The CLEANEST Way to Cut Styrofoam

[@alejandro131]

excellent job, in 10 minutes we learn to do a job for life without having any education in electricity! Obviously I'm going to hire a professional, but is your idea. Thanks

[@ronaldharris6569]

We call it KZbin university

[@jonathanmintle6505]

My favorite quote: “If you don’t ask, the answer will always be ‘No’.”

[@jean-sebastienbaril9227]

Great job! Thanks! For anybody out there doing foam cutting, make sure to have a good ventilation. Fumes from cutting foam are toxic.

[@bjodaddyo]

3:30 before he starts to get to the point. You're welcome.

[@ChanyataFarm]

Give the people what they want!

[@jihadal-nefs-4302]

@@ChanyataFarm you should learn from this man. Stop wasting time my friend

[@khandam7709]

Just skip to 7:00, this guy sure likes to talk, jesus.

[@bretgreen5314]

That is the coolest thing I have ever seen. Who knew you could short across nichrome wire like that? Not me. Well done; thank you for sharing.

[@todpatn9782]

I have this stuff at my house. I love it, I’ve often thought of cutting this but never being able to visualize anything like this. That’s an awesome job

[@c9sus4]

this is exactly what we designed back in the 70's to cut styrofoam in Vietnam, My uncle was an artist did a wall mural with this diy, what they use for the wire was a mandolin string and a transformer (not 100% sure) for the power supply.

[@mikemalone9589]

Thank you for taking the time to make this video on the clean styrofoam cutting. Exactly what I need for my project (insulation for a roll up metal garage door) and I scored a bunch of free block to trim up. Thanks again. 👍

[@ChanyataFarm]

Sounds like a great project

[@oldmountainmarineandmetals9736]

Nice job, I'm building a 4×5 powder coating oven and I acquired a bunch styrofoam also and I made my cutter using a transformer out of a old microwave but, my wire was getting glowing hot and me being a scrapper I saved a bunch of diodes and different parts and I kept trying different diodes until it was just under the glowing red and turned out perfect.

[@paulfrost8952]

Are you sure you were using diodes, because they control the direction of current flow. We’re as resistors resist current flow, which is how the wire temperature is controlled!?

[@bravelilspidey]

Hello, I came here looking for ways to cut my spare Styrofoam down smoothly to make buildings, structures and fortresses for Dungeons & Dragons. This really helps. Thanks.

[@catherinewittman3105]

Knowledge is free, or should be... Give a life long gift that keeps on giving... ** Knowledge** Learn something, show someone else how to do it, hopefully one day they to can give the same "gift", the Gift of Knowledge..

[@peterbarlow8912]

Battery for power is much simpler than other videos about hot wire foam shearing which I’ve been checking out. I need to cut some 2 1/2” x 2’ x 8’ foam billets of reclaimed sub slab foam the long way. The resulting 12” planks will be part of a concrete form for a Quonset slab and left in for frost protection. The visible fumes suggest it should be done outdoors standing upwind.

[@Johnstonsamantha]

This is genius, i have huge sheets that are about 4 to 6 inches tbick and about 4ft by 6ft long that i want to recycle and do this with. For a shed i built out of pallets . The framing doesn't allow for easy installation so i had thought about shredding it but i really didn't want to do that this way i can cut the sheets thinner and just out them up on the inside of the pallets

[@doesntmatter3068]

A small diameter guitar string work well if your don't need a whole roll of this wire. I got one at a music store for 2 bucks.

[@ChanyataFarm]

That’s a good idea

[@finnsorteberg3258]

Just curious if this could be accomplished using a battery charger? If so, what setting should be used? (Just thinking that the battery must drain rather quickly!)

[@ChanyataFarm]

Finn! I would think it would work just the same

[@mustang73648]

Good engineering brother. Thank you for sharing

[@techristopher8077]

I have been using. 020 stainless safety tie wire. A 15 a 120 vac rated switch and it's all uung on stainless eye bolts using a 1/2 in. pvc tubing. All of the connections are between the limbs so minimum heat on the pvc.

[@philipanderson9434]

Nice ❤❤❤❤❤. Just the job for a job I have coming up. Ice bath insulation and I got the sryrofoam kicking around just needed a away to cut it as its gonna be lots of small cuts and your jig idea, perfect.

[@farmbikemike8923]

Man, what a slick way to do the cutting!

[@itstheweather642]

Your dad is an excellent manifester. He believes he will receive what he asks for, and he does!

[@BryanReviere]

Cool. I came looking for a means to cut styrofoam egg cartons. This is a neat idea. I noticed the Louisiana license plate in the background.

[@ChanyataFarm]

We are in Ohio, bought a random box of license plates one time had to use them somehow to justify buying them ha!

[@cawag98]

Great idea. I'd suggest you ventilate better. Those fumes, even a bit, aren't good. Also, please please put a fuse, or better, a 12v breaker on the hot wire close to the battery. The reason is that you want some control over the current/power draw. If something bad happened, like the supply wires overheated or somehow shorted the battery, you could have a dangerous gas/acid/explosion situation. I have no idea what the current rating of the fuse/breaker would be. A good point is that on 12v wiring, you need thick wires, or short wires, preferably both, depending on the current draw. It would be interesting to know what the element wire is drawing. Here's another YT version of this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/kJ20i3mfl52Dn68

[@moto-rambler]

I wish you showed us the entire wire setup assembly. And where did you buy the adjustable height metal rods used to hold the wire with tension? Great video but hard for someone to follow along with what you did.

[@AaronGeller]

You can buy something similar. When I was a student in high school, in sculpture class we would use foam board and had a handheld version to easily cut the foam.

[@solidsoldier9021]

GREAT JOB , FATHER & SON 👍

[@ggemin]

I bought some 2 ft square medium styrofoam for $ 120.00. That was for 4 pieces only. But free is a better deal.

[@elisa7joy9]

Im actually cutting memory foam going to hope it's an easier cut cuz the foam is 12" thick and i want to hope it goes through despite my limited power source(car battery)

[@rickl6697]

Is there a way to regulate or adjust the power to the cutter from the battery. Do you think a 12v battery could power a 48" 26 gauge cutter?

[@IamKittySweets]

great video

[@stringlarson1247]

Please wear a NIOSH respirator when working with the stuff. n95 05 n100 outer filter will help. Those if if you can smell it, it's going in you bloodstream. As I'm a gray beard about yer pop's age and a big fan of finding materials, the "If you don't ask, the answer is always no" reminds me of "100% of your short puts are not going in the hole (golf and other situations)".

[@melissacreek1199]

Sounds like a plasma or really sharp torch cut

[@ronaldharris6569]

Hot wire cutter a bunch of bamboo skewers and some gorilla glue and you can build up and mill down panels to many widths

[@roderickwilliams6176]

What did Tractor Supply USE the styro FOR ..... SO i would KNOW what circumstance to ASK for for the foam ?

[@ChanyataFarm]

I believe they were from the small trailers they sell. They get shipped without the wheels on them, stacked up several high. These were the spacers inbetween the stacked trailers

[@wayneleamon3186]

You and your dad amaze me at the ideas you all come up with. Where does Tractor Supply have this Styrofoam blocks? I have been wanting to build us a large cooler but insulation was my problem. It's not affordable. If we could get some free Styrofoam, I would love it.

[@ChanyataFarm]

The styrofoam was out by the dumpster. Apparently it is packing material, I don’t know for what but something they have shipped in must come surrounded in it

[@fredbecker607]

They also put blocks like these between small trailers for shipping. They remove the wheels and stack them with blocks.

[@khandam7709]

any place that sells trailers will have this as excess packaging, just call around. I got a 5x8x8 or 320 cubic feet of blocks for free and trailer dealer told me he will have just as much next week.

[@LouisJSamora]

Could you name all the parts that you used and what size of battery you had?

[@ralphrutherford2583]

You brilliant buggers! Fantastic

[@RojoFrijol]

Tractor Supply charged me 1.00 a block

[@jamesm568]

I don't cut big blocks of Styrofoam but I do trim styrofoam for people's window AC units.

[@ChanyataFarm]

The concept would work just the same. Thanks for watching!

[@Timmerdetimmerdetim]

Stupid question: using AC would work as well but that would be way more hazardous, right?

[@ChanyataFarm]

I am not sure how the Nichrome wire reacts with higher voltages. I do not know if it would just fry the wire. If you try it let us know the results!

[@YoungbloodFamilyFarm]

It seems to me that I know see a ceiling above that evaporator. Any plans to prepare for venting? A walk in cooler is on the list here as well

[@ChanyataFarm]

We are going to try to fab a vent hood out of sheet metal

[@johnnyhodges7957]

Slick . Thanks

[@areanadechand3403]

That's badasssss ty so much for thus

[@brandirobinson8430]

Nice! Thank you!

[@danpicklo5069]

What is the purpose of the lug that is on top of the wood guide or the "bottom " lug ?

[@ChanyataFarm]

The initial thought was to connect the batteries with the alligator clips. There turned out to be too much resistance for the little battery we were using, so we ended up connecting directly to the wire.

[@manhardatta4721]

You r genius..

[@airkami]

My kind of ASMR

[@THEATREGOD3]

Cute I made one that cuts 4'x12'x9"

[@etfluty30]

Do you remember how many cuts did you got with that battery before you had to charge it?

[@ChanyataFarm]

A couple dozen

[@johnnicolini2562]

I just finished a weeks worth of cutting Styrofoam with a saw I hated it I wish I would’ve seen your video a little sooner excellent job I’ve known of the concept but I didn’t know how to actually create create the machine

[@stianh6164]

What kind of battery is that ? How many amp is needed?

[@ChanyataFarm]

It is just a 12v lawn mower battery. Any car/motorcycle type of battery would work, the amperage doesn’t need to be very high. You will want something you are able to charge, it does drain the battery surprisingly fast

[@stianh6164]

@@ChanyataFarm okei, thank you very much 😊

[@ChanyataFarm]

I believe it would work, but you are ramping up your chances of electrocuting yourself if your connected to real power

[@brendanglackin5505]

So if I connect one side of the car battery to the jig, and the other side to the other side to heat the wire. I'm closing the circuit on the battery to heaten up the wire. My question is, can the battery not explode doing this or is it ok to do in small amounts of time

[@luisbatista1103]

Y'all came for this 8:49 thank me later 😉🇨🇦👍

[@Korina-p1o]

Which gauge I should use for styrofoam of 8 Inches?

[@ChanyataFarm]

We used 26 gauge

[@bendy1808]

nice cut clean

[@garthwillard8089]

Do bond them back together?

[@ChanyataFarm]

A small amount sometimes, but they always break right apart

[@bobbycamp791]

I got a trailer load

[@ChanyataFarm]

Nice score!

[@brother_sothoth]

Damnit, another video talking about cutting a different type of styro to the one I'm tryna cut 😔💀

[@RonWinter335]

Thanks for the info. Amazon sucks.

[@Nathan-cc4gy]

The hot wire is moving when i tried to power it.. Causing uneven cut

[@ChanyataFarm]

Maybe try to slow down your feed rate, make sure you have good tension on the wire also

[@UnknownOriginFX]

What is the hardware used?

[@ChanyataFarm]

Nichrome wire, wing nuts, threaded rod/bolts, alligator clips, a car battery

[@RandyTannehill]

Where did you get your mychrome wire

[@ChanyataFarm]

Amazon

[@ToddBizCoach]

Are the fumes from burning styrofoam noxious?

[@ChanyataFarm]

I wouldn’t want to inhale it, but it’s a pretty minimal amount of smoke coming from each cut.

[@ToddBizCoach]

What R factor are you trying to reach for walls? How will you achieve that same R factor for your door? Consider getting used fiber faced insulation for doors or for extra layer of R value. Check with local commercial roofers if they have any used fiber faced insulation 1-3 thick they have taken off or will be removing from roofing site and replacing. Building a cooler for apple storage.

[@ChanyataFarm]

I actually found a used door from a walk in-freezer we ended up using, great ideas though!

[@Andino.]

Styrofoam a polystyrene are the same thing?

[@ChanyataFarm]

Styrofoam is a type of polystyrene

[@Andino.]

@@ChanyataFarm I see, thank you

[@audreymeschkuleit3466]

What about Sawing it like everyone else does?

[@ChanyataFarm]

That makes a giant mess

[@audreymeschkuleit3466]

@@ChanyataFarm Thankyou Yes that would make sense dust and particulate every where. Guess the Cutting and or electric hot wire things best? I have a large 22 foot Boat to do shortly. Love these videos Thankyou .

[@chrisclark474]

You are cutting expanded polystyrene not styrofoam. Two entirely different products.

[@ChanyataFarm]

Regardless, it’s much more about the method of cutting than what is being cut

[@zeez9053]

@@ChanyataFarm dislike

[@marcoskilar9637]

What is styrofoam then? Styrofoam is a trademarked brand of closed-cell extruded polystyrene foam, or XPS. Styrofoam is owned and manufactured by The Dow Chemical Company. So what they’re cutting could be Styrofoam if it was made by Dow?

[@KevJDunn]

Don't breathe in the fumes!

[@curtcoller3632]

I've listened to the smart talker for over a minute - he never get's to the point. I need styrofoam to cut out rounded shapes, like a guitar body etc., not I don't need a guy who's only interest is to appear smart and talk with a selfi stick in his hand.

[@ChanyataFarm]

He called me smart ☺️☺️☺️

[@donaldcoffey800]

Well, since you're a 'smart replyer, you should be able to figure it out since he gave you the basics. I did.

[@donaldcoffey800]

You are a doer, the replyer is a doofus!

[@elisa7joy9]

Rude sir. I think maybe this just isn't what you were looking for, but the amount of info this guy gave did not seem excessive even if some of it I already knew....