Artistic and applied wood cutting: a review of techniques and tools. How you can make a nichrome electric jigsaw or cutter with your own hands Cutting plywood with nichrome wire
Sawing nichrome wire
An alternative to a jigsaw
For those who do not have the opportunity or desire to use ordinary wood to create slotted (sawed) and use plywood as a material, sawing with a jigsaw is not always the best option. Plywood - the material is quite fragile, it is easy to break off. And it is often sawn with the formation of untidy "rags" of fibers along the edges of the cut. In addition, for wood, a jigsaw is not always the most the best tool, especially if you need to process several identical parts.
As an alternative to the usual manual jigsaw you can use a thin nichrome wire connected to a step-down transformer. In fact, instead of cutting out, in this case, burning is obtained.
Tool making
The design of the tool can be of two types: "rod" and "jigsaw". In the first case, the tool consists of a wire of a certain length, to the ends of which are attached terminals from secondary winding transformer, in addition to one end, a handle is attached from a material that does not conduct current and temperature ( better than wood), to the second - a load, the size and weight of which allow you to keep the working part in tension. Instead of a load, you can attach a handle to the second end of the working part.
The second option is a little more convenient for work and reminds ordinary jigsaw- nichrome is stretched on the frame of the jigsaw, but the clips are made of non-conductive material. The terminals in this case are attached to the wire BEFORE the clamps. The figure below shows how you can stretch nichrome on a jigsaw frame using a special clamping bar. The clamps are attached after stretching. It is not necessary to bring the working part to the state of a “ringing string”, as is usually done with a file. It is better to use a flexible frame, since the length of the nichrome working area may have to be adjusted.
The length of the wire in both cases depends on the power of the transformer used. If a length of 100 mm is enough for a power of 6V, then a longer piece will be needed for a higher voltage. Nichrome is used because another material with a small wire diameter will not withstand the required heat.
Nichrome is usually taken with a diameter of 0.3 mm to 1 mm (the diameter depends on the thickness of the cut material layer).
The transformer can be used with power from 6 to 24V, the source of the transformer can be an old TV, filmoscope or other equipment.
The length of the working part is selected from the following considerations: nichrome should be heated when the current is connected to a dark red color. At a lower degree of heat, wood and plywood will be difficult to saw, especially if the board has greater thickness. If the temperature is higher, wood vapors can ignite. Thus, the length is selected empirically on a particular transformer. For the convenience of adjusting the length of the working part or restoring it after a break, it is advisable not to immediately cut off a piece of the desired length, but simply wind a few turns onto one of the contacts, which can be used as bolts and nuts.
Additionally, you need a switch on the wire coming from the transformer - to interrupt the current in the circuit when the wire is transferred from one fragment of the pattern to another and when the wire breaks (burns out).
Below is a view of the tool circuit diagram and the burning process itself.
Basic principles of work
The movements during burning should be of the same type as when sawing with a jigsaw - up and down, but very light, since the cutting speed with a hot wire is much higher than when cutting out.
A sample of the product obtained by this method.
Glass, foam, plastic and other materials can also be processed in a similar way.
All photos from the article
Do-it-yourself wood cutting for beginner craftsmen can present some difficulties. However, after a little theoretical preparation, the selection of suitable tools and at least minimal practice, problems usually disappear forever. Still, wood is a fairly simple material to process, and therefore almost everyone can handle it.
In our article, we will talk about how woodworking is performed for different purposes and what devices are used for this.
Rough sawing
If we're talking about cutting wooden parts, then in most cases the sawing process is meant. This technique is used as widely as possible, starting from the transformation of whole trunks into boards and bars right size and ending with the fitting of parts to the specified dimensions.
The sawing process can be carried out using different tools:
| Tool type | Principle of operation |
| Hacksaw |
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Note! Wood cutting grinder (manual grinder) is undesirable as this tool is not intended for such work. When using a grinding or cutting wheel, the wood will ignite from friction, and the saw blade can either crumble or simply pull the tool out of your hands - in any case, injuries can be very serious.
Of course, only the main types of tools used for sawing are described here, but this will be enough to navigate the general principles work.
Finishing
wood carving
If necessary, the artistic processing of wood can be carried out using the most simple tools. So, in the West, a popular area of applied art is carving wooden figures with an ordinary penknife, and masters can create monumental compositions using a chainsaw.
Wooden decor elements are present in the homes of each of us. Sometimes we go to the store to buy beautiful wooden frame or a jewelry box for home or as a gift to loved ones, friends and relatives. However best gift is a gift made with my own hands, and to make beautiful frame or a casket we'll need a cutter or nichrome jigsaw which we will do right now.
Watch in the video how a nichrome cutter is made:
So, to make a cutter, we need a 12 volt 5-10A power supply (you can use computer block), nichrome wire with a cross section of 0.4-0.8 mm (can be disassembled wirewound resistor or the same boiler that uses nichrome thread), two pieces of a cut branch, from which we will make handles, a copper wire 1-1.5 m long, as well as two nails or two pieces of hard wire.
The first thing you need to take care of the handles. To do this, you need to drive a nail into pieces of a branch or stick a wire. For convenience, it is better to use a branch from a soft tree. When the wire or nail is inserted, you should take round-nose pliers and make rings from the protruding parts of the wire so that the wire itself, as well as the wires, do not slip off during twisting.
The next step is to take any yellow and black wires from the power supply and connect them to copper wire, which will be the main one in our cutter, not forgetting the need to insulate the wires.
When you plug the power supply into an outlet, it will not start immediately. If you are using older models of computer units, then you can separately install the switch by connecting the green wire to any of the black ones. With new models, everything is much easier: it is enough to short-circuit the same two wires for a fraction of a second using an ordinary paper clip.
It's time for the most important part: choosing the right length nichrome thread. In order to do this, you can use a special formula, but there is an easier method, which is known as the poke method. The desired length of the thread can be determined by winding it on wooden block, connect the positive wire to one end and gradually bring the negative wire closer from the other end until the thread starts to turn red.
Attention!!! If the length of the nichrome filament is incorrect, the power supply may overload and fail, and the filament may also quickly break.
After calculating the length of the thread, it remains only to cut off its excess part and wind it around two rings of two handles. On other rings, you should wind the wire from the power supply.
For those who do not have the ability or desire to use wood carving outline ornaments with ordinary wood to create slotted (sawed) wood carvings and use plywood as a material, sawing with a jigsaw is not always the best option work.
Plywood - the material is quite fragile, it is easy to break off. And it is often sawn with the formation of unkempt "rags" of fibers on the sides of the cut. In addition, for wood, a jigsaw is not always the best tool for woodcarving sketches on a plank, especially if you need to process several similar parts.The length of the working part is selected from the following considerations: nichrome should be heated when the current is connected to a dark red color. With a lower degree of heating wood carving cock wood and plywood will be sawn with difficulty, especially wood carving sketches of sculptures if the board is thicker. If the temperature is higher, wood vapors can ignite. In practice, instead of sawing out the wood carving of the outline of the platbands, in this case, burning out comes out.
The design of the tool can be of 2 types: "fishing rod" and "jigsaw". In the first case, the tool consists of a wire of a certain length, to the ends of which terminals from the secondary winding of the transformer are attached, in addition to one end, a thread of Omsk wood is attached to a handle made of a material that does not conduct current and temperature (preferably wood), to the second - a load, size and weight which allow you to keep the working part in tension. Instead of a load, you can attach a handle to the second end of the working part.
The second option is a little more convenient for work and resembles a regular jigsaw &ndash woodcarving sketches of platbands; nichrome is stretched on the frame of the jigsaw, but the clips are made of non-conductive material. The terminals in this case are attached to the wire BEFORE the clamps. The figure below shows how you can stretch nichrome on a jigsaw frame using a special clamping bar. The terminals are fastened already after pulling the wood carving sketches drawings. It is not necessary to bring the working part to the state of a “ringing string”, as is usually done with a file. It is better to use a flexible frame, since the length of the working section of nichrome, perhaps wood carving sketches of hunters, will have to be adjusted.
The length of the wire in both cases depends on the power of the transformer used. If a length of 100 mm is enough for a power of 6V, then a longer piece will be needed for a higher voltage. Nichrome bird wood carving is used because another material with a small wire diameter will not withstand the required heat.
Nichrome is usually taken with a diameter of 0.3 mm to 1 mm (the diameter depends on the thickness of the cut material layer).
The transformer can be used with power from 6 to 24V, the source of the transformer can be an old TV, filmoscope or other equipment.
As a candidate for an ordinary manual jigsaw, you can use a narrow nichrome wire connected to a step-down transformer. Thus, the length is selected empirically on a particular transformer. For the convenience of adjusting the length of the working part or restoring it after a break, it is advisable not to immediately cut off a piece of the desired length, but simply wind a few turns onto one of the contacts, which can be used as bolts and nuts.
Additionally, you need a wood carving owl switch on the wire coming from the transformer - to interrupt the current in the circuit when transferring the wire from one wood carving sketches on paper of a fragment of a drawing to another and when the wire breaks (burns out).
Burning movements should be of the same type as when sawing with a jigsaw - up and down, but very light, since the speed of cutting with a hot wire is much higher than when cutting out.
