Thank you for interviewing David! He seemed shy to begin, but near the end his wisdom shown through like something out of this world! David seems very experienced beyond his years! Great interview!

Thank you so much for this video, guys. My father used to build balsa gliders way back when he was in the Navy. He and I are beginning to explore the RC hobby together, but so much has changed since his day. It would be a tragedy to build a big balsa craft and wreck it on first flight, but building is what he loves. Showing how to use foam core as a medium lets him build a much more durable aircraft. This makes a big difference for both of us getting into things.

They are to scale. Just downloaded them of the site and they are still correct. The wingspan says 700mm so that's a scale you can use.

That is just plane epic. I have never seen a solution that simple but sophisticated enough to replace a professional soldering jig. You could literally save $100 just by choosing this simplistic yet sturdy design. I could see a whole new revolution in DIY!

BTW I use a number 10 Dulcimer string " like a guitar string" hooked to my Weller Soldering gun as a transformer " tip removed and wires hook there" and run the gun from a light dimmer. Has always worked on projects for me. The biggest foam we can get around here is from Lowes or Menards for house walls. 73 Jimmy, ARRL TS, WX9DX

One of my favourite channels, other than Flite Test, did that and it was amazing.

Building one of these now. Can not wait to try it out. HUGE THANKS TO FLITE TEST GUYS!!

Great! Actually, I was expecting a long time, when David'd share the knowledge on hotwire foam cutting. I have some (working) idea on how to power hotwire with simple components from electric store. Now, I guess, I have to write an article for flitetest

Awesome video! I live just by Miami and they always have foam at Home Depot or Lowe's. I too did a hot wire foam cutter but never thought of making it portal like this one. Great job.

Thank you for your great video! Will you be making a video about fibreglass coating the foam?

Excellent 👍 video, it is a great help since it will be my first time working with a foam cutter. I'm into RC cars and drones so I am very familiar with the components utilized, the heat for the wire was my biggest concern and you guys clarified that for me, thanks

The good thing about the templates is if you are like me and hopeless with all things electrical you can make your templates out of thin steel or aluminium and use a sanding block / Blocks to sand down to the template after cutting the excess foam away with a small saw or knife.. Thanks Dave and Josh this gives me more confidence to try new shapes that I wouln't have thought possible before.. Regards Vince.

Health and safety bit: **Wear an M3 Vapor mask**, Gloves, Goggles

@wutangclams3203

7 жыл бұрын

and do it outside! i was thinking the same thing, boy i bet those vapors have all kinds of carcinogens in them

@TheStonehammerFiles

4 жыл бұрын

Cutting it is safe, burning it is not.

You can buy a whole hot wire cutting set for around $25. However, the one that you made works great as well!

We need a laser-cut set of the plywood templates avail in the FT Store right away!! (for this and OTHER planes)

@mattivirta

4 жыл бұрын

and if have laser who can cut plywood can cut laser all foam too easy.

You could also use an AC transformer and a light dimmer to control the heat of the wire.

I have a hot foam cutter that is configured like a bandsaw. It has a table, the wire comes out of the table vertically to a frame that goes back to the table. I haven't used it but I loaned it to a friend who uses a handheld cutter and she liked it a whole lot better. Also, we have no trouble getting foam in Miami. In fact we're 30 miles from Miami and that's where we go to get foam.

Thank u guys I always wanted to see a edf jet on your channel

You can also use an adjustable light dimmer to have control over the current to the wire.

You can get big blocks of the blue foam from aircraft spruce and other aircraft/fibeglass supply places. It's not expensive but can be to ship due to size.

Miss this young man. Great video.

also, how about adding mirrors to the sides of the bow so you can see how far along you are cutting on both sides without having to turn the piece over the awesome thing about having the plans made in foam sections is that each of these sections are small enough to be 3d printed ... you could add pins and holes, or slots and tabs, and make it much easier to assemble and give it some added structural rigidity as well

Yes!!! Would love to build one of these too

Thanks for the info guys, I built a foam cutter using a computer power supply which had WAY more than enough power. I will have to revisit that adventure and see if I can't refine it a little bit!

Great video. What should the template be made of so the wire doesn't damage it? Thanks.

I love this idea, i just thinking about how to cut the foam, and its just awsome (: !

"what was it, Vegan?" "Viggen" "Alright, the Vegan..."

@nilsolsson880

8 жыл бұрын

its a swedish plane

@nilsolsson880

8 жыл бұрын

David is from Sweden i things

@afrog2666

7 жыл бұрын

Saab 37 Viggen ;) Saab also made a car called Viggen.. Little factoid for ya ;)

@johnlight5388

6 жыл бұрын

Jan Christian Frodahl m

@fenderstratguy

4 жыл бұрын

He kept saying vegan lol

Nice work guys, thanks for the help.

Ohm's Law is V=I*R (Voltage=Current*Resistance) Joule's Law is P=V*I (Watts=Voltage*Current) Nichrome wire with a diameter of .010 is roughly sitting at 7 Ohms resistance per linear foot. You can measure the 2 contact points on the bow with a DMM or use this as a rough calculation entry point for your R value. What current value are you attempting to achieve while you vary the voltage? Great video btw! M~

@mnovo

9 жыл бұрын

hotwirefoamcutterinfo.com/__SupplyCalc.html Nevermind. I found it. 6.2v @ .92A = 5.7watts and 400F and 8.0v @ 1.19A = 9.52 watts and 600F

@shotintel

4 жыл бұрын

Mmm, brings back my unregulated vape mod days. I would turn my own coils.

What an amazing young man!!! Very well done. John in MD

Another amazing diy idea. Thank you so much!

good places to find good foam, craft stores, they have a foam that is excellent for hot wire cutting and it's also very light.

That is awesome!!!! What turnigy tester is that? got a model number?

You could use a turnbuckle half way up the arms to keep the wire taught,

@whatelseison8970

5 жыл бұрын

It's usually better to just use the flex of the bow or a tension spring.

3M77 works, too. Spray both faces, leave until it's only just tacky then press together. Holds well, and the wire goes through the joint no problem. (I learnt that from Phil Barnes dvd on vacuum bagging.)

Great job on the video! Thanks for the tutorial. It makes me wanna go out and build something!

Very clever. Lots of great info. Fantastic.

the guy in the red woodsman shirt is mad smart

@colinmaguire3273

5 жыл бұрын

David windestal?

@colinmaguire3273

5 жыл бұрын

David windestal?

please please please do a flite tip episode about how to extend the flight time of an existing air frame. thanks and keep the episodes coming!

Go to the Flitetest site and they have the templates there, Thanks guys!

Hobby King still sells Brushed ESCs. But they only have two of them. A 20a and a 30a. You have to search "brushed" if you want to find them quickly.

Just built this. Awesome!

If you construct the bow like a spanend woodworking saw and use a string spring between the hotwire and frame you will get much better tension.

2:53 you can use a 3 phase brushless ESC if you make a rectifier out of diodes ... you will need to hook up a motor in parallel so that it gives a feedback voltage so that the ESC will work

I just made one today. I didn't use the esc or the dimmer. Just some nichrome, wood, and screws. I used a simple 9 volt on 12 inches of 28 guage wire. I plan to step it up to 12 volt as 9 was a little slow. Idk about the AC/DC part though. You can buy Nichrome on Amazon for a few dollars.

Crazy good cutting skills for hand held

david... GENIUS!

Omg I just built the ja 37 and it is amazing

You can get it from an old heater heating element. Usually it comes in a coil shape.

Great video, congratulations, but what are the measurements in centimeters of the saw and Nichrome wire ?

I am not into planes anymore but making a smaller ver of you wire former would save me alot of time with my model Railroad!

Good episode! Lots of good information!

That was a helpful video about hot wire... Thank you guys....

Thanks for the heads-up VH, that's what I call team work. Now that I have sorted my first Tricopter build and the associated Firm Ware issues.Whew! I can now try my hand at making an airframe from inexpensive, readily available, easy to cut Foam. BTW I am looking for the "How To Make Inexpensive Hot Wire Templates" ? Or is there another link you found with actual template designs that I can print and cut out?

can use tungstun wire which can be easily found in electric iron

Always thanks you and your team

Hi FliteTest this is an awesome piece of work very nice cuts I want to make some shapes cutting a foam but pls tell me what is the name of this foams I know it is a high density foam but there some few other products that are not the best for foam cutting Thank you for your to reply

Great video, guys!

Could you please do a review of the Durafly Spitfire.

This is awesome! Do you have any tips for cutting shapes into the foam without going all the way through?

@mr.inspector8251

7 жыл бұрын

Lizzy Rose there is like a foam needle? but its a foam cutter but more like a needle and not a wire

Bravo guys! Great tutorial!

how about figuring out templates for the versa wing, so i can hot wire wings for that. maybe you could lazor cut them and we could buy them from flitetest. you could start a new series on aircraft with cut wings.. that would be awesome.. thanks Kevin

Awesome tutorial, very clear. Even for a foam-noob

You can still get a brushed ESC at Hobby King. Check it out. Just type in search for them at the top of page and you'll find 20 and 30A there.

Great videos guys. Keep them coming.

a foot pedal like a tig welder would be great for start and restart and speed control

i find brushed esc on HK, but wat current do i min/max need? i see 20A or 30A ….

Add Springs to tension the wire. You'll get a better finish and you can turn up the voltage, which will produce more heat and will also allow you to cut faster.

@lululock

8 жыл бұрын

If you put more voltage, more heat, yes. But the heat will "melt" more foam than your template. With a friend, we made that mistake while cutting foam cores for our glider's wings.

The pink foam in made by Owens Corning witch is in Toledo, OH.

I love all these videos and I can't wait to fly something. lol

I don't even do this hobby, probably due to the fact my first real plane blew up on maiden voyage as a kid lol, that's another story all in itself haha, yet I learn a lot of tricks for other things and strangely I keep watching your vids anyway knowing I could never build the awesomeness you guys do ^^ i love watching you guys and keep up good work.

I've done this w a dimmer switch wired upstream of a 12 volt car charger. Great temp control.

@theartofflying3108

4 жыл бұрын

Dimmer switch from room light switch?? And how did you force car battery charger to flow current if it is with electronic processor prevents from overload and so..??

Nice one bro, thank you very much. But what is the thickness of the Nichrome wire?

I'm planning on building this foam cutter, just like to know your wire thickness, working length and how much amp this esc should be able to pull.

i was gonna built one of these a while back, but im gonna use the 30A Brushed ESC for a RC Power Wheels :D

Magnifico di grande intelligenza

Electronic Dimmer used to control lights do the same job and is cheaper. Thumbs up for the great idea of PVC tubes for the bow.

hey wonderfull video... just wondering whats the correct temp for wire to cut foam without smoke... my cutter smoking :D

If you have any experience with 3-d modelling on computers this is a piece of cake, its a similar concept to skinning between two polygons, in fact I've modelled planes in 3-d doing exactly that

did you laser cut the formers? what if i don't have a laser cutter? how do i cut formers? Great plane!!!

I use a screw attached between the wire and the holder to tighten the wire

Awesome job!!

The viggin is incredible

hye!guys im using cheap guitar string and a power supply source of 3 amp and 12v to 14v of voltage. i cant get nice surface finish.it is due to the wire type i used or the technique?please help me.

What amperage is the brushed ESC you are using in this video? As you say, they are getting hard to get your hands on, and I wanted to know what would be the minimum needed.

Hello David, I have been watching your nicely build planes and videos of flights. Good job. Can you share some drafting of profile shapes for profile cut sectioned planes so we can experience as you did. That would be awesome if you can. Thank you

can u do a review on the epp 3d hummer please

Nice work, very neat.

im building the hot wire foam cutter from grant thomsons video. With the templates that flite test showed me how to make in their how to make templates video i can make professional scratch built planes like the ft 3d and other planes built by them.

Josh / David where did you get the templates for the Viggen pls I want to scale it up with bigger propulsion.

yes, ille say 4 foot foam cutting bow is ok .. but how a bout a 7 to 8 foor one ? (mine is 2.4 meters) for cutting windturbine blades.

Could you make an aerofoil shaped hot wire cutter and cut the foam side to side instead of a long wire across the width? I think you'd need thicker wire to hold aerofoil shape and more power, but it could the cutting process much simpler!

love this show but we need at least 30 mins of it !!

Hi guys great job.were you get the former! You design them?

Tell more about this, i want to know how to make one, what wire, what kind of ESC are good,i want to know ; )

hey i have a GWS MT-1 rc multiple tester i was wondering if you knew which port i plug the esc into???? and also sorry to be a little off topic but if you may know where i can get a pdf manual showing how to operate this tester????

I didn’t see a spring to take up the slack when the wire nets hot and expands, how did you handle the wire expansion?

Veery good, it will help me a lot. Good job guys!

For those who don't know: I squared R is the power P that is produce and is not necessarily the amount of heat. There is a formula to calculate the amount heat that will be produced.

The Nichrome wire dosnt stretch when its heated so i make my bow as tight as I can especially for wing panels