critterhunter

Fisher, I've begun to take on the project. Just did a little skimming the net for homemade hot wire cutter info. First few articles I read didn't have much detail so I'll have to dig deeper. I've read that some guys use a car battery charger as the power source but haven't run across the voltage and amp requirements yet. I've got an old car/motorcycle battery charger in the garage that can be set at 6 or 12 volts and .2 to 1.2 amps variable...Or a single 6 amp setting. I'm guessing this might work but will have to find out what the requirements are to know for sure. It also features a fuse that I can easily upgrade to a larger amp size if the current one pops too soon. Any information you can give me about your power source, what kind of wire and where you got it, a variable POT (if needed), and just in general what you did would be helpful. Any links would also be cool. I'm guessing I'm looking at a stationary hot wire cutter for at least the wing foil, and maybe a hand tool hot wire cutter to cut out general body parts.

I'm also still a bit confused on the foam. Can you give me the exact name of the stuff you used from Lowes or Home Depot? I think I know what foam this is but want to be sure. Also, why not use the pink foam that Owens Corning (sp?) has up there? It is smoother and much stronger. My only guess is that the weight will be much more than the other?

I'll search the web for the hot wire cutter info as that's my first step. I just thought maybe you could point me quickly to a good source of info. Thanks.