04-13-2013, 09:14 PM
I worked up some G-code to try out the hotwire. It's just plain fun to watch. I can appreciate how the guy that invented wire EDM must have felt. "Wow! It works!"
I forgot to get the camera until after I pushed the Start button, so all these pictures have the cuts already done. You can see the setup, though. Foam clamped to the arms. No Z-axis movements.
I set the cutting speed to 15 inches/minute. That seemed to work well at full heat (12VAC transformer). For making patterns for compound shapes like the tower for a vertical steam engine, you could cut one profile, then rotate the piece 90* and cut the other two sides.
I forgot to get the camera until after I pushed the Start button, so all these pictures have the cuts already done. You can see the setup, though. Foam clamped to the arms. No Z-axis movements.
I set the cutting speed to 15 inches/minute. That seemed to work well at full heat (12VAC transformer). For making patterns for compound shapes like the tower for a vertical steam engine, you could cut one profile, then rotate the piece 90* and cut the other two sides.
Mike
If you can't get one, make one.
Hawkeye, proud to be a member of MetalworkingFun Forum since Jan 2013.
If you can't get one, make one.
Hawkeye, proud to be a member of MetalworkingFun Forum since Jan 2013.