How To Cut Upholstery Foam

What is the best thing to cut foam with?

All you need to cut upholstery foam is a serrated knife, preferably on the larger side. And I bet you already have one — a simple bread knife is perfect for the job! If you don’t already have one, this offset bread knife is perfect and only costs $11.

Can you cut upholstery foam with a hot knife?

Although some plastics can be cut with a hot wire or hot knife, the cutting will be very slow and the fumes will likely be toxic. You can not cut through the spongy polyurethane foams used for upholstery. It beads off on the hot wire and gives off toxic fumes.

How do you cut foam without a hot wire?

Use a blade for straight cuts. Bladed implements like knives, box cutters, precision blades (like X-acto knives) or hacksaws are great for cutting through styrofoam, especially if you don’t need to make any curved cuts. For a smoother cut, run the blade along an old candle before cutting your styrofoam.

How do you cut foam without making a mess?

Hot Knife. A hot knife is our top choice for cutting Styrofoam. A heated knife is ideal for making small cuts and leaves minimal mess compared to a normal serrated knife. The key is to use a sawing motion when cutting instead of pushing straight down.

What is a foam cutting saw?

Foam cutter blades are built for cutting through polyfoam or foam rubber. They easily slice through these materials with quality precision. For standard upholstery, most projects require a saw to cut through 2 to 5 inch foam.

Is foam safe to cut?

The most unsafe aspect of cutting foam insulation and padding is the cutting-foam tool you use. It can cut or puncture you or those around you. So the first step in cutting safety is finding the safest insulation knife. Since foam is thick, you’ll likely need an extended blade.

Can you cut foam with scissors?

Use scissors to cut through soft foam. To cut thin or flexible foam, get out a pair of heavy-duty scissors. You can cut curves or straight lines, but you may want to lightly draw your design on the foam with a permanent marker before you begin cutting. Make long smooth cuts so you don’t get choppy edges in the foam.

What is a hot knife?

The Hot Knife is an electric tool with a heated blade that can be used to cut and shape other materials. It’s most often used for hobby or craft work and has applications for creating displays, theater sets, or miniatures like train sets.

What kind of wire do you use for a foam cutter?

NiChrome Wire (NiCr) is the optimal cutting wire choice for Foam cutting equipment for a variety of reasons, but particularly because it is resistant against corrosion and oxidation at very high temperature. The NiChrome cutting wire reaches the temperature of a few hundred Celcius degrees in few seconds.

What is a hot wire cutter?

A hot wire cutter is a tool used to cut polystyrene foam. The device consists of a thin, taut metal wire, often made of nichrome alloy, which is heated via electrical resistance to approximately 200°C.

Can you cut Styrofoam with a table saw?

You can generally use a utility knife when there are slighter cutting requirements of foam board insulation. If you need several cuts, you can use a circular, jigsaw, or table saw to save time and effort.

How do you cut polyethylene foam?

It may be possible to use scissors, depending on how thick the foam is and if you find it easier than using the craft knife to get the right shape. If your polyethylene roll is less than 5mm thick, sharp scissors should do the job for you.

What can be used instead of Nichrome wire?

Nichrome is good, steel or stainless steel should also work ok and may be preferred if you need less heat and more strength.

How does a hot wire foam cutter work?

Hot wire cutters work by heating a thin wire, with a low voltage power supply, thus enabling the foam to be sliced and sculpted very easily. You can buy hand held and table top versions. Table top versions are usually mains powered while hand held versions are sometimes mains powered and sometimes powered by batteries.

Can you cut foam with a Sawzall?

The Wavy blade can be used to cut styrofoam, foam rubber, leather, soft plastics, insulation, felt and cardboard. The wavy edge makes this even better for cutting insulation and foam rubber than the straight blade which has a tendency to compress during the cutting operation.

Can you cut foam with a circular saw?

When you’re insulating a building, you have to cut a lot of sheets, and if you’re using 2-inch foam for maximum insulating value, the easiest way to cut them is to use a saw. A circular saw will cut through 2-inch foam sheets like butter. You’ll want to wear goggles to protect your eyes from flying pieces of foam.