Foam Cutter - Revision history

Advance: /* Citrus Oil Dissolving Polystyrene Foam */

2026-04-07T11:49:22Z

Citrus Oil Dissolving Polystyrene Foam

Advance: /* Citrus Oil Dissolving Polystyrene Foam */

2026-01-24T08:11:22Z

Citrus Oil Dissolving Polystyrene Foam

Advance: /* Citrus Oil Dissolving Polystyrene Foam */

2026-01-24T08:10:42Z

Citrus Oil Dissolving Polystyrene Foam

Advance: /* Citrus Oil Dissolving Polystyrene Foam */

2026-01-24T08:10:19Z

Citrus Oil Dissolving Polystyrene Foam

Advance: /* Frame */

2026-01-13T17:41:28Z

Frame

Advance: /* CNC */

2026-01-13T17:40:48Z

CNC

Advance: /* CNC */

2026-01-13T17:39:58Z

CNC

Advance: /* Wire */

2026-01-13T17:39:12Z

Wire

Advance: /* Wire */

2026-01-13T17:37:33Z

Wire

Advance: /* Products that Have Resistance Wire */

2026-01-13T17:09:30Z

Products that Have Resistance Wire

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 ===Citrus Oil Dissolving Polystyrene Foam===
-It is possible to dissolve styrofoam with certain Citrus Oils. We had a bottle of some Orange Oil product hanging around the lab from https://citrusdepot.net/ (see photo below) which mentioned that it did this. I ran a test, and it worked as described. This is also documented online, for example https://csef.usc.edu/History/2012/Projects/J1001.pdf or https://duckduckgo.com/?t=h_&q=citrus+oil+extract+styrofoam&ia=web One thing that comes to mind, is that you could make a mold around styrofoam, and then dissolve it. Though I have not yet tested this in practice.
+It is possible to dissolve styrofoam with certain Citrus Oils. We had a bottle of some Orange Oil product hanging around the lab from https://citrusdepot.net/ (see photo below) which mentioned that it did this. I ran a test, and it worked as described. This is also documented online, for example https://csef.usc.edu/History/2012/Projects/J1001.pdf or https://duckduckgo.com/?t=h_&q=citrus+oil+extract+styrofoam&ia=web One thing that comes to mind, is that you could make a mold around styrofoam, and then dissolve it. Though I have not yet tested this in practice. Note that this oil can be noxious after a period of time (at first it is pleasant, but it gets old), so take care not to spill the orange extract in living areas.
 <gallery widths=200px heights=150px>
 File:CitrusOil 1 Citrus Depot dot net.jpeg

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 ===Citrus Oil Dissolving Polystyrene Foam===
-It is possible to dissolve styrofoam with certain Citrus Oils. We had a bottle of some Orange Oil product in the lab from citrusdepot.net (see photo below) which mentioned that it did this. I ran a test, and it worked as described. This is also documented online, for example https://csef.usc.edu/History/2012/Projects/J1001.pdf or https://duckduckgo.com/?t=h_&q=citrus+oil+extract+styrofoam&ia=web One thing that comes to mind, is that you could make a mold around styrofoam, and then dissolve it. Though I have not yet tested this in practice.
+It is possible to dissolve styrofoam with certain Citrus Oils. We had a bottle of some Orange Oil product hanging around the lab from https://citrusdepot.net/ (see photo below) which mentioned that it did this. I ran a test, and it worked as described. This is also documented online, for example https://csef.usc.edu/History/2012/Projects/J1001.pdf or https://duckduckgo.com/?t=h_&q=citrus+oil+extract+styrofoam&ia=web One thing that comes to mind, is that you could make a mold around styrofoam, and then dissolve it. Though I have not yet tested this in practice.
 <gallery widths=200px heights=150px>
 File:CitrusOil 1 Citrus Depot dot net.jpeg

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 ===Citrus Oil Dissolving Polystyrene Foam===
-It is possible to dissolve styrofoam with certain Citrus Oils. We had a bottle of some Orange Oil product in the lab (photo forthcoming) which mentioned that it did this. I ran a test, and it worked as described. This is also documented online, for example https://csef.usc.edu/History/2012/Projects/J1001.pdf or https://duckduckgo.com/?t=h_&q=citrus+oil+extract+styrofoam&ia=web One thing that comes to mind, is that you could make a mold around styrofoam, and then dissolve it. Though I have not yet tested this in practice.
+It is possible to dissolve styrofoam with certain Citrus Oils. We had a bottle of some Orange Oil product in the lab from citrusdepot.net (see photo below) which mentioned that it did this. I ran a test, and it worked as described. This is also documented online, for example https://csef.usc.edu/History/2012/Projects/J1001.pdf or https://duckduckgo.com/?t=h_&q=citrus+oil+extract+styrofoam&ia=web One thing that comes to mind, is that you could make a mold around styrofoam, and then dissolve it. Though I have not yet tested this in practice.
 <gallery widths=200px heights=150px>
 File:CitrusOil 1 Citrus Depot dot net.jpeg

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 ===Citrus Oil Dissolving Polystyrene Foam===
 It is possible to dissolve styrofoam with certain Citrus Oils. We had a bottle of some Orange Oil product in the lab (photo forthcoming) which mentioned that it did this. I ran a test, and it worked as described. This is also documented online, for example https://csef.usc.edu/History/2012/Projects/J1001.pdf or https://duckduckgo.com/?t=h_&q=citrus+oil+extract+styrofoam&ia=web One thing that comes to mind, is that you could make a mold around styrofoam, and then dissolve it. Though I have not yet tested this in practice.
 ===Polystyrene Cubes and Blocks===

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 ====Frame====
-For the frame, I glued together some non-conductive wood, let it sit overnight, and then just screwed down some washers over a piece of cut copper tubing. The wire is wrapped around the screw, and the washers have it make contact. The leads from the PSU connect to the copper tubing. This is just a proof of concept. To start, it doesn't matter what you use, as long as it is non conductive. It's just to demonstrate the viability of Nichrome wire to melt styrofoam.
+For the frame, I glued together some non-conductive wood, let it sit overnight, and then screwed down some washers over a piece of cut copper tubing. The wire is wrapped around the screw, and the washers have it make contact. The leads from the PSU connect to the copper tubing. This is just a proof of concept. To start, it doesn't matter what you use, as long as it is non conductive. It's just to demonstrate the viability of Nichrome wire to melt styrofoam.
 ====Styrofoam====

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 ===CNC===
-There are two notes with regards to foam cutting, and cnc. One is that you can make a CNC foam cutter, but you will be limited as to what shapes you can make, as wire can not detail like a mill. For a CNC mill and styrofoam, Here is an example of a 7'x 3' long tortoise one of our customer's created for us as a gift. Notice the fine details and features possible on the styrofoam. (Please excuse the unfinished gelcoat work. This is a work in process). For fine detail, a mill may be a better tool. The picture is a good representation of that. In fact, you might want to use both. A wire to cut large pieces off (even manually), followed by a mill for fine detail.
+There are two notes with regards to foam cutting, and cnc. One is that you can make a CNC foam cutter, but you will be limited as to what shapes you can make, as wire can not detail like a mill. For a CNC mill and styrofoam, Here is an example of a 7' x 3' long tortoise one of our customer's created for us as a gift. Notice the fine details and features possible on the styrofoam. (Please excuse the unfinished gelcoat work.). For fine detail, a mill may be a better tool. In fact, you might want to use both. A wire to cut large pieces off (even manually), followed by a mill.
 <gallery widths=300px heights=200px>
 File:Cnc tortoise.jpg|CNC Milled Tortoise. 7' x 3' roughly.

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 When buying the Nichrome wire, you are dealing with fairly small wire. You don't want to buy wire that is too thick, as there will be no resistance, and the wire will just short your PSU. On the other hand you don't want to buy wire that is too thin, as it will be more likely to break. I bought 30 feet of 28 Gauge wire on ebay (4 ohms per foot), and it was about $7 delivered. This turned out to be a good size, and I guessed correctly when purchasing for the first time. But I'm also a bit of a wire collector, so I had some insight as to what would and wouldn't work. Experience with magnet wire will help here. It's possible to purchase Nichrome wire from official channels, as well if you are worried about quality (general Industrial distributors such as Mcmaster, or the electronics distributors, Mouser, Farnell's, Digikey). It's easy to find online. It's also very cheap. If you keep wire in inventory, there's no reason not to have some Nichrome wire. You can also salvage it from hair dryers, hot air guns, and portable heaters. There are a variety of common appliances that use resistance wire per [[Foam_Cutter#Products_that_Have_Resistance_Wire]].
-Note that there are calculators online to determine length and temperature for Nichrome wire. But it is so cheap, you can also just buy a couple of gauges and try them out. See the note in External Links below.
+Note that there are calculators online to determine voltage, length, and temperature for Nichrome wire. But it is so cheap, you can also just buy a couple of gauges and try them out. See the note in External Links below.
 ====Power Supply====

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 These products use resistance wire to generate heat for various purposes, including comfort, cooking, and industrial applications.
 </pre>
 ===Electric Hot Knife===