The hot wire cutter is shown in photo 1. It consists of table made from melamine faced chipboard (Contiplas). At the rear of the table is a pillar supporting across beam at right angles. From the beam to the table is a spring loaded nichrome wire. The bottom end of the wire is clamped in a steel clamping insert set in the table. The pillar and insert are connected to a low variable voltage electrical supply, which is used to heat the wire. Also on the pillar is another smaller beam through which the wire passes. The height of this beam is adjustable and it can be lowered so that it is just above the expanded polystyrene being cut. This second beam is to limit the deflection of the wire during cutting. It is electrically isolated from the pillar. The table is supported on a shallow box that houses the electrical components. The front panel of the box has the controls for turning the electrical supply on and off and a varying the current through the wire and hence the wire temperature. There is also an indicator lamp to show when the current is turned on.
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