6 foam cutting tools

Standard construction has long since sunk into oblivion. This is noticeable when visiting low-rise construction zones. Each home is individual and unique. But every household requires insulation, if it was not provided for during the construction process. It is unlikely that foam manufacturers will produce custom-sized slabs with a small order volume. You'll have to cut it. But how to cut foam plastic when installing thermal insulation for a building with your own hands?

Foamed polystyrene foam can be easily processed by cutting. Before cutting polystyrene foam at home, you need to determine the required accuracy and cleanliness of the cut. After this, select the necessary device for cutting foam from the following:

• saw (hacksaw);
• string;
• thermal cutter;

There is no clear answer to the question: “What is the best way to cut?” as long as there is no certainty regarding the volume and linear dimensions of the parts being processed.

Foam plastic should not be milled due to the extremely low mechanical stability of the material.

Just cutting

When carrying out work on insulating foundations, underground communications, floors under screed, facades under plaster, special precision and evenness of the cut are not very necessary. Moreover, if the building has a simple facade configuration. In this case, you can use a hand tool for cutting foam: a knife, a hacksaw, or a metal string.

Their use will lead to the loss of granules at the edge of the cut and the formation of a not entirely smooth edge. The presence of a loose fit of the slabs can be leveled by filling the voids with polyurethane foam.

Straight-line cutting with a finely serrated knife is justified with a material thickness of 50 mm; a hacksaw can be used to cut insulation up to 250 mm thick. You can use a serrated kitchen knife to cut foam. We buy a hacksaw with a fine tooth at a hardware store.

To make it easier to use the string for cutting foam plastic (you can use old strings, for example from a guitar, that have a spiral winding), we install wooden handles at its ends. They cut the insulation with a back and forth motion, as if using a two-handed saw. Large slabs can be cut by two people. In this case, the sheet to be cut must be secured.

Before cutting the foam, the cutting edges must be treated with liquid lubricant. This will create a certain comfort when working (improves gliding, reduces noise).

Curly carving on foam plastic using this tool is extremely difficult.

We use a thermal knife

Cutting polystyrene foam with your own hands using a thermal knife is justified for slab thicknesses up to 50 mm. To cut a piece of polystyrene, the hot knife is advanced at medium speed, which ensures a quality cut without tearing out fragments or melting the edges.

Purchasing a longer blade for this device is not entirely beneficial. When cutting by hand, it is impossible to cut strictly perpendicular to the surface. The end of the sheet will have a bevel, which is extremely inconvenient during installation. In order to better cut a thick sheet, it is necessary to cut on both sides, deepening the hot knife to half the thickness or a little more.

We make and use a thermal cutter

To cut polystyrene foam with your own hands, devices with a thin hot element are most often used. The general principle of operation of any thermal cutter for foam plastic is the same.

The heated element separates the material, followed by sealing of the opened volumes. By using thermal cutters for foam plastic, we obtain a perfectly smooth cut, which is very important for high-quality insulation work.

Purchasing a factory-made foam cutting machine is not economically feasible.

Only if you don’t decide to do this professionally and permanently. In most cases, when cutting out shaped elements is not required, you can use a homemade foam cutter.

Making a foam cutter with your own hands is quite simple and quite inexpensive. After the work is completed, it will not lie like a dead weight and take up space. It can be assembled and disassembled as needed. If there is no need, its components can be used for other purposes.

Before you make a foam cutter, you need to prepare everything you need:

• work surface blank;
• nichrome wire;
• laboratory adjustable transformer (LATR);

Chrome-plated nichrome wire can be used without a step-down transformer, but this increases the risk of electric shock.

• electric wire, fastening for it,
• springs for thread tension;
• adjustment mechanism.

When manufacturing and using the device, follow the rules for the design and operation of electrical installations.

To make equipment for cutting foam plastic, start by marking and trimming the working surface. Determine its geometric dimensions in accordance with the dimensions of the cut slabs. It is better if the table surface is larger than the sheet area.

We install racks (supports) with the possibility of adjustment. To do this, you may need a small device in the form of hex bushings with internal threads. They will make it easier to adjust the cutting height. The cutting wire is tensioned using springs. We lay and fasten the electrical wire on different sides of the thread. We connect the other end of the cable to the LATR (if there is no LATR, it can be replaced by using an autotransformer to charge the car’s batteries). The device is ready for use.

Cutting polystyrene foam at home should be carried out in compliance with safety measures. When heated, toxic smoke is released. Therefore, we cut out parts from foam plastic either outside, or use respiratory protection in a workplace equipped with exhaust ventilation.

Using such a device for cutting foam plastic allows you to speed up the process of preparing insulation fragments as much as possible.

We use automated systems

The delights of architectural design also require insulation. In order to preserve their expressiveness, it becomes necessary to manufacture complex elements. How to cut out such details? A more affordable option is to process the insulation by milling. But milling of foam plastic is not carried out for the reason that the cutter, when rotating, tears out quite large pieces of material.

Dense polystyrene foam has higher mechanical strength and is easily milled. Anything can be made from it: a letter, a number, a graphic element of any complexity. Even a hedgehog. It is recommended to cut penoplex at high angular speeds with an average linear feed. To install the manufactured fragments on the façade, ceresite is used.

Laser cutting of foam is the most advanced technology, combining a hot cutting tool and the precision of an automated system. Laser cutting of foam plastic allows us to produce parts of any complexity with the highest precision with a minimum level of waste. Laser cutting foam produces a completely smooth cutting surface using a hot beam of directed light moving at high speed. There are no restrictions on the thickness of the material and the complexity of the element.

The choice of cutting equipment used for foam boards and extruded polystyrene foam must be conscious. Meet technological requirements for finished products and be economically feasible.