20 Best Hot Wire Foam Cutter (2023 Updated)

The machine came quickly. Well packed fully intact. The instructions are in far eastern language only but the picture instruction was adequate to build the unit. Once set up and connected to supply switch on and start off about 9 to 10 on the led display.

Made hot rod car in about 5 mins from scrap packing from the delivery box. Tool required for building a screwdriver Phillips No 2. Have fun.

It came on time and it works good. The cut is clean, no mess around and all of us have some fun using it. This is not the only vevor product that I have purchased, I am happy with their products and I feel confident to buy to them, so I recomend it.

perfect, all that I need. The foam cutter came in good time, setting up was a breeze with good clear instructions. I have just completed my first project with and it was perfect for the job!

I thought this would help me make detailed cuts though the pick and pluck foam often found in Pelican transport cases, but that did not work. It did not seem to get hot enough to cut and only melted.

May have been the wrong type of foam though, perhaps would work better for craft foam cutting.

The tool heated up quickly and was great to have three different tips. The tool seems to be pretty delicate, probably easy to break, but it worked fine. I would like to see a wire scooping loop for cutting out spherical shapes.

This product didn’t work for me. The only thing that works in this set on 1″ Polystyrene foam is the engraving tool. The other attachments cut too slow or don’t work at all. My advice is to buy top rated high quality proven products.

Spend the money on a good table and high end tools.

Overall excellent sturdy build easy to set up and effective for cutting all sizes of foam boards. The machine however has a weakness and that’s the sliding adjustable guide. Despite tightening the screws it is impossible to stop the guide bending out of true and spoiling the ‘straight cut’ you wish to achieve.

I do not think the supplied guide can be salvaged and have replaced it with an aftermarket and more sturdy one. There are lots of help hints and tips on YouTube to help you. It is a shame that the supplied guide is so susceptible to movement but overall the cutter works very well Ian.

Was about to purchase this product and the price went up 55 dollars in one day. I will now order it from the manufacturer. It will take longer, but still comes in 40 some odd dollars cheaper with shipping.

Great product but ridiculous that the price is now some much higher for no reason.

Bought this after talking directly with Proxxon as I wanted to cut a more dence foam than expanded polystyrene (EPS). Anyway, suffice to say it did exactly what I needed it to do and more. This proxxon hot wire cutter is probably the best you are going to get for your money so don’t cut corners, just buy this one, as it’s a false economy buying any cheaper alternatives and I talk from experience.

If I were to give this hot wire cutter a score it would have to be a 10 out of 10 especially based on a previous purchase of a cheaper machine from a well known website. I doubt if you will be disappointed.

Best snips for the money, period. Hold them up to a light, closed, and note the sliver of light that goes from nothing at the tip to about. 003″ at the base of the cutting edges. That’s important. If you slam the tips against each other they act as sacrificial surfaces so that the rest of the length of the blades stay sharp.

Other snips aren’t made with a progressive blade angle like these are and, with them, it’s all or nothing – meaning once you damage them to a certain degree it’s sharpening time like it or not (and they ALL will get damaged eventually as sheering is like any cutting, you are trading a certain level of material from both the blades and the thing being cut as in direct abrasion albeit in a sheering fashion here).

I like that the tips can get blunted and I can still use the remaining 90% of the blades’ surfaces to get the job done nice and cleanly. I’m a woodworker by trade so sharpening/honing blades, uh, I already do that enough as it is lol.

Buy these. You won’t be sorry unless you have no idea of what you’re doing with them – in that case, you’re going to be upset by everything on the market. Just the facts.

I’ve used these a few times. They’re very sharp and cut wire and solder with ease. Highly recommended! I’ll update this review if I have any issues later with long term durability or quality.

I am only an electronics hobbyist but also a professional building contractor, so I am familiar with tool quality. These are great, sturdy little cutters and while maybe not what a pro would want for heavy use, for 5 bucks and light-duty use they are super comfortable to hold and use and you can’t beat ’em.

They will easily and cleanly cut one single strand of stranded wire, or snip a clean end on a pre-tinned 14g wire end. Grab a couple of these bad boys and put ’em in your kit.

Ive used them before and knew their quality

Im a yard jockey and they use thick and Small wire cable to seal the trailers I bought a pair of these felco cable cutters I thought were a little too much but after over 10 years use without sharpening just using wd40 to keep it lubed Cuts flawlessly every time.

These are the only wire cutters i have used for the last 15 years. They continue to cut wire cleanly after years and years of hatd work.

You need to slide and hold a button to keep the wire heated, your finger gets tired and the element stops heating in the middle of slicing through. The screw to tighten the wire snap off so I could not longer tighten the wire any more.

Finally the the wire broke. All said, I probably got about 10 feet of cutting through foam on my model project with this tool.

I got this to cut insulation foam panels from a home improvement store into fake distressed boards for Halloween. It worked great for this, much better than the hot knife and hot wand I tried. Cuts through foam quickly with little to no issues.

Tool held up great, no issues and I created many boards. Tool was very easy to use. Would highly recommend for any Halloween enthusiast.

I am having trouble with the machine. Do not know if it’s the cord or if it’s the handle where you connect the cord. Please help I still do not have a message of what can I do with my machine. I bought the machine , received on time, but when tested the handle where you installed the cord is broken and does not let my machine work.

If you make wargaming terrain or DnD terrain this is must have device. While there are features that could be better, for example, there is only a guide rail on one side, a pedal is extra cost and the wire bar could be easier to adjust, this is still better than most of the available items at the same price.

Thankfully, because it is popular in the crafting community, there are plenty of after market upgrades to make the unit better.

I use these foam cutters for guitar repairs. They are perfect for heating the dovetail joint of an acoustic guitar. They make the removal of the neck a more clean and less messy job. I have been using the steam method for a number of years now, and when I saw some YouTube videos of Luthiers using electric heaters to heat the dovetail glue joint, I thought that these, fine wire foam cutters should work.

They do! Just add a little water with an eye dropper as the neck joint warms up and the glue softens just enough to pull the neck out of the pocket. I have four units now, two are 4 inch long and two are 3 inches long.

Generally I use two units to heat a neck joint. This techniques is a little slower than the steam method, but there is no steam damage to the finish that often needs to be repaired afterwards.

cuts through foam like butter! worth every penny. i will say that i learned to let the wire do the work on thicker pieces instead of trying to push it through. wire bent a little due to my attempt to “help”it, but still works perfect.

it heats quickly and is SUCH an improvement as opposed to knives and the mess they create. lightweight and simple to use.

This one is more sturdy than others and I like the long cord. Quick to heat. I would still recommend going a little slowly. Best Ive found at this reasonable price.

Cutter showed up and I bought some extra 6. 0 XC genuine Milwaukee batteries. Not the cheap knock offs. Gave the cutter to a crew that has been using the same model cutter that was purchased new, cutter only works intermittently.

No matter what battery is used. Waste of time and money. Dont fall for it.

Great tool when it comes to cutting wire and cable smaller the 350MCM copper. Used the cable cutter about a week ago and thought the battery was dead. Changed out the battery and found it to be the tool itself.

It would not cut through the 600MCM. Had to take it apart to get it off the wire. Tried to use it again and only the light would turn on. This is the second cutter I had to turn in for repairs due to cutting wire 350 to 600 MCM.

Love this tool, it does the job easily and very efficiently, when it comes to tight cuts, this tool is a winner. Battery life is amazing, it can run through the whole day with tens of cuts. Cuts 750 MCM AL with ease on high speed.

Received product and it came well protected with lots of bubble wrap. Unfortunately the instructions for setting up it were practically non-existent, and have to be inferred from the ‘how to replace a broken wire’ instructions which are pretty much equally useless.

Website was useless as well, and their youtube videos didn’t cover this product. Eventually figured it out (its very easy, but a ‘how to’ and/or ‘common issues’ would have been nice) and it works great! Switch does not come marked ‘on/off’ so be careful when you first plug it in!.

It’s the most basic form of a Hotwire table. It’s flimsy, but it works. There is no way to place the wire at a 90 degree and you have no cutting lines as reference for your cut. Wish it had more features, but it works.

These work great for cutting foam for CO2 car prototypes in my Tech. Ed. classes.

First time using this product. I didn’t know what to expect in the way of results. I was using the hot knife to cut polyburlap mesh with the expectation of getting straight lines. Using a pair of scissors is not the way to go if you want straight lines and a rotary cutter you wouldn’t be able yo hold the polyburlap mesh still in order to cut a straight line.

The knife blade is basically the same as an Exacti knife blade, it’s adequate, however the blade on a wood burner is a bit more sturdy and I believe wouldn’t dull as quickly as the blade on the hot knife.

It still got the job done.

I bought this product while working on set designs for a local theatre production. I needed something that would give a clean, smooth cut in foam board. The designs I needed to cut were intricate in some places and it worked like a charm.

This hot knife was only available in my store in a wood burning kit, so I bought it thinking I’d have little or no use for the other tips in the kit. Well I ended up finding them useful for other projects, including making additional holes in a belt for a friend who had lost weight but loved the belt and wanted to still wear it.

Very handy tool to have around! The only drawback I experienced is the heat adjustment dial on the cord is a little heavy and would pull it off my work table when I let it dangle unless I secured it with something.

It comes with a rest stand, but it is fairly lightweight. I work at an elevated table, so maybe if working at a lower table my problem would have been minimized. Completely fixable inconvenience, but loved its usefulness.

I can see many other uses for this product other than its intended. Just remember when using, when you reach for it stay behind the heat guard grip, it gets really hot when turned all the way up. I was tempted when not paying attention to grab it closer to the end, like I would an Exacto knife.

But that’s me, easily distracted! LOL!.

Don’t have the patience or the time to waste. Already have one but couldn’t readily find it so I got another. Not enough heat is transferred to the tip so you have to use the full length and girth of the blade.

I need something faster. Guess I’ll be looking around for a better one.

Great tool for cutting every gage cable, copper & aluminum, quick and clean cuts. Found out by accident it wont cut the suspension wire in the middle of the neutral wire of the big aluminum stuff though, expecting my new jaws to show up any day now.

If you are a commercial electrician, this tool is a definite must have. It saves so much time and effort when building services or having to cut large copper or aluminum wire in some other applications.

I’m getting a little older these days, and ratchet cutters are starting to wear on me. I had 13 sets of 750 alum. to terminate, which is a lot of cutting. This really helped reduce fatigue.

Works very well in tight areas, very comfortable grip. The cutter tips are a bit brittle however. A twisting motion while cutting are apt to break the cutter tip. Still an excellent cutting tool for delicate work.

Much better at cutting/nipping with little effort than traditional wire cutters. Given the very reasonable price and versatility of this tool I can easily forgive the brittleness of the cutter tips. A great addition to any service bench.

Very easy to get ahold of small items that Im cutting. I use them for much more than just cutting wire. I make jewelry. Theyre very sharp, and strong, no bending of the blades.

I highly recommend this replacement wire for all your hotwire tools. I use it not only for simple hand-held cutters, but also for a homemade thickness trimmer/planer. The wire has great tensile strength for a tight straight cutting wire.

My recent purchase was for two packs, since I have many hotwire cutting tools for different uses.

Product may work well for the manufactures unit but is not nichrome wire incase your looking for a DIY hotwire project. The wire had about 15 ohms of resistance per 12″ which is considerably more true nichrome wire.

I needed this for my model railway layout and it works fine. I resent having to pay so much for a length of wire, but what can you do if you need it. I would not try to use this as a security fence as it is too thin and I don’t think it would be capable of supporting a person crossing Niagara Falls because not only is it too thin, I don’t think it would be long enough.

It does however cut foam well. which is nice.

This cable cutter is so handy for cutting in meter cans and load centers. You’re able to cut conductors in place without adding undesirable bends. Huge time saver. Great for fast and easy cuts. We’ve been abusing ours for a few years with no problems.

Highly recommend!.

This is my second one. I havent had any issues with my first one yet and its 6-7 years old. It is heavier than other ones but also 1/5 the price. If you are on a Milwaukee platform this is a great tool.

This angle-bladed craft tool has a variety of uses. It comes in a printed tagboard backing with clear plastic covering. Be certain to keep the printed card; no other printed directions come in the package.

Originally intending to use the tool to cut through a length of foamboard, I know now that this tool is just as effective on wax or some fabrics or a variety of other items, including paracord. Included in the set is a small but essential black stand with a pop-up metal wire holder.

The heating element obviously is quite hot in order to work effectively. Care should be taken in using the tool; children ought not to operate this unattended. In fact, the information on the package states that it ought not to be used by children under the age of 14.

With adequate supervision, though, this craft tool will generate creativity and turn out projects with relative ease. My 4-star rating (rather than 5 stars) is dependent on these two details: 1) the cord is less than 4′ long.

Before using this tool, you will likely need an extension cord. 2) only one knife tip comes in this package. You will need to replace the tip sooner or later depending on the density and firmness of the item you are cutting.

A supply of 3 or 4 extra tips would be handy, even with an additional cost. This is a 120-volt, 25-watt hot knife. The blade grows very hot! In addition, the tip is very sharp. After each use, unplug the tool immediately to allow for steady cooling.

Note that the tool is to be held as you would hold a pencil.

I admit I did not have high expectations for this tool initially. I used a deep, 1 inch, slice of foam board and etched a heart on it like in the pics. I thought the tool would not make much difference to just cutting it with a serrated knife etc.

The fact is the tool actually cut through easily with smaller swipes rather than deep cuts. The tool actually coved the top edge of the heart which I think is super nice finished looking. It sliced through without tugging etc.

Recommend doing a few practice runs before the project to get acquainted. I am pleasantly surprised at this handy knife and have a new place on my craft cupboard to reach for it. It would come in handy at christmas time to make a wreath out of and then decorate or paint.

I admit I don’t make many projects out of foam board TBH. The pic shows the heart cut out laying on the green and the project foam board with heart removed on the red.

This item DOES work well. However. The design of it seems flawed to me. The plastic handle is so far up that it’s hard to really steady while cutting. Also. not only does the blade heat up but everything aside from the plastic handle does, and the design of the metal part looks as if you can hold it there, so just be careful with it.

I used it to cut letters from cardboard. I just couldn’t be as accurate due to how far away the true plastic handle is from the blade. It’s a cleaner cut than just and exsecto knife, but it just feels like I can’t control it as well.

Hot Wire Foam Cutting Machine Work Table Sponge Foam Cutter Diy Stainless Steel

Very good foam cutter