But for clarity, you can draw a drawing yourself, based on the selected parameters. Another option is to choose a drawing for a more serious installation. It all depends on what you want to get out of your foam cutting machine.
2. Select or assemble a table on which to perform polystyrene foam cutting operations. The surface should be covered with thermal insulating or electrical material. Polyamide film has proven itself excellent in this component.
3. At the center of the long side work surface secure the insulator. One on each edge. Ceramic or glass elements can be used as insulators. Between these structural components you will then stretch a thread that will act as a cutting tool.
4. Choose a line. If you have an old hotplate, an unwanted soldering iron or iron, you will find nichrome thread inside them. It has sufficient power.
5. Remove the spiral from the tool, carefully straighten it to form an even thread.
6. It is not recommended to use nichrome threads with a thickness of more than 0.5 millimeters for a homemade machine.
7. Be sure to connect the thread to the network through a rheostat or step-down transformer. This will protect your main working element of the machine from combustion.
8. A nichrome fishing line is connected to a reel on insulating material. An electrical cable is connected to the fishing line, through which power will be supplied to the machine. Try to ensure that the contact between the electrical cable and the thread is as high quality as possible.
9. Under the table, pull the thread to another insulator and pass through it. The end of the thread will hang from the insulator, so a weight should be provided here. The weight of the load determines the tension of the heated thread when processing foam. Here you will have to “play around” a little to determine the optimal parameters of the weight. Movable sliding fixation is the most advantageous when creating such a machine with your own hands. This is due to the fact that this way you will get a better and cleaner cut line, and you will be able to adjust the position of the thread as needed.
10. Near the second insulation coil, a second electrical cable is mounted to the thread, which goes to the rheostat and is connected to the slider terminal.

The machine may only be started after the slider has been set to the maximum resistance level. If this is not done, literally immediately after turning it on, your thread will burn out, and you will have to look for a new one.

The power of the unit depends on the current parameters and the thickness of the thread used. The only drawback of a homemade machine for working with foam plastic is that when heated, the material emits bad smell and harmful substances. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to use the machine only where there is an effective ventilation system.

Cutting foam plastic is carried out in order to obtain elements of various expressive large-scale inscriptions, for the production of relief images on billboards and facades of artistically designed buildings. Also, cutting foam sheet material is used to obtain building structures of a given size.

To choose the right equipment for cutting foam plastic, you need to clearly set yourself the task: what specific material will be cut, what types of individual products and what are the prospects for this business in the future? Having determined the direction of activity, you can begin to select suitable equipment. And the choice here is very large - from simple machines for shaped cutting of foam plastic to machines for 3D cutting of foam plastic.

Foam cutting technology

Foam cutting technologies vary greatly depending on the goals and objectives set for the master. Some products can be cut well with an ordinary sharp knife or a hacksaw-type machine, others - only with the help of jigsaws, both manual and mechanical. Often, specialists who cut out letters from foam sheets use preheated high temperature wire.

A new step in foam cutting technology is the use of various low and high cost machine tools. These machines use completely different ways cutting In simpler ones, the thermal method is used using a heated cutting element. In others, mechanical cutting is done using cutters of various configurations.

More complex and expensive types of equipment for processing foam are laser machines, which make it possible to produce products of high geometric requirements from foam raw materials. As a rule, machines for figure and laser cutting are equipped with CNC units, allowing the operator to quickly create a software algorithm for the operation of the machine, and further work equipment already occur without human intervention.

Each type of equipment for dividing foam plastic into parts is in its own price segment, and the higher the quality of the resulting products and the simpler the process of creating a task, the higher the price of the equipment.

Foam cutting equipment

We will consider equipment as its cost increases and as the functionality of the machines increases. Considering that there are a lot of offers on the market for such equipment, both from domestic and foreign manufacturers, the price of machines with similar capabilities can vary greatly depending on the country of origin.

Recently, many consumers begin their review of the equipment they need with Chinese models. And, as sad as it sounds, that’s where they end up. After all, modern China is a highly industrialized country, which is the main manufacturer of equipment for almost the entire planet. In addition, the price-quality ratio of Chinese equipment is very high, which makes it highly competitive, highly functional and reliable.

Hand cutting foam

To manually cut foam plastic at home, it would be nice to figure out how to make a machine for cutting foam plastic with your own hands. To cut foam yourself, you will need a heated metal rod or wire. After all, when cold cutting this material crumbles and bursts. Even the sharpest cutting tools the problem is not solved. Of course, there are also knives with serrations; to reduce noise, you can lubricate the blade of this knife with machine oil, and remove the chips that form during cutting using a vacuum cleaner. But it is impossible to cut this magnificent insulation with a knife without physical effort.

A more progressive manual way of processing polystyrene foam at home is to apply a heated string to this material. The string is pulled onto the clamps of a hand-held machine, similar to a hacksaw for metal, and voltage is supplied to it from a low-voltage current source. When current flows through the string, it quickly heats up, and further cutting of the foam will be more like its melting in the cutting zone. This method requires almost no manual effort, except for moving the sheet of material as the string passes.

With an average sheet thickness of approximately 50 mm, the cutting speed of a homemade foam cutting machine is at least 1 meter in 10 seconds. With this method, it is necessary to ensure the outflow of harmful substances that are formed when the foam is heated. A regular one may be suitable for this. household vacuum cleaner or fan.

But you can cut the material with a cold string. After all, during the repeated-return movement, it heats up, and the heated foam plastic is pushed through it along the desired trajectory.

Shaped cutting of foam plastic

Let's consider equipment for shaped cutting of foam plastic. The machines of this group enable the operator to use modern technologies processing the material and in this way creating products of very complex shapes, and they do it so quickly and accurately that it’s hard to wish for anything better. In addition, the costs of operating the machine are almost arbitrary. The main obstacle to complicating the shapes of manufactured products is the imagination of the person himself.

Using shaped processing, three-dimensional models of individual letters and entire logos of firms and companies, advertising inscriptions and store details are created. Such methods are also used to create decorations at any level, for artistic modeling in architecture and construction.

If the machine for figure processing is equipped with CNC, then it can produce any shapes from extruded and foamed types of foam. Impeccable cutting accuracy and high technological speed of work allow us to produce only “excellent” parts.

Models of new types of cutting equipment include the 4-axis Zodchiy machine with a milling-type working head. In addition to cutting foam plastic, this machine can perform work on format cutting of chipboard, laminated chipboard, PVC, and polyurethane. It also produces good working qualities when processing fiberglass and acrylic.

Thanks to the SRP-4612 software, cutting and cutting operations are simplified to a minimum. The cutting element has the ability to move widely vertically. Programs for operating the machine can be entered from the laptop included with this equipment.

Machine operating parameters:

• cutting speed – up to 100 cm/s;
• engine power – 5000 W;
• spindle power – 2300 W;
• power supply – 220 V 50 Hz.

Having such high performance parameters, the device is expensive. The price of the Zodchiy foam plastic cutting machine is currently 1 million 300 thousand rubles.

The machine for cutting FRP foam plastic also has a complex design, which has already been discontinued since this year, 2017 due to the presence of more functional types equipment. But the manufacturer can also supply this device upon the client’s request.

Equipment of this class has two separate portals, each of which can work synchronously and asynchronously with the other. This allows you to double the productivity of the equipment and simultaneously cut out, for example, the right and left wings of an airplane model. The CNC machine software module has high functionality, and for turning or milling cutting of materials, it is enough to buy only additional equipment for the machine.

The FRP-01 model has a very well thought out system for removing cutting waste, and its design allows you to fold the working equipment after work, due to which the size of the machine is reduced by almost half.

The workpiece is fixed in the FRP machine using rotary disks without additional devices. The device is available for both manual and mechanical operation. The rotation speed of the workpiece is controlled using a gear motor, and the software module does not require connection to a separate computer.

The cost of the FRP machine currently ranges from 110,000 rubles.

Interesting and modern model equipment - a machine for cutting PSA foam plastic. Model SRP - 3222, compared to earlier models of this manufacturer, has an enlarged work table for the manufacture of molded products in the form of various insulation for heating pipes, baseboards and finishing parts for building facades. Such equipment can produce large-sized products.

All models of this machine series allow you to install 6 strings at once for cutting foam and synchronously produce 6 parts of the same type at the same time. Since the length of one string is more than two meters, it is possible to immediately produce products for 12 linear meters. The SRP-322 model takes into account all the best qualities of previous versions of the SRP machine. You can simultaneously install up to four blocks of foam styrene on it and cut them simultaneously into the required products.

At the request of the customer, machines in this series are equipped with a rotary table, which has a diameter of 76 cm. This allows you to program three-dimensional cutting of various shapes from foam plastic on the machine. The workpiece is securely fixed on the rotary table and rotated according to a program specified using CNC. And a modern CNC foam plastic cutting machine also allows you to cut out shapes in the 3D format that is widely in demand these days.

To produce products of such complex shapes, the stability of table rotation plays a very important role, which in the SRP machine is ensured by a gear reducer with high accuracy of specified rotation angles.

You can now buy a machine for cutting foam plastic, model SRP, for 187,000 rubles. There are plenty of offers for the sale of this equipment for cutting foam plastic and other models on Internet sites.

Machines from Proxxon

Thermocut Proxxon machines are highly recommended among production workers. This is a thermal cutting machine for working with polystyrene and foam from the Proxxon company. The devices are very practical to use, suitable for both horizontal cutting of material and cutting it at a given angle.

In addition to cutting foam, this machine is also suitable for cutting other thermoplastic materials. When powered from a household electrical network of 220 V, the machine has class 2 electrical insulation. The weight of the machine is only 3 kg.

At a price of 8,000 rubles, this equipment fully justifies itself in the first months of operation.

Laser equipment for cutting polystyrene

A more modern and technologically advanced equipment of this class is a machine for laser cutting of foam plastic. Such laser cutters and engravers are used for the production of small-sized products from sheet non-metallic materials.

These machines can be used to produce various artistic products in the form of 3D souvenirs or elements of furniture and room decoration. They can be used to apply various inscriptions and openwork engravings on the surface of products. Such equipment is also widely used in the advertising industry. CNC laser machines for cutting foam plastic have been mainly supplied to Russia from China since 2009.

To order machine tools of this class, you need to go to the seller’s website, find out how much the device costs, and start negotiations with the manager of the trading company. The specialist will give extensive advice on the functionality, purpose of certain machines and provide a price list for any equipment.

If a person does not have the amounts indicated next to CNC laser cutting machines to start a business, you can look for offers of used foam plastic cutting machines. There are also plenty of such options on the websites of equipment sellers. You just need to choose the appropriate equipment option, agree on the conditions for the initial stage of operation and the warranty period.

Prices for such equipment are sometimes an order of magnitude lower than for new ones, and its performance basically remains at the same level as at the time of the first sale.