cheers mate and to be. honest - in my mind - that's the most important bit - if you didn't know that and you do now there is a ton of stuff I think you can do with that info
Thank you so much. I am in the United States and going to use this method to cut foam to make four paddle boards for my family to vacation in Michigan. We are surrounded with water and paddle boards are about $200 each. My goal is to make four of them with two inch laminated insulation board wrapped in fabric. Thank you for your instruction
I used to work at a school and they were always throwing out old computers like the one you used. I always saved the hard drives and memory but never thought to save the power unit! Great video as usual.
You need the spring to disconnect the cutting wire and bring it up thru a hole in the material to cut internal shapes. I use an old Weller solder gun to the same thing but I like the computer deck as a platform to work off of. Great build!
I have what looks like that exact power supply that I've used as my bench supply for about 3 years straight now. I bought a proper DC supply last year, but not for the lack of function from the PSU. I've made my upgrades through the years lol; made an adjustable output, terminated the ends to banana plugs, attached an on/off switch, indicator lights for power and standby, you name it. Not all at once of course, just as I needed.
Great build and nice easy to follow diagrams, As 1 or 2 people have mentioned here, the fumes could be an issue, a 12V PC fan (or two) would be great for pulling fumes out of a nearby window or into an activated carbon filter.
Made one of those a few years back with my work bench power supply. I have since bought a power supply so the old one I made is out in the shop to use for other projects.. Jolly good fun... carry on..
An improvement suggestion: Your hot wire is expanding as it heats up and is no longer taught. A steel spring at the top, between the hot wire and the copper wire will take up the slack. Power will flow through the spring just fine, but wont cause it to heat up so it wont lose it's springiness.
He actually mentions the need for a spring, but that he'd add one later as he wanted to demonstrate it right away. Great point that it needs to be conductive! I'd add that it shouldn't be too soft, probably about the tension of the spring on a bicycle brake return. But also not so firm that it causes your wire to break frequently. It might take some experimentation with whatever wire you choose to use for this. I've seen people use a "spring bar" instead of a coiled spring (just a small length of spring steel that will bend) because the tension remains more constant as you're cutting and putting pressure against the wire. This makes sense to me, as the DIY handheld hot wire cutters often don't use a spring at all, but instead rely on the tension of the bow that holds the wire. In effect, a spring bar becomes your bow.
@Robert Murray Smith Another example of your fine knowledge. Thanking you for showing me how to do things. I saw something similar to this where he put the hot wire strung between a bow type limb with a very wide space The wire to the bow was very long which enabled him to move around freely. This was done in the aviation industry to cut wing design and body design. You may want to add a plug into your module, or a quick disconnect, so you can make and plug in your bowl wand for free form cutting. Thanks
I always wanted one of these, and I like the method you used. Lately I've been using a propane torch to heat a box cutter blade. Faster, inexpensive, and cuts through rope at least as well as a hot wire. No residue on the edge and perfect cuts, and no extra equipment in the shop that isn't already there.
Spelunkered If I may recommend. A regular electrical plug in soddering iron will take an exacto blade screwed in. That gives you many blade choice. It works and gets the blade hot. Hope it helps.
a 2fer; a cutter & a power supply. in the oilfield, a hotwire is a variety of gas detector. it is basically a real sensitive multitester with a wheatstone bridge attached to 2 platinum electrodes, 1 a reference, the other a detector. an air/gas stream across the detector catalyzes, heats the filiment, & raises the resistivity of it, the concentration of the gas is related to the resistivity.
I listened to this video using a bluetooth surface speaker that you inspired me to make with your inductor speaker video. I made mine from a small speaker that had a rather large magnet.
I've done quite the same cutter a few years ago to split foam sheet thinner. Obviously I've oriented the cutting wire horizontaly. For the cable I used a guitar string allowing to easily change for a different.
as a hobby i recycle electronics for the metals obviously any part that is still working may be worth far more as a replacement part that as scrap. server power supplies are readily available as surplus for 20 to 30 dollars and wil supply about twice to 3 times the amperage so i highly approve of what you are doing here and if you need more current the server power supplies are also readily available and cheap.
Very nice vid Rob.. you can also try a old guitar string for the heat wire.. the thin ones not the thick wounded ones.. specially those silver ones.. bless you brother.. enjoyed it
I wanted to follow this tutorial because I enjoyed your content, but after watching some other tutorials, it turns out that cutting off all the power connectors, sorting the cables by color and soldering them together isn't necessary at all for this to be used as a hot wire cutter. As I understand now, apparently all I would have needed to do is take the 24 pin ATX, snip one black and one green cable free (and two more black cables, purple and grey wires for optional indicators), wire them together and then take any smaller connector which has at least one yellow and one black wire (MOLEX, SATA, GPU, CPU), snip all yellow and black cables free, solder them together and plug them into the motor controller. I would have preferred this because it would make much less of a dangly mess and possible safety hazard. This would also only render two connectors unusable while the other ones could still be used. Sadly I only found out about this later and I fear that I have now ruined both my old power supplies. It is very concerning to have this many wires just dangling about and it kinda feels dangeous and irresponsible to operate them in this state. I fear I now have to buy caps as well to properly secure the cables. The other plugs could have been used for something else too, but I would now need to reattach them, which is likely not worth the effort. All in all, I just feel like I made a fool of myself and wasted my time. I am just an inexperienced amateur, and this was probaly obvious to all but electrical greeehorns but I thought I'd leave this as a word of warning to your subs.
Have you thought about adding a cutting fence/cutting rail for when you need straight cuts? May be mount it on a rotating protractor so you can cut angles?
love watching your videos your always doing somthing cool that many people can try to do, i have one thing thats worrying me PLEASE TAKE THE KEY CHUCK out of the chuck on your mini lathe that we can all see, i have visions of some one turning the lathe on and the chuck key flying across the room and hitting some one in the head, i can remember 45 years ago my metal work teacher saying never leave a key chuck in the chuck, i have been meaning to say this for a while now, keep up the good work Robert and be safe mate, Simon Gray Rugeley Staffs.
I am glad you like the videos mate - as for the chuck key - NO - you don't really understand which is why you say it - but you are applying a general rule to a specific circumstance it would have been better if you had asked about the key because you don't know about the key - you see it and assume something - what you don't know is there is a safety switch on my lathe making it impossible to start with the chuck key in - so the safest place for the chuck key - IN THE CHUCK!
This is wonderfully timed for me!! I need to cut plexiglass into small squares and have been a bit frustrated with the traditional method of scoring/snapping it. The pieces I need to make (about 80mm) are too small to get a clean break, and I've been throwing away one piece for every two I make. I like the use of V-channel for this, very solid and a really sleek look, and the case makes a great work surface! I just need to figure out where I can clear the workbench space for it, LOL!! Or maybe just put it on its own stand.
I might remake this following the suggestions on here - it would just mean replacing the power supply as I cut off all the wires but the yellow ones because I wanted it clear as an instruction - however I was sorry to lose all the other stuff - now I want it to be a bench top power supply too then it can have a place of its own
@@ThinkingandTinkering I thought Steve Tobias' suggestion of multi-purposing it was absolutely brilliant!! I had been considering a DIY hand held one, and then saw this video and loved the result!! But I'm really out of bench space. Steve's idea might solve that problem for me!! 😋
Nice torsional stability on the gibbet,good for precise cutting whereas round bar construction looked flexy?would a battery,bow,and saltwater control that's the same as salt water welder work to make a free hand cutter?:)
I have a question about mainly the 12v, which on many PSU's, they have multiple "channels", each running 10-25 amps. Mine has 4 channels, each running 25 amps, and they are labeled as "channel 1, 2, 3, 4) and the wires are soldered onto the main board into what look like seperated channels - there is no bridging between all 4 channels. I'm wondering what would happen if I paralleled all of them to make 100A, if it would cause a problem (some kind of over-load, circuit trip, etc).. I'm guessing it does this for some kind of protection, where if you have 10 devices plugged into one 25A circuit and it surges, it doesn't take out everything on the other 3 circuits. I'm guessing they are all also driven by their own mosfet and IDK how well they work together when running in parallel w/o something like a diode in line, so there is no feedback to any of the other channels.
Very cool. You could add a couple of cheap eBay items to make it multi-purpose (ie. Power Supply, hot wire cutter, radio etc.) It's not like you have a lack of room in an old computer case.
What a great idea!! Thanks!! That might make it easier for me to find room for it on my workbench, if it's actually replacing other things, or I can fit other things inside the case.
it would seriously be cool - it was a shame to lose the 3.3v and 5 v outputs but I wanted it to be simple. However he is right you could collect the orange wires and red wires together just like the yellow wires and attach them to their own binding posts and hey presto a lab bench top power supply
I took an old PC fan I had lying around, bought some carbon filter (very cheap) and glued the carbon filter on to the intake side of the fan. It works great! Here's one carbon filter example but there are many more. I got the flat stuff I could cut. smile.amazon.com/GreenR3-Purifiers-Accessories-Replacement-Replenishment/dp/B079PR4VF6/ref=sr_1_7?dchild=1&keywords=carbon+filter&qid=1593774725&sr=8-7
You didn't mention the actual Wire much in this. But the Ni-Chrome wire used for certain Guitar Strings (that are commonly available and cheap) is exceptionally well suited for Hot Wire applications; it takes much higher temperatures and will break less often than ordinary electrical wire, while being quite thin and sharp for the purpose.
Good idea David, but I wonder how it's possible to measure the resistance of such a wire, as it's really really low and only 1M long, meaning the wire isn't self-limiting and probably needs a resistor of some kind.
Hi Robert, I joined all the Blacks + green to one end of the hot wire and all the Yellows to the other as per your vid but when I switch on, the fan and led do come on, then theres a click, the fan stops and the wire doesn't heat. Advice please?
Too funny. I started to make one yesterday but s handheld. I changed my mind and just used an old soldering iron. Great video as always. There's not much you can't do is there?
.......these days we're conditioned to not be able to do much,, learned helplessness. People's ability to make , repair ,n fabricate stuff started to face in the seventies. There was a phrase "gen bloke" and that was your mac gyver type .
I think it is important to be able to do a wide range of things mate - we have gone too far own the road of relying on others and one thing the cover thing should have taught us it to be more self reliant - or at least that's what I think
Hey mate, have thought about using your sonar panel to heat a room by painting your graphene paint on a wall and connect the solar panel directly to the wall. It would more effective and efficient without the use of electronics
Love it Robert! Back to safety issues: you do know that one of the byproducts produced by burning Styrofoam is Cyanide right? best to watch your breathing around the smoke when cutting Styrofoam with heated items... Great build though!
A fume extractor would be an easy mod for this. You could take one (or more than one) of the fans from the PC case, attach some activated charcoal to it, and mount that near the work area. If you consider it during the build, you might retain one of the 12v pigtails just to power any fans.
I know what you mean mate - quite often when folks do something on up cycling a pc they forget about the case and it really is an awesome enclosure and enclosures cost quite a bit
@@ThinkingandTinkering Yeah, I would keep everything, but a small house and a small shed means I have to get rid. As her that must be obeyed say "get rid" :-((
A few more close ups would have been nice, like the top of the wire insulator ... this case takes a lot of space, some mods to easily fold the arm are needed,
~DON'T BREATH THAT SHIT~ Wear a cartridge respirator, and work outside ! I even bought a bunny suit so I don't get exotic chemistry into my cloths ... Nice build ! ~Thanks (liked, subd)
oh oh, can I ask whats to the right of the filing cabinet at 9.20, please? It's like AvE says, you crack the door open and everyone want to get in. lol
Does it matter if the wire makes electrical contact with the case? 8:32 ah I see, the back ground is extended by a blue wire that's connected to a bolt with nuts on it that holds the cutting wire down. And I'm guessing the case is earthed somewhere.
it's only 12V mate so the case is earthed but because of the line voltage coming in at the ATX power supply end - but the 12v end is just isolated the negative is attached to the bolt beneath the case and that bolt goes through a block of wood. the positive at the top of the support arm but the connection rests on a bit of heat resistance insulating ceramic - the mosfet I repurposed
A quick comment on the type and diameter wire you used would have been helpful.. you say "you know what wire to use".. but not everyone does! Otherwise great project and video. Thanks.
U (volts/voltage) = I (amps) * R (Ohms/resistance). Here the voltage is a given: 12 V and he says not to exceed 6 amps. So rearranging those gives 12 V/6A = 2 Ohm for full power ( Power btw is P (watts) = U*I ) So if you measure what length the cutting wire you need once you have build your own, you shoul try to get a type that will give you about 2 ohm resistance for that length. If for example you have 40 cm length then the wire should be 2 ohm/0,4m = 5 ohm/m. But ultimately it does not need to be that precise since that speed controller gives you control over the power. So if for instance you get the 24 swg from ebay www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nichrome-Wire-Resistance-Nickel-Chrome-Heating-Element-Hot-Cutting-Various-Sizes/251550106470?hash=item3a918e0366:g:QN4AAOxyJypTkEL4 then you should not give maximum power (100%) because it only has 4,5 ohm/m and thus allows too many amps through at 12 V. But if you get the 26 swg wire that has 6,8 ohm/m then you cannot exceed the amperage since I=U/R =>> I=12v / (0,4m*6,8Ohm/m) = 12V*2,72Ohm = 4,4 A. Hope that makes sense and if that link does not work just search for resistance wire on ebay and I hope you get sorted out :-) Have a nice day.
A good point... it needs to be resistance wire, like what he used to make the kiln elements. Nichrome60 is commonly used for hot wire cutters, but as FarmerBob commented you can even use something like guitar strings (the thinner, solid strings). You might also be able to scavenge some from a toaster oven or electric heater. In the video, Rob mentions the resistance you will need at room temperature is 2 ohms. At a guess, you can probably go with anything within 20% of 2 ohms. If you have slightly higher resistance, it won't get quite as hot. Slightly lower resistance, and you can run this a little hotter. Length of the wire will also impact the resistance, directly proportional to the length (R/L). So if the wire you have is too low a resistance, you can simply lengthen it. If the resistance of your wire is too high, you can shorten it.
I said in the vid mate - you need to keep it to minimum 2 ohms as it is a 12v supply and you want to draw no more than 6 amps - V=IR gives you 2 ohms as heat wire is sold in resistance per meter- pick one for your distance
Thanks everyone.. I do know Ohms law and am comfortable using it and yes the two Ohm value was clearly mentioned. My point was that this is such a great video, with all the connections well explained and the circuit clearly presented, and could be followed by a viewer who wasn't from an electrical background, so it is a shame that the final piece of information is missing. Some people will never have heard of nichrome wire, resistance wire etc and won't know where to buy it or what to ask for. A few seconds of explanation on those points would complete the video for those people, even if it isn't needed for those of us experienced in electrical theory and materials.
yes you must be - why on earth are you watching if that's what you think? - go off and do something else this is clearly not for you - what's more you wasted even more time posting this! unbelievable - just give it a thumbs down and move on - get a life son lol
@@ThinkingandTinkering as it will most likely say on my headstone, It was a good idea at the time. Oops. He has had some good and interesting ideas, but he works in micro volts and milli milli milli amps. Good night 😴
I like your work a lot ...but I must tell you that you saying "Awesome" irks me ...do you do counselling courses in accepting what I cannot change ? Or are you just a techy geek who cares not for the emotional stability of your viewers ?
Beautifully elegant and practically simple. I love the natural bench created from the horizontal case. Thank you
Ian, Birmingham
Glad you like it!
Worth it just for the ATX wiring explanation.
cheers mate and to be. honest - in my mind - that's the most important bit - if you didn't know that and you do now there is a ton of stuff I think you can do with that info
AWESOME. Love, love, love PC component re-usage projects! As with hard drives, I have many hundreds of these as well. Fantastic.
that is awesome mate - personally I think the case is an often overlooked component
I'll never do this but I watched the whole thing just because you're so smart, detailed and entertaining. Love your videos.
Very ingenuitive and creative thank you for sharing the idea and multiple ways to use and older PC
Thank you so much. I am in the United States and going to use this method to cut foam to make four paddle boards for my family to vacation in Michigan. We are surrounded with water and paddle boards are about $200 each. My goal is to make four of them with two inch laminated insulation board wrapped in fabric. Thank you for your instruction
It is such a joy to watch your enlightening videos!
cheers mate
I used to work at a school and they were always throwing out old computers like the one you used. I always saved the hard drives and memory but never thought to save the power unit! Great video as usual.
Do you know. mate - I am always looking for a power supply that's why it struck me
bloody genius!!! wanted to make one to make foam patterns for metal casting. this is perfect! so much info well played sir. Top Shelf
cheers mate - glad you liked it
You need the spring to disconnect the cutting wire and bring it up thru a hole in the material to cut internal shapes. I use an old Weller solder gun to the same thing but I like the computer deck as a platform to work off of. Great build!
I have what looks like that exact power supply that I've used as my bench supply for about 3 years straight now. I bought a proper DC supply last year, but not for the lack of function from the PSU. I've made my upgrades through the years lol; made an adjustable output, terminated the ends to banana plugs, attached an on/off switch, indicator lights for power and standby, you name it. Not all at once of course, just as I needed.
Great build and nice easy to follow diagrams,
As 1 or 2 people have mentioned here, the fumes could be an issue, a 12V PC fan (or two) would be great for pulling fumes out of a nearby window or into an activated carbon filter.
nice tip mate - especially as I have a spare fan!
Great job. I learn a lot from your videos. Thanks.
This is what we need in youtube...
Love your content, keep the good work sir
cheers mate
Great stuff,very inventive,good use of old technology!!
cheers mate
It's like waking Christmas morning, 9 years of age and opening a Tandy electronics kit and chemistry set......EVERY DAY, thanks mate.
lol
That is awesome! What a great way to reuse an old PC :)
cheers mate
Hi Robert, love the vids chief :) I check every day now to see if there's a new one, keep up the sterling work 👍👍👍
cheers mate - thanks for the support
Now that was cool to see. A DIY wire cutter. you ROCK RMS! DVD:)
Awesome video, thanks for posting.
Very practical and even as one with minimal electrical skills I can surely do this! Thank you for enlightenment.
it is a piece of cake mate
You're a legend Rob, your videos are great
cheers mate
Made one of those a few years back with my work bench power supply. I have since bought a power supply so the old one I made is out in the shop to use for other projects.. Jolly good fun... carry on..
thank you mate - cheers
An improvement suggestion: Your hot wire is expanding as it heats up and is no longer taught. A steel spring at the top, between the hot wire and the copper wire will take up the slack. Power will flow through the spring just fine, but wont cause it to heat up so it wont lose it's springiness.
He actually mentions the need for a spring, but that he'd add one later as he wanted to demonstrate it right away. Great point that it needs to be conductive! I'd add that it shouldn't be too soft, probably about the tension of the spring on a bicycle brake return. But also not so firm that it causes your wire to break frequently. It might take some experimentation with whatever wire you choose to use for this. I've seen people use a "spring bar" instead of a coiled spring (just a small length of spring steel that will bend) because the tension remains more constant as you're cutting and putting pressure against the wire. This makes sense to me, as the DIY handheld hot wire cutters often don't use a spring at all, but instead rely on the tension of the bow that holds the wire. In effect, a spring bar becomes your bow.
I said that in the vid mate - but thanks
I have been needing one of these, I might give that a go being that I have a few extra power supplies laying around, nice video mate.
awesome mate - do give it a go
@Robert Murray Smith
Another example of your fine knowledge. Thanking you for showing me how to do things.
I saw something similar to this where he put the hot wire strung between a bow type limb with a very wide space
The wire to the bow was very long which enabled him to move around freely.
This was done in the aviation industry to cut wing design and body design.
You may want to add a plug into your module, or a quick disconnect, so you can make and plug in your bowl wand for free form cutting.
Thanks
interesting ideas mate - cheers
I always wanted one of these, and I like the method you used. Lately I've been using a propane torch to heat a box cutter blade. Faster, inexpensive, and cuts through rope at least as well as a hot wire. No residue on the edge and perfect cuts, and no extra equipment in the shop that isn't already there.
Spelunkered
If I may recommend.
A regular electrical plug in soddering iron will take an exacto blade screwed in.
That gives you many blade choice. It works and gets the blade hot.
Hope it helps.
If I may, it's called a soldering iron, not soddering iron.@@reypolice5231
another great project, thanks Robert
cheers mate
a 2fer; a cutter & a power supply.
in the oilfield, a hotwire is a variety of gas detector. it is basically a real sensitive multitester with a wheatstone bridge attached to 2 platinum electrodes, 1 a reference, the other a detector. an air/gas stream across the detector catalyzes, heats the filiment, & raises the resistivity of it, the concentration of the gas is related to the resistivity.
that is interesting mate - cheers
Yep another brilliant video
Very cool tool. Thanks for the video.
You bet - cheers mate
I listened to this video using a bluetooth surface speaker that you inspired me to make with your inductor speaker video. I made mine from a small speaker that had a rather large magnet.
that is absolutely awesome mate - did you do a video?
@@ThinkingandTinkering I haven't but I thought about it and if I do I'll give you a comment letting you know
I've done quite the same cutter a few years ago to split foam sheet thinner. Obviously I've oriented the cutting wire horizontaly. For the cable I used a guitar string allowing to easily change for a different.
awesome mate
i really liked most of your videos... 👍
cheers - not possible to like them all - I do quite a range lol
Really nice gadget. Very well explained. I am going to make it. Great vedio.
as a hobby i recycle electronics for the metals obviously any part that is still working may be worth far more as a replacement part that as scrap. server power supplies are readily available as surplus for 20 to 30 dollars and wil supply about twice to 3 times the amperage so i highly approve of what you are doing here and if you need more current the server power supplies are also readily available and cheap.
hearty agree mate - the power supply is very very useful and really adaptable
Love this channel
so glad mate - cheers
Very nice vid Rob.. you can also try a old guitar string for the heat wire.. the thin ones not the thick wounded ones.. specially those silver ones.. bless you brother.. enjoyed it
nice one mate - thanks for the tip
Thanks. I was trying to design a water temperature controller that works on 12 volts.
I wanted to follow this tutorial because I enjoyed your content, but after watching some other tutorials, it turns out that cutting off all the power connectors, sorting the cables by color and soldering them together isn't necessary at all for this to be used as a hot wire cutter. As I understand now, apparently all I would have needed to do is take the 24 pin ATX, snip one black and one green cable free (and two more black cables, purple and grey wires for optional indicators), wire them together and then take any smaller connector which has at least one yellow and one black wire (MOLEX, SATA, GPU, CPU), snip all yellow and black cables free, solder them together and plug them into the motor controller. I would have preferred this because it would make much less of a dangly mess and possible safety hazard. This would also only render two connectors unusable while the other ones could still be used.
Sadly I only found out about this later and I fear that I have now ruined both my old power supplies. It is very concerning to have this many wires just dangling about and it kinda feels dangeous and irresponsible to operate them in this state. I fear I now have to buy caps as well to properly secure the cables. The other plugs could have been used for something else too, but I would now need to reattach them, which is likely not worth the effort. All in all, I just feel like I made a fool of myself and wasted my time.
I am just an inexperienced amateur, and this was probaly obvious to all but electrical greeehorns but I thought I'd leave this as a word of warning to your subs.
Have you thought about adding a cutting fence/cutting rail for when you need straight cuts? May be mount it on a rotating protractor so you can cut angles?
love watching your videos your always doing somthing cool that many people can try to do, i have one thing thats worrying me PLEASE TAKE THE KEY CHUCK out of the chuck on your mini lathe that we can all see, i have visions of some one turning the lathe on and the chuck key flying across the room and hitting some one in the head, i can remember 45 years ago my metal work teacher saying never leave a key chuck in the chuck, i have been meaning to say this for a while now, keep up the good work Robert and be safe mate, Simon Gray Rugeley Staffs.
I am glad you like the videos mate - as for the chuck key - NO - you don't really understand which is why you say it - but you are applying a general rule to a specific circumstance it would have been better if you had asked about the key because you don't know about the key - you see it and assume something - what you don't know is there is a safety switch on my lathe making it impossible to start with the chuck key in - so the safest place for the chuck key - IN THE CHUCK!
Yes, brilliant idea. So you have a base to work on and the whole setup is in one unit. Did you use Nichrome wire? 👍
looks awesome
it turned out better than I thought it would for sure mate - I really quite like it
This is wonderfully timed for me!! I need to cut plexiglass into small squares and have been a bit frustrated with the traditional method of scoring/snapping it. The pieces I need to make (about 80mm) are too small to get a clean break, and I've been throwing away one piece for every two I make. I like the use of V-channel for this, very solid and a really sleek look, and the case makes a great work surface! I just need to figure out where I can clear the workbench space for it, LOL!! Or maybe just put it on its own stand.
I might remake this following the suggestions on here - it would just mean replacing the power supply as I cut off all the wires but the yellow ones because I wanted it clear as an instruction - however I was sorry to lose all the other stuff - now I want it to be a bench top power supply too then it can have a place of its own
@@ThinkingandTinkering I thought Steve Tobias' suggestion of multi-purposing it was absolutely brilliant!! I had been considering a DIY hand held one, and then saw this video and loved the result!! But I'm really out of bench space. Steve's idea might solve that problem for me!! 😋
@@NorthernKitty yeah I loved it too - very clever thinking
I made my own sail for my yacht some years back, this or a version of it would have been very handy.
awesome mate
@@ThinkingandTinkering A hand held one would be nice. :)
Our old friend the MOT. With a Microwave Oven Transformer and Dimmer you could heat a peace of Coat Hanger wire. to do the job.
lol - you don't think that's a bit of overkill mate? lol - ah who cares - build it lol
Would this cut through the 5mm paper covered foamboard from Hobbycraft with the paper in place?
Love it. I have been doing some work with conductive ink alternative that I really would like you to see. Inspired by you.
that's awesome mate - post some vids and I will check it out
My vids is on my UA-cam channel. Type in my name.
What is that aluminum stock that you made the gibbet call?
Nice torsional stability on the gibbet,good for precise cutting whereas round bar construction looked flexy?would a battery,bow,and saltwater control that's the same as salt water welder work to make a free hand cutter?:)
for sure mate
I have a question about mainly the 12v, which on many PSU's, they have multiple "channels", each running 10-25 amps. Mine has 4 channels, each running 25 amps, and they are labeled as "channel 1, 2, 3, 4) and the wires are soldered onto the main board into what look like seperated channels - there is no bridging between all 4 channels. I'm wondering what would happen if I paralleled all of them to make 100A, if it would cause a problem (some kind of over-load, circuit trip, etc)..
I'm guessing it does this for some kind of protection, where if you have 10 devices plugged into one 25A circuit and it surges, it doesn't take out everything on the other 3 circuits. I'm guessing they are all also driven by their own mosfet and IDK how well they work together when running in parallel w/o something like a diode in line, so there is no feedback to any of the other channels.
Very cool. You could add a couple of cheap eBay items to make it multi-purpose (ie. Power Supply, hot wire cutter, radio etc.) It's not like you have a lack of room in an old computer case.
What a great idea!! Thanks!! That might make it easier for me to find room for it on my workbench, if it's actually replacing other things, or I can fit other things inside the case.
that would be cool - the Swiss army knife of lab equipment
it would seriously be cool - it was a shame to lose the 3.3v and 5 v outputs but I wanted it to be simple. However he is right you could collect the orange wires and red wires together just like the yellow wires and attach them to their own binding posts and hey presto a lab bench top power supply
@@ThinkingandTinkering m ore like the hot army knife, "if it won't cut it'll burn", lol
Genius!!
lol - cheers mate
Great, what about adding a small extractor fan for fumes, nice one 👍
Cool idea!
I took an old PC fan I had lying around, bought some carbon filter (very cheap) and glued the carbon filter on to the intake side of the fan. It works great! Here's one carbon filter example but there are many more. I got the flat stuff I could cut. smile.amazon.com/GreenR3-Purifiers-Accessories-Replacement-Replenishment/dp/B079PR4VF6/ref=sr_1_7?dchild=1&keywords=carbon+filter&qid=1593774725&sr=8-7
My, you are a busy lad! :-)
idle hands mate lol
You didn't mention the actual Wire much in this. But the Ni-Chrome wire used for certain Guitar Strings (that are commonly available and cheap) is exceptionally well suited for Hot Wire applications; it takes much higher temperatures and will break less often than ordinary electrical wire, while being quite thin and sharp for the purpose.
electric heater, toaster, etc . . . they all uses wires that are perfectly suited for heat.
Good idea David, but I wonder how it's possible to measure the resistance of such a wire, as it's really really low and only 1M long, meaning the wire isn't self-limiting and probably needs a resistor of some kind.
You are the man 👲
lol cheers mate
@Robert Can I use an ESC there? And if so, how should I wire it? :$ :) Thanks, if .. :)
transistor is brilliant
cheers mate
Hi Robert, I joined all the Blacks + green to one end of the hot wire and all the Yellows to the other as per your vid but when I switch on, the fan and led do come on, then theres a click, the fan stops and the wire doesn't heat. Advice please?
How many ATX PSU's have I chucked out ? Now I need one yet again.
Just literally kicked myself too 😪😪😪
lol - sorry for laughing mate - it's just I know exactly what you mean
lol
Too funny. I started to make one yesterday but s handheld. I changed my mind and just used an old soldering iron. Great video as always. There's not much you can't do is there?
.......these days we're conditioned to not be able to do much,, learned helplessness. People's ability to make , repair ,n fabricate stuff started to face in the seventies. There was a phrase "gen bloke" and that was your mac gyver type .
I think it is important to be able to do a wide range of things mate - we have gone too far own the road of relying on others and one thing the cover thing should have taught us it to be more self reliant - or at least that's what I think
You could build winged drones in next to no time with that cutter!
I want it for cutting the builder's board I keep on about lol
Hey mate, have thought about using your sonar panel to heat a room by painting your graphene paint on a wall and connect the solar panel directly to the wall. It would more effective and efficient without the use of electronics
I didn't think about it mate - well until now - I like that idea - cheers
@@ThinkingandTinkering I have everything but a graphene paint. High heat water based
Love it Robert! Back to safety issues: you do know that one of the byproducts produced by burning Styrofoam is Cyanide right? best to watch your breathing around the smoke when cutting Styrofoam with heated items... Great build though!
A fume extractor would be an easy mod for this. You could take one (or more than one) of the fans from the PC case, attach some activated charcoal to it, and mount that near the work area. If you consider it during the build, you might retain one of the 12v pigtails just to power any fans.
as you said later mate - cyanide isn't a by product - it fumes for sure and an extractor can easily be added if you want
I always remove the spring from hand soap dispensers before recycling, i have loads but never used one ha ha.
lol
stop playing around robert, give us the flash graphene lab ! :p
Never crossed my mind to use an old computer power supply to do that. The amount of them I have thrown out well........!
I know what you mean mate - quite often when folks do something on up cycling a pc they forget about the case and it really is an awesome enclosure and enclosures cost quite a bit
@@ThinkingandTinkering Yeah, I would keep everything, but a small house and a small shed means I have to get rid. As her that must be obeyed say "get rid" :-((
Perfect for Cheese .... and Pizza ....
lol - for sure
.......also to seal closed polythene bags.
nice inmate - it would be good for that
Do you have link for shop to buy plastic ink
here you go mate secure.workingink.co.uk/product-category/working-ink-ink/
@@ThinkingandTinkering going to try it with my Electroless plating kit
I could have used that when I was casting aluminum
it is good for making blanks for sure - it's what we use to use it for
Question: while wire feed welding both my 120v drop light & flashlight go out. Why?
dunno mate
A few more close ups would have been nice, like the top of the wire insulator ...
this case takes a lot of space, some mods to easily fold the arm are needed,
thanks for the suggestions mate
~DON'T BREATH THAT SHIT~ Wear a cartridge respirator, and work outside !
I even bought a bunny suit so I don't get exotic chemistry into my cloths ...
Nice build ! ~Thanks (liked, subd)
Easier process- Adding a knife blade to a soldering iron.
oh oh, can I ask whats to the right of the filing cabinet at 9.20, please? It's like AvE says, you crack the door open and everyone want to get in. lol
it's a press mate - a pill press
Does it matter if the wire makes electrical contact with the case? 8:32 ah I see, the back ground is extended by a blue wire that's connected to a bolt with nuts on it that holds the cutting wire down. And I'm guessing the case is earthed somewhere.
it's only 12V mate so the case is earthed but because of the line voltage coming in at the ATX power supply end - but the 12v end is just isolated the negative is attached to the bolt beneath the case and that bolt goes through a block of wood. the positive at the top of the support arm but the connection rests on a bit of heat resistance insulating ceramic - the mosfet I repurposed
looks like a star wars character
lol - for sure
Very nice up market version but my eyes are watering from the fumes even at this distance. 😦
cheers mate
What possible reason would I have for cutting hot wire and why couldn't I just use some regular cutter
lol
it sounds like the caps in th power supply are singing :-)
yeah I noticed that
@@ThinkingandTinkering and its almost always worth soldering new ones on.
A quick comment on the type and diameter wire you used would have been helpful.. you say "you know what wire to use".. but not everyone does! Otherwise great project and video. Thanks.
U (volts/voltage) = I (amps) * R (Ohms/resistance). Here the voltage is a given: 12 V and he says not to exceed 6 amps. So rearranging those gives 12 V/6A = 2 Ohm for full power ( Power btw is P (watts) = U*I ) So if you measure what length the cutting wire you need once you have build your own, you shoul try to get a type that will give you about 2 ohm resistance for that length. If for example you have 40 cm length then the wire should be 2 ohm/0,4m = 5 ohm/m. But ultimately it does not need to be that precise since that speed controller gives you control over the power. So if for instance you get the 24 swg from ebay www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nichrome-Wire-Resistance-Nickel-Chrome-Heating-Element-Hot-Cutting-Various-Sizes/251550106470?hash=item3a918e0366:g:QN4AAOxyJypTkEL4 then you should not give maximum power (100%) because it only has 4,5 ohm/m and thus allows too many amps through at 12 V. But if you get the 26 swg wire that has 6,8 ohm/m then you cannot exceed the amperage since I=U/R =>> I=12v / (0,4m*6,8Ohm/m) = 12V*2,72Ohm = 4,4 A.
Hope that makes sense and if that link does not work just search for resistance wire on ebay and I hope you get sorted out :-) Have a nice day.
A good point... it needs to be resistance wire, like what he used to make the kiln elements. Nichrome60 is commonly used for hot wire cutters, but as FarmerBob commented you can even use something like guitar strings (the thinner, solid strings). You might also be able to scavenge some from a toaster oven or electric heater. In the video, Rob mentions the resistance you will need at room temperature is 2 ohms. At a guess, you can probably go with anything within 20% of 2 ohms. If you have slightly higher resistance, it won't get quite as hot. Slightly lower resistance, and you can run this a little hotter. Length of the wire will also impact the resistance, directly proportional to the length (R/L). So if the wire you have is too low a resistance, you can simply lengthen it. If the resistance of your wire is too high, you can shorten it.
I said in the vid mate - you need to keep it to minimum 2 ohms as it is a 12v supply and you want to draw no more than 6 amps - V=IR gives you 2 ohms as heat wire is sold in resistance per meter- pick one for your distance
@@ThinkingandTinkering Ack! I forgot about needing to limit the current draw. Thanks!
Thanks everyone.. I do know Ohms law and am comfortable using it and yes the two Ohm value was clearly mentioned.
My point was that this is such a great video, with all the connections well explained and the circuit clearly presented, and could be followed by a viewer who wasn't from an electrical background, so it is a shame that the final piece of information is missing. Some people will never have heard of nichrome wire, resistance wire etc and won't know where to buy it or what to ask for. A few seconds of explanation on those points would complete the video for those people, even if it isn't needed for those of us experienced in electrical theory and materials.
Prolific.
I'm a bit hyper lol
Now to add the motors ua-cam.com/video/oIKEYM-lMWQ/v-deo.html
no need for me to do that mate - he did an awesome job
Watching this guy has been one of the biggest waste of times in my life. I think I must be thick
yes you must be - why on earth are you watching if that's what you think? - go off and do something else this is clearly not for you - what's more you wasted even more time posting this! unbelievable - just give it a thumbs down and move on - get a life son lol
@@ThinkingandTinkering as it will most likely say on my headstone, It was a good idea at the time. Oops. He has had some good and interesting ideas, but he works in micro volts and milli milli milli amps. Good night 😴
I like your work a lot ...but I must tell you that you saying "Awesome" irks me ...do you do counselling courses in accepting what I cannot change ?
Or are you just a techy geek who cares not for the emotional stability of your viewers ?
lol - I am just a tech geek - your problems are your own lol