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IndustryArena Forum > Other Machines > CNC Wire Foam Cutter Machines > Building a new large CNC hotwire
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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Posts
    3

    Building a new large CNC hotwire

    Hey Guys, i am looking to build a very large CNC foam cutter for my business, the software sounds pretty straight forward but i need the guides or railings with motors to be extremely strong, the machine cut area is 100 X 55 x 55 inchs.

    What do yo guys recommend for something like that ?

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails 035_2.jpg  

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    932

    Re: Building a new large CNC hotwire

    Well the wire never touches the foam when cutting, so there is NO pressure on the machine from that, the only thing you need is motors strong enough to move the weight of the machine.
    Wood neophyte.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Posts
    1955

    Re: Building a new large CNC hotwire

    It looks like the main challenge will be obtaining smooth motion and not having wobble in the large components.

    While that might seem easy, it often is not quite that simple over large distances. I would look at what is done over in the wood cnc home built section in terms of frames. Most of those are actually not stiff enough for the intended task, so they are about right for your task.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Posts
    238

    Re: Building a new large CNC hotwire

    Mine has a cut capacity of 49.25"x82.5"x120.5" and can cut 2 48x36x120 blocks at one time, has 2 axis mode, 4 axis mode and 5th axis turntable. I machined the 10'+ x axis guides from 1.5" cold-rolled steel. The Y axis rails are aluminum and came from a place called "Flatboys" or maybe "Phatboys"? You won't need the strength for these like you would for something like a router because the loads, speeds, acceleration and G forces are far less.



  5. #5

    Re: Building a new large CNC hotwire

    Following. Starting to research building (or maybe buying) a foam cutter that could handle a 96"x48"x48" block of foam (the wire would need to be 98" long). Seems simple enough, X,Y on one side, Z,A on the other, hotwire stretched between.

    Like building two 50"x50" machines facing each other. Looking at other threads it appears that most of the heaving lifting of programming has already been done.

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