# My version of the foam cutting table from GOE



## hpropman

Hello all, I finally had some time to complete my foam cutting table. This is based on the GOE design but disassembles for easy storage. Also, the power supply uses a 2 pin connector so that I can use it on the table or other hand held cutters. Here are some pictures. I hope to have a full how to posted on my website soon.


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## hpropman

Here is a few more that should answer any questions but ask away if you have any. Thanks for looking.










Here is the arm bolted to the table using 1/4 screws and knobs.



















The first test cut. I rushed it a bit and the wire needed to be tighter.










this is a little better I made the wire tighter and I went slower. the 5 is about an inch tall and 2 inches deep.


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## Phil

holy crap that is a fine level of detail! nice build hpropman.


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## sharpobject

Great job Joe!! This will certainly come in handy when I get to doing my table. thanks.


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## DeathTouch

Wow! Good idea. Is the piece that is under the table, which holds the wire, is that plastic? If it plastic, are you concerned it will melt?


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## Joiseygal

Very cool Joe. I am going to Radio Shack today for the pin connectors. You took some great pictures, so it will be easy to follow. Thanks so much for posting this!


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## hpropman

DeathTouch said:


> Wow! Good idea. Is the piece that is under the table, which holds the wire, is that plastic? If it plastic, are you concerned it will melt?


Yes it is PVC pipe and no it will not melt because the wire only gets hot between the alligator clips. I have a hand Y cutter made completely out of PCV pipe and it works fine too.


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## DeathTouch

hpropman said:


> Yes it is PVC pipe and no it will not melt because the wire only gets hot between the alligator clips. I have a hand Y cutter made completely out of PCV pipe and it works fine too.


I am such a Dork. I should have known that. Thanks. And again, awesome idea.


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## hpropman

DeathTouch said:


> I am such a Dork. I should have known that. Thanks. And again, awesome idea.


The only stupid question is the one that not asked. That is how we learn.


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## DeathTouch

Wait, now that I think about it. Even though most of the current goes thru only that part of the wire, the heat should travel to the ends anyway. Right? Maybe the clip acts like a heat sink?


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## hpropman

so far it has not been a problem. If it does I will add a washer and a fiber washer (like the ones that they use in the BBQ handles) so that the plastic is shielded from the heat. Some aluminum foil might work also. The wire cools off almost immediately when the power is turned off by the way.


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## DeathTouch

What kind of power supply are you using and what type of wire are you using. Sorry, I find this interesting.


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## hpropman

All the info can found here. the wire is a guitar string G 18 gauge.

http://garageofevil.ning.com/profiles/blogs/goe-labs-howtohotwire-foam


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## DeathTouch

Thank you!


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## The Watcher

Very nice, I need something like this. Maybe next year. I was wonder if you put a eye bolt at the top with a wing nut. Would that work for tightening the string? I pay guitar and I know cold and hot weather effect them as for as tuning. Not sure in you could use the bolt to put the clip on or not. Didn't know if you tried anything like that?


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## deathstaste

do you have pics of your other cutter the pvc one


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## hpropman

The Watcher said:


> Very nice, I need something like this. Maybe next year. I was wonder if you put a eye bolt at the top with a wing nut. Would that work for tightening the string? I pay guitar and I know cold and hot weather effect them as for as tuning. Not sure in you could use the bolt to put the clip on or not. Didn't know if you tried anything like that?


Interesting idea I will have to play with that and see what I come up with.

I will post pics of my Y cutter tonight. I am working on other cutters as well but need stiffer wire to hold the shape. Have not found the correct wire yet.


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## Creep Cringle

Please post pics. of the hand held cutter! These are great. Anything portable sounds good to me not enough storage space for full tables.


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## joker

The Watcher said:


> Very nice, I need something like this. Maybe next year. I was wonder if you put a eye bolt at the top with a wing nut. Would that work for tightening the string? I pay guitar and I know cold and hot weather effect them as for as tuning. Not sure in you could use the bolt to put the clip on or not. Didn't know if you tried anything like that?


Why not just mount a tuning key from a guitar to the top arm? Should be able to pick one up at any music/guitar store for a few bucks.

...and just a few months ago I tossed a guitar neck off a cheap guitar with head and tuning keys, because I got tire of moving it. I knew once I did I'd eventually find a use for it.


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## hpropman

joker said:


> Why not just mount a tuning key from a guitar to the top arm? Should be able to pick one up at any music/guitar store for a few bucks.
> 
> ...and just a few months ago I tossed a guitar neck off a cheap guitar with head and tuning keys, because I got tire of moving it. I knew once I did I'd eventually find a use for it.


That always seems to be the case doesn't it. LOL - It is a fine line between a pack rat and a prop builder. You just hate to throw something away because you know someone here will figure a clever way to use it. BTW I just got the camera out and the other foam cutter stuff - I will post a soon as I upload the pictures


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## hpropman

OK as promised here are the pictures: The power supplies were made at our last make and take you can see some pictures here with the hand cutter and some test cuts we made.

http://hauntforum.com/album.php?albumid=286

here are some more pictures that I just took.

here is the power supply and the transformer used with the dimmer on the right.










Here is the cutter with the clip harness in the forground. the harness can be used for all cutters and the clip mates with the one on the power supply



















sorry this picture cam out a little blurry, it is the brass bead on the end of the wire. the wire feed through a 1/8 inch hole in the pipe and then acrross to the other side










Another 1/8 inch hole and the figure 8 screws that hold the wire (like a cleat) the tape was there to keep the extra wire from stabbing you in the hand.


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## hpropman

one last shot of the wire across the Y.


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## steveshauntedyard

This project is on my list for next year. Thanks for the photos they are a huge help.


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## beelce

Nice tool HP....I need to build one!


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## The Archivist

Nice one HP, GOE's is nice but this is better for those who don't have access to a welder or would prefer working with wood.


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## Day of the Dead

Awesome design.  I seriously have to make one of these. If not for this year then at least next year.


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## Spooky1

Nice table, I wish I had space for a hot wire table. I'll have to get by with my hot wire knife. I'm envious.


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## berzerkmonkey

A couple of questions hpropman:

What are the dimensions of your support arm? Where did you get the knobs and screws for the arm to table connection? And what are you using for the insulated wire and connectors? They look like ballast connectors that I saw at Home Depot, but I don't know if I'm right or not.

I'm collecting the parts to build one of these myself, and really like your design. No offense to GOE, but I'm not a welder, and your setup shows real promise!


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## Decrepit Desecr8shun

DeathTouch said:


> Wait, now that I think about it. Even though most of the current goes thru only that part of the wire, the heat should travel to the ends anyway. Right? Maybe the clip acts like a heat sink?


yes you are correct in thinking that the clip will dissipate some of the heat. Not kicking you on the design as I'm trying 2 figure a way around this potential problem myself! Post if you come up w/a solution and I'll do the same as well. Thermal nylon washers are the best thing I've thought of yet,but I'm unwilling to buy a intake manifold heat isolation gasket kit(available 4 Honda cars) for a $100.00 just 2 get 4 washers out of it & make the rest of the parts useless to anyone.:ninja:


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## hpropman

The arms are 22" for the upright and 18 for the arm. It really depends on the size of your table I wanted it to have a little more room between the arm and the wire so the hole in the table in not centered but closer to the front in case a needed to cut a large piece of foam. The wire hole on the arm is 1/2 inch in from the end and the screw cleats another 1/2 behind that. I will probably change the cleat screws for a guitar string tunning key. The screws that attach the arm are just normal round head 3 /12" 1/4 20 screws with washers on each end (Hex bolts will work as well). As for the knobs I have seen them at Lowes and Ace hardware. You can also get them from Rockler. The knobs that I used were round knobs just slightly larger that 1" across 1/4 20 size. I am not sure what connector you are referring to but I think you mean the connector between the power supply and the cable with the alligator clips. That is a Radio shack connector see the link below. there is a male and female end. Now to address the possibility of melting the arch holding the wire under the table I was thinking that you can use a small ceramic tile with a hole drilled into it or you may also use the wonder board which is a cement board. A small square of that with a hole drilled into it to sit under the arch. By using a slightly larger hole in the arch the wire will never touch the plastic. So far this has not been the case the plastic has not melted but if it ever does I will add the wonder board or tile. I hope this answers everyone's questions but if not please ask me and I will take more pictures if needed.

Rockler link:

http://www.rockler.com/search_results.cfm?filter=jig+knobs&submit.x=7&submit.y=7

Radio shack connector Male:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103448

and Female:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103449


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## berzerkmonkey

Thanks for the links. And yes, I was referring to the 2 prong molex connectors you were using. Thanks!


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## nixie

drool... I'm totally coveting this table!!!


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## Aquayne

I made a version of this a few years ago. I scrapped it after melting two wall wart transformers.
You can get the correct wire by breaking apart a fish aquarium heater. Go to a local fish store and ask for a broken one. They usually have some around.


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## Garage-Of-Evil

Great work Hprop! It's awesome to see another haunters riff on this, and you really did a kick ass job making that table. Hey, as a quick FYI you should try a gauge .22 wound string. I tried one basically out of desperation after popping some .18s, and lo and behold it worked out perfect. I wouldn't have thought a wound string would work so well, but it really kicks ass.


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## hpropman

Cool thanks for the tip and the comment about the table. I really have to add that how to to my site so that you can add a link to it on yours.


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## Garage-Of-Evil

Slacker!


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## hpropman

guilty as charged


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## halstaff

*Foam cutting table done*

I just finished my table using the GOE power box and your table design. Works like a charm! Thanks for the great tutorial and photos. Made putting it together a breeze.


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## hpropman

Hey that's great news! How about some pictures?


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## halstaff

I used my currently unused portable router table. Worked great but the next one will have a larger work surface.


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## hpropman

very cool nicely done!


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## fritz42_male

Sameone built one using pegboard - it allowed you to put pegs in to hold stright edges etc. That seems like a good idea too.

I've got access to masses of 16mm melamine faced chipboard so I'll probably build hpropman's version first.

Hey mate - LOVE the Y cutter!

I also recently bought myself a soldering gun that will be modified to become a foam carver.


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## SuperCreep31

that's great! here's another project to put on the 'To-Do' list


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## operatingnurse

This looks doable now that you eliminated the need to weld. Not that welding isn't on the long list, but this version gets me through for now. I'm starting today!


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## Lunatic

Hpropman, nice tutorial and concept. I love it. Thanks for sharing.


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## Granges Grim Ghouls

Thank you for posting the how to. I am making a foam cutter and i love your how to. Great pictures. Thank you.


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## BioHazardCustoms

Great how-to. It answered a few questions I have been pondering as far as improving my foam cutting table. Greatly appreciated!


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## trachcanman99

Decrepit Desecr8shun said:


> yes you are correct in thinking that the clip will dissipate some of the heat. Not kicking you on the design as I'm trying 2 figure a way around this potential problem myself! Post if you come up w/a solution and I'll do the same as well. Thermal nylon washers are the best thing I've thought of yet,but I'm unwilling to buy a intake manifold heat isolation gasket kit(available 4 Honda cars) for a $100.00 just 2 get 4 washers out of it & make the rest of the parts useless to anyone.:ninja:


 I would say unless you are going to run it all day it won't be an issue, if after a short time of running if the bolt heats up then either use an larger bolt to add mass or go to your local hardware store nut and bolt section and in the pull out drawers look for nylon bushings. Even the big box stores probably sell the bushings in the plumbing supply section. if you can't find nylon bushings just use a piece of heavy wall EMT pipe out of the electrical section of the Box store. I would buy a 2" EMT collar and cut it in half to use to replace that pvc piece, drill the hole to hold the wire like you did on the pvc and mount it to the table same way as you mounted the pvc. you can wrap the emt with tape to insulate it in case someone crawls under the table and touches it while you have the system powered up, just to be safe.


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