How to make a hot knife + how to search forum for "hot knife"

[thud]

Tweet

Loaded post.
First, what's the trick to search the forums for hot knife? "hot knife" drops hot, so does hot AND knife, and hot + knife. Is there no boolean searching? I had this issue with several other 3 letter or short keywords as well.

Second, has anyone had luck making their own "hot knife" to cut through foam board? I've seen some retail ones out there, but they can get pricey. Figured one of you genius ghouls has done this already. (actually saw mythbusters carving a shark out with what looked to be a hot wire stretched across a wooden "Y" for large scale use.

An example of the retail version: here

Thoughts?

*thud*

[billman]

I see what you mean. One thing you could do is search through google and type this in search field:

site:http://www.halloweenforum.com "hot knife"


Here is one site I found on making your own:

iamanangelchaser.com > processes > DIY hot knife

[thud]

nifty trick. Thanks!

[Terra]

If you don't want to make it then you could get a wood-burning kit that comes with the eXacto-knife attachment. Here's one I found. I got another kit at Hobby Lobby for $20.
23906, CREATIVE VERSA-TOOL

[thud]

@ Terra, I take it you like using it then? I've seen some nice projects done with that tool on the forums... like 1st Prop Sketch ; I guess I'll have to give it a try.

I'm guessing the x-acto blade is avg size and won't make it through a 1" thick piece of foam, and I'll have to use a keyhole saw or something similar. Or maybe cut with hot knife from both sides?

What do you think?

*thud*

[Terra]

To be honest, I used it once and decided to use my rasp, Dremel, jig saw, and Styrofoam cutter instead for my tombstones. The jig for major cuts, Styrofoam cutter for angled and odd cuts, rasp for just about everything and the Dremel with the small router attachment and multi-purpose cutter bit for everything else. Here's a few pictures of the tools in use.

Hot knife making cuts. (This is the only thing I used it for - was slooowww....)


Here is my favorite - the rasp. Used it for everything, aging, ragged deep cuts, shaping. It was great!:



Here's my second favorite tool - the Dremel with small router attachment and multi-purpose cutting bit. I used this for cutting out epitaphs, cutting out router channels for the PVC pipe and detail cutting:




Here's a tool I tried but ended up not using much. Again - slooowww.... but was good for big angle cuts:

[billman]

harborfreight has a wood burner kit for $6.99:
Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

Though if you use the 50% coupon at michael's you can get one fairly cheap.

[thud]

To be honest, I used it once and decided to use my rasp, Dremel, jig saw, and Styrofoam cutter instead for my tombstones. The jig for major cuts, Styrofoam cutter for angled and odd cuts, rasp for just about everything and the Dremel with the small router attachment and multi-purpose cutter bit for everything else. Here's a few pictures of the tools in use.

That's quite an arsenal of equipment! I must admit, when I made tombstones last year, I was pulling anything and everything out of the tool chest to work on them. Thanks for the pics!

@billman, I actually found a 50% for michaels in the other forum, and am going to track down one of the burners there...hopefully. But thanks for the link, regardless!!

[Salona]

Another tool to add to your arsenal is a electric carving knife. Im sure you can go to a local thrift store and find one. It works great though doing real detail cuts take a little more time.

[Terra]

Another tool to add to your arsenal is a electric carving knife. Im sure you can go to a local thrift store and find one. It works great though doing real detail cuts take a little more time.

Oooh! I didn't think of that. Thanks for the new tool