The Countdown to Maker Faire Bay Area is On!

Days
Hours
Minutes
Seconds

Building the Ultimate Hot Wire Foam Cutting Table

Art & Sculpture Craft & Design Workshop
Building the Ultimate Hot Wire Foam Cutting Table

I’m in the market for a hot wire table for precision cutting of foam for building tabletop gaming terrain. So my eyes went wide and my tongue fell out of my mouth like a cartoon wolf eyeing a chicken coop when Geoff Meston of Stuff I Made sent me a link to the super tricked-out hot wire table that he built. This thing in DE-luxe! As one commenter put it: “At first it seemed a little overbuilt, but as you walked through the features, it’s really awesome, well designed, and very effective!” Exactly.

I’m still not sure whether this is a build or a buy for me (lots of hobbyists swear by these Proxxon tables), but looking at this video, running through all of the jigs and features, I’m definitely sold on the “ultimate” claims on this device. Geoff promises a more detailed build video in the future.

YouTube player

Geoff’s isn’t the only hot wire foam cutting table project on YouTube. There are tons. Since the heart of the project is basically a heatable nichrome wire on a frame, as you might imagine, many of the projects are quite simple and easily realized.

Discuss this article with the rest of the community on our Discord server!
Tagged

Gareth Branwyn is a freelance writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture. He is currently a contributor to Boing Boing, Wink Books, and Wink Fun. And he has a new best-of writing collection and “lazy man’s memoir,” called Borg Like Me.

View more articles by Gareth Branwyn
Maker Faire Bay Area 2023 30% off early bird ticket sales ends August 31st, 2023!

Escape to an island of imagination + innovation as Maker Faire Bay Area returns for its 15th iteration!

Prices Increase in....

Days
Hours
Minutes
Seconds
FEEDBACK