electric hot knife coments..

[Trip Wire 01]

Has anyone used the electric hot knife? if so how well does it work? is it worth the investment.I can not post in the creation discussion please move thanks.

 

[Mangos]

My parents got me a hot knife for Christmas. I absolutely love it. It cuts very clean and efficiently. However, It's hard to cut some pieces, so if you get one keep a regular carving knife around. It will come in handy at one point or another.

 

[Trip Wire 01]

So it works well on eva foam. Whatabout the pink construction foam

 

[GuitarMaster157]

Yeah, it works great on foam in general. However, I honestly wouldn't discredit regular kitchen scissors, they actually cut very well; however, it's not as clean a cut as you'd get with a hot knife.

 

[vargatom]

I didn't like it at all:
- the heat melts the edges of what you cut
- this also releases toxic fumes from the foam, so definitely avoid using it in a small, closed room; and even with good ventilation you'll need glasses and some mask or respirator
- it's also more dangerous to use because of the heat, easy to set stuff on fire and burn yourself

And the x-acto works fine for me in the end, I think I can also work faster, and swapping out blades a hundred times is still cheaper then the electricity bill you get from the hot knife

 

[Trip Wire 01]

Im going for good clean edges. Also my hands and fingers all the pepping ive done are getting sore. Lookig at ways of saving myself sime pain.

 

[Ravarkian]

Cutting foam with exacto blades isn't near as tasking on the hands and fingers as cutting cardstock for pepping. Plus the edges can be very clean, especially if you pre-score your lines before actually making your cuts.

 

[GuitarMaster157]

I'd say go with the hot knife, but don't expect it to cut like a knife through jello, it requires force any way you go at it.

 

[Waltimusprime]

Ive Just recently got a hot knife and after experimenting with it i find it much cleaner the lines better the edges cleaner. ive done it both ways and it is much less taxing on the fingers to do it with a hot knife regardless of what anyone says. and some of the cleaner foam people use hot knifes. Although Ravarkian has one of the cleanest foam helmets ive ever seen and apparently doesnt use a hot knife. not saying it cant be done with a box cutter/razors ect. but its just more difficult especially depends on artistic level steady hand cut planing or scoring. http://www.amazon.com/Walnut-Hollow...UTF8&qid=1361405894&sr=8-1&keywords=hot+knife this is the one i bought and it works wonders.

as far as toxic fumes in the air. i dont believe it to be toxic. could be wrong but doesnt seem to be. and it doesnt spit out fumes like bondo or sanding would. you get as much fumes as a candle releases in my opinion.

 

[Trip Wire 01]

How about a hot wire setup. Any thoughts. The hot knife is at harbor freight for $10 so I may take the chance