RC India

Hello Rcindia,
i am bulding a hot wire foam cutter using a 12V/5A transformer. but i need a nichrome wire. i knw guitar string is also good but nichrome is better.can anyone tell me where can i buy it online r does anybody have it.i hope i get replies.
kartik.

Just buy the Cheap electric Hot Plate replacement coils for Rs10/- from local electric Shop. It has sufficient  length of nichrome wire for 4-5 hot wire bows of length 4-5ft each. Only Problem is that it is in the form of a coil and needs to be straightened to be used in the bow and when cold it has good tension and takes some effort to straighten.

To straighten it without much effort easiest method, if you have your transformer ready is to fix one end to a vice or the bow itself apply one end of 12 -24 volts and apply other end of the 12-24 Volts to the required length of the other end of the coil with a plier and stretch when it has heated up and connect to the other end of the bow with tension. It is very pliable and expands easily when hot.

If you find that the wire stretched by this method is not absolutely straight due to lack of tension in the bow or due to expanded wire wire under heat, reduce the length of the wire in the bow and increase tension and further when the wire is hot just stretch and drag a metal pin, like a stem of a thick screw driver over the wire two to three time which will straighten the wire absolutely smooth. You will have to reduce the wire again now to increase tension.

srry uncle i didnt get u.hot plate replacement coil???.can u come online on facebook and explain. i just sent u a friend request!

HELLO KARTIK,
just buy a Heater filament of 1000 watts from any electrical shop as said by sunderam sir. further, if u can get a fan regulator, (a chinese one will cost not more than rs25), add in series to the input of transformer.

Just straighten coil wires by stretching and finally rubbing it aroung any wooden corner(like of door)..

Take required amount of wire(not more than 0.5metre ). fix the two ends of wires at some rigid support., providing it at max tension u can(the reason being the wire expands when heated up)

Join the two ends with transformer output.

And u are done. U can regulate the temperature of wires usinng fan regulator..


Note: my brother makes a wooden bow "DHANUSH" using the wires at position of string. It works great.

i know the setup man!jst wanted nichrome wire.neways thnx for the filament one!

Here are the photographs of the heater filament for you

Done sir.nd thnx a lot!!!!

u can also open electric Iron element.Its identical to first two images. the wire you will get will gave a rectangular crossection.

Just go to the shop and ask for 1000 watt heater element(it will look like the last image).

U can also open up a soldering iron element.

  

sundaramvelar sir,
 please correct me whether these are heating filament or element(which we call generally)..

thnx a lot abhay bhaiyya~

Is the soldering iron filament made of nichrome? Is it as good as the electric-iron one?

Soldering Iron elements are made of very thin Nichrome wires because of their smaller size, which cannot be used on a Bow.

@Abhay, I Think it should be call Heating Element from what I know  :)

Sir, exactly what is an 'electric Hot Plate replacement coil'? Is it used in electric-iron? What should I ask the shop-keeper for?

Local poor man's Hot Plate available any of the local electrical shop for Rs 100-150/- should look like this

The Brown Color Element is the Nichrome wire.

Taking out Nichrome wire from heating elements of various appliances is not a good option in my Opinion, One it may not suit the thickness required and second it will work out very expensive.

I bought a spool of Nichrome wire from a local Industrial store that worked out very inexpensive for me and would last for 'N' number of days.

Great Idea!!!!

Local product name for what you Bought and Brand name please.

Local name is Nichrome Wire. It comes in spools like those of copper wire. And It do not have have any brand on it. Because it is for Industrial use.

Can one get it in any 'electricals' shop or only a 'local Industrial store' ?

Hi Swapnil,
               I think it should be available in industrial electric stores, as it is used in industrial heater applications.

Nagpur being a industrial city there, should be no problem in getting it, just you have to roam around a bit.

Any ways I can send it for you, if you want it from me.

Darn, I just bought an electric-iron coil 20 mins ago. :banghead:
Anyways, how much does it cost?

hi Swapnil,
               no cost just PM me your address and I shall arrange to post it to you. please also mention length required by you.

Sundaram sir, Kartik if you people also require Nichrome wire please send me above mentioned details.

Thnx a lot akshay bhaiya!

Thanks a lot from me too! :thanks:

So, here's my hot-wire cutter.
Ripped out the nichrome coil from an electric-iron heater (750 W). Got a straight wire of approximately 2.5m. Took out a 15V transformer from an old cassette player. Initially tested with 1000W air-cooler regulator in series. Works best at max. power.
The alligator clips have flattened jaws. Gonna add a tension adjusting mechanism soon.

It works better than I had expected. Cuts foam like cheese!  ;D
A year ago I tried cutting foam with a cutter blade attached to a soldering iron which didn't work so well. Had been using saw blades since. Now I have a hot-wire cutter too! ;D ;D ;D   

Nice job Swapnil, Your frame is really nice. How do you made it.

I think you will be needing a spring or two at both ends of your frame to tension, nichrome wire, as it will expand once heated. It will sag and loose it's tension.

The frame was made using wooden 'bidding' sticks. I was gonna add a spring but didn't find a good one.
I noticed that the wire doesn't sag much once heated and the temp. is also perfect. The cut I made in a 3 in. thermo. sheet was straight and smooth. :)

Straight cut is no problem, but real test will come when you cut the airfoils and than you would realize that springs are must.

I know, gonna search my scrap-box for a good spring and add it to the setup ASAP! :)

Received the nichrome wire today.
It's certainly better than the heating element I ripped out of the electric-iron coil! Gonna try it on my bow ASAP.

Thanks Akshay!  :thumbsup:

It's OK Swapnil, Hope it helps you.

I have tried it with no problems.

hello everyone...
hello,
i am new to this forum,and didnt know where else to post this request..
i always had a dream of building an rc plane,i had attempted when i was in
8th class...failed and ended up making a rc boat instead..
this time after 10 years there are a lot of resources like internet and did
a lot of researching..and it looks like i still have the urge to make one..
anyways i was trying to make one from thermocol..
i want a foam cutting nicrome wire...
i am ready to pay for it and the shipping too...
anybody who has it please help...

ansari saab , solding iron kharido and uske elements me se nikal lo wire, simple.

= Vinnet: Hahaha.... Best solution! LOL!!!! And really easy! I like it... ;D ;D ;D
Hey your texts are humorous too! Though this forum does not allow much humor unlike others and there're thousands of other restrictions where you keep seeing same old words from admin like "Admin Note: XYZ not allowed" etc..etc....  I really don't know why- never mind! :)

Anyway, even I tried this element method, it works just GREAT!!!!  ;D
Some people say that guitar strings also do good!

http://www.rcindia.org/self-designed-diy-and-college-projects/just-another-foam-slicer/

my 0.02cent and we can use a cantilever arrangement instead of a spring...

Cheers,
Arun

Guys.

pardon my ignorance on posting the link.. pl search for "just another foam slicer" in DIY

Cheers,
Arun

Link updated above to : http://www.rcindia.org/self-designed-diy-and-college-projects/just-another-foam-slicer/

All the mods here have better things to do... but when half the population cannot handle exactly 2.5 rules (not 1000s), we suffer :giggle:

What are the 2.5 rules ?

1) Search - Search before posting

2) Post/Topics - Put meaningful topic names, post in the right board and do not quote unnecessarily.

2.5) Language - Do not use SMS language and all capitals.

Are these really that difficult ?

thanks guys for all the help..i realised cutting foam wings is not very easy..
and i will take that up later..i right now will build my plane from cardboard..
hope it works..in fact doing it right now...
and thanks again for all you guys help and quick replies..

it,s not so hard to cut a foam....
it is very easy...
u can use above mentioned wires for making foam cutter
or use locally available heating element costing you rs. 10.
connect it to 12 or 24 v d.c. supply and it is ready to cut foam...

omg have i again broke any rule ??

milind thats why we are in rc india , not in any other forum, i think we should post hindi language some time.ha ha ha

LOL!!!!!  ;D ;D ;D ;D
Mast hai!  ;)

Hi Akshayb,

From where did you get the nichrome wire? Could you share the shop details? I also need to get one.

One way to gather a good supply of nichrome is from fishing line wire traces. Deep sea anglers use them on the ends of their fishing lines. I purchased a roll of it from a fishing store on the coast during a holiday and never used it for a dozen years or so. It's not expensive and doesn't have a tight coil to contend with. Even better if you have a few local friends to share a roll together. Mine has been strung for over 4 years and is still as tight as the first day it was used. According to my guitar tuner it's strung in the key of C. :)   ...   Stu

@propfella,
Sir, a few days back you said Zee (not Cee)!
Regards
(And please do see your pms too)

I'm aloud to change key aren't I? Anyway the heat we have here tends to put it off key unless I'm continually re-tuning it. Plus I find that when it's tuned to C and I pluck the wire it interferes with our TV owing to the antenna being a resonant length. I'll fit a TVI filter to it when I have time. It wouldn't hurt to fit one to the TV itself as well. The next door neighbour causes havoc when she switches on her hair dryer. It could be a strand of her hair acting as a cat's whisker and generating RF which is amplified even more if she's using her microwave at the same time.

As for checking my pms, I've never suffered from such things and happily my wife has long given up worrying about it. Thank you for asking though. I'll relay the message to my wife, I'm sure she'll appreciate the thought.

Wow!
Mea culpa.

Whatever the heck that's supposed to mean. Any chance of telling us exactly what you mean without disguising it? I see you had no trouble doing so in your previous post. The riddles I can do without :)

'The fault is mine'
(Have sent you a private message of apology. Kindly accept)

Although I do not really build from foam much because it causes mayhem while sanding, I've used guitar wire with a UPS battery and it gives great results.

And when you finished cutting foam you used it to serenade you wife or girlfriend, ....  or both :) A joke.

All forgotten, I assure you KK.

good online source of nichrome wire

kp

www.ebay.in/itm/Nichrome-wire-Hot-wire-Foam-cutting-10Meters-32AWG-Best-Quality-/181731254965?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_203&hash=item2a5006e2b5

www.ebay.in/itm/Nichrome-wire-Hot-wire-Foam-cutting-5Meters-/181688519156?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_203&hash=item2a4d7ac9f4

A great place to find Nichrome is from fishing leaders. They are the wire leads they use in deep sea fishing. It goes between the hook and a swivel further up the line. It's used to stop big fish from cutting the line.

I purchased just one of them and it has enough Nichrome to build 5 cutters. Mine has been under tension and used for 5 years and it's still as good as new.

Yes I know it's an old topic. but the info I posted will still be valid in 10 years.