Substitute Ideas for Hot Wire Cutting
-
Hello @ben_van
Hopefully this is the most appropriate place to post.
As per our previous discussion, I am looking to fabricate some lightweight sections of a UAV wing. With the hot wire cutter not available at the moment, would the use of spray foam be an apt substitute? The idea is to 3D print a mold (using Vase Mode on a Slicer) and then fill it with the kind of expanding foam one would use at a constrution site (available at Bunnings). If this could work, it could save much time 3D printing a wing structure with internal supports (1/5th of the original time), and also provide the ability to generate numerous copies relatively quickly and cost effectively. Refer to the image, it is a wing structure with internal supports. So the expanding foam should replace all those supports (but space will be needed for simple cutouts for spars, servos etc).
Thanks
Johnny Chen -
Hi Johnny, Thanks for joining the forum.
I have never tried this, so I can’t speak from experience. There are however a few things that come to mind that may present some issues if you decide to proceed with this method:- A skin printed in vase mode is likely to deform/balloon as the foam expands, so there would have to be some way to maintain the external geometry of the skin and force the foam to expand out either side. Like this https://hackaday.com/2019/04/21/making-a-flying-wing-with-expanding-foam/
- For the internal components, how will they be inserted? Will they be in place as the foam expands around them or inserted after? If before, how will they be aligned? Keep in mind that adding any internal geometry means that vase mode will no longer work. If after, there will be significant manual labour precisely cutting out holes in the foam for the spar and servos.
If those issues can be accounted for, it’s likely worth exploring as the method would be great for complex parts not achievable with a foam cutter while also saving on CAD design time. If however, the only goal is to save time manufacturing or weight of the final product, I am doubtful this method will provide any edge.
Please report back with results if you do go ahead and try this. I would be interested to hear your findings!
-
Hello Ben
Thanks for the quick response. I’ll consider my options and report back if I attempt.
Thanks
Johnny Chen
