need help on wire cutting

I'm using nichrome wire with mine. A 12v PC power supply will work fine, as long as it can supply more than 3 amps.

I also had an old 24v/2amp transformer kicking around, from a project that never got completed. It'll heat up a 28" length of nichrome wire sufficiently to cut foam. Steel wire will work as well... in fact, the bow I purchased (Yes, I bought rather than built...) came with some T370 steel wire as its' suggested type. But I found that it tended to snap after a couple of cuts, where the nichrome wire has lasted through four sets of fins. :-)

For a nosecone couldn't you use lathe or a drill press and sanding block?

You might find you get tearing with the foam on a lathe, especially if you hit a glue joint. Follow the link I posted to Bob's Mini-Gila Monster and see how he made his cone with a router. Those bondo scrapers/rasps would speed up the job over sandpaper.

Joel. phx

Tater, I just built a nose cone for a PVC pipe rocket. I used nichrome wire, (22G?) attached to a pvc bow powered by a $3 yard sale train transformer. I built a box with plywood sides the shape of the nose cone and attached a Block of EPS (Expanded Poly Styrene) to some 1/4 inch plywood with glue so that I could attach it to the form then I cut out the shape and it worked very well. The 1/4 inch ply had a T- nut between it and the eps so that I have something to attach the shock cord. The eyebolt is a permanent thing now. I added fiberglass to the EPS then put several layers of epoxy mixed with fairing compound on top to get the desired shape and size. Like someone else said it really was like icing a cake. I have pictures of the entire process if you would like me to send them to you, I just don't have time to add them to a web page. The project was fun and I would love to do it again. I used a lot of epoxy though and it would have been cheaper to buy a plastic cone if there was one available for 103mm PVC pipe.

Layne Rossi Campbell River, BC, Canada CAR S767 L2

That's pretty cool!

The hot wire I got with my foam starter kit years ago was Nichrome.

Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD!