Foam Cutter - Revision history

Advance: /* Citrus Oil Dissolving Polystyrene Foam */

2026-05-01T19:36:05Z

Citrus Oil Dissolving Polystyrene Foam

Advance: /* Citrus Oil Dissolving Polystyrene Foam */

2026-05-01T19:35:55Z

Citrus Oil Dissolving Polystyrene Foam

Advance: /* Citrus Oil Dissolving Polystyrene Foam */

2026-05-01T19:33:51Z

Citrus Oil Dissolving Polystyrene Foam

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

@@ Line 79: / Line 79: @@
 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.
-It might be possible to use other orange based products. For example, [https://www.woodcraft.com/  Woodcraft] sells a [ https://www.woodcraft.com/products/general-finishes-clear-orange-oil-polish-solvent-based-orange-oil-pint General Finishes Clear Orange Oil Polish Solvent Based Orange Oil Pint Item #811792], which is worth testing.
+It might be possible to use other orange based products. For example, [https://www.woodcraft.com/  Woodcraft] sells a [https://www.woodcraft.com/products/general-finishes-clear-orange-oil-polish-solvent-based-orange-oil-pint General Finishes Clear Orange Oil Polish Solvent Based Orange Oil Pint Item #811792], which is worth testing.
 <gallery widths=200px heights=150px>
 File:CitrusOil 1 Citrus Depot dot net.jpeg

@@ Line 79: / Line 79: @@
 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.
-It might be possible to use other orange based products. For example, [https://www.woodcraft.com/products/general-finishes-clear-orange-oil-polish-solvent-based-orange-oil-pint Woodcraft] sells a General Finishes Clear Orange Oil Polish Solvent Based Orange Oil Pint Item #811792, which is worth testing.
+It might be possible to use other orange based products. For example, [https://www.woodcraft.com/  Woodcraft] sells a [ https://www.woodcraft.com/products/general-finishes-clear-orange-oil-polish-solvent-based-orange-oil-pint General Finishes Clear Orange Oil Polish Solvent Based Orange Oil Pint Item #811792], which is worth testing.
 <gallery widths=200px heights=150px>
 File:CitrusOil 1 Citrus Depot dot net.jpeg

@@ Line 75: / Line 75: @@
 ===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. 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.
+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 You can make a mold around styrofoam, and then dissolve it. I have tested this briefly, and some work is required afterwards, as the cured mold around the styrofoam will retain the rough texture of the foam. It does not take too much of this.
 <gallery widths=200px heights=150px>
 File:CitrusOil 1 Citrus Depot dot net.jpeg

@@ Line 75: / Line 75: @@
 ===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

@@ Line 75: / Line 75: @@
 ===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

@@ Line 76: / Line 76: @@
 ===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===

@@ Line 17: / Line 17: @@
 ====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====

@@ Line 31: / Line 31: @@
 ===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.