Hot wire CNC Foam cutting types

« Older   Newer »
 
  Share  
.
  1.     Like  
     
    .
    Avatar

    Guru

    Group
    Administrator
    Posts
    1,911
    Reputation
    +27
    Location
    Belluno - Italy

    Status
    Offline
    Some brief notes about 2 different way to cut foam:

    1) By contact. In this way the hot wire touches the foam and melts it by contact. This is the usual way applied when you cut the foam by hand.
    Pro:
    - you can have faster cutting speed
    - the kerf is little, can also be as short as the wire diameter
    Cons:
    - the hot wire bends and cannot follow well the desired path. This is usually negligible when you cut smooth surfaces, but can create big problems on sharp corner. In this case the direction change is applied when the hot wire haven't still reached the right position, so a big deformation can occur. To improve this my last application devWing Foam offer the option to automatically add stop pauses at sharp corners, in this way the hot wire can reach the right position before the direction change is applied
    - you must use strong tension to keep the hot wire as straight as possible. This often requires an external bow, or the CNC frame can be over stressed

    2) By irradiation. In this case the foam is melted by the heat irradiated by the hot wire, and the hot wire never touches the foam
    Pro:
    - the cut is much more precise, as the hot wire doesn't bend but stays straight
    - you can use a lower tension to keep the hot wire straight, so you can also use an automatic rewind system, that works well also for strong tapered cuts
    Cons:
    - you have a slower cutting speed
    - the kerf is wider, so you must set it with more accuracy.

    If this can be interesting, next time I can write some notes about the kerf

    Edited by duroneee - 20/3/2015, 15:49
     
    .
  2.     Like  
     
    .
    Avatar

    Junior Member

    Group
    Member
    Posts
    10
    Reputation
    0
    Location
    Ottawa Ontario Canada

    Status
    Offline
    QUOTE
    big deformation can occur. To improve this my last application devWing Foam offer the option to automatically add stop pauses at sharp corners, in this way the hot wire can reach the right position before the direction change is applied

    Is this option (automatically add stop pauses) available in devFoam Pro? I have devFoam Pro 1.06a but can not find this option. This would be useful from my machine.

    Thanks
    Greg.
     
    .
  3.     Like  
     
    .
    Avatar

    Guru

    Group
    Administrator
    Posts
    1,911
    Reputation
    +27
    Location
    Belluno - Italy

    Status
    Offline
    See devFoam Pro 2, version 1 is old and freezed
     
    .
2 replies since 20/3/2015, 15:11   333 views
  Share  
.