Toolmaking - Wood burner tips

[Oceaneer99]

My sons were fighting over capes for their Lego figures, so I tried to make some out of some nylon fabric I have.  Unfortunately, it unraveled quickly.  I tried to buy a hot knife tip for my soldering iron, but it was the wrong size thread.  So, I made a hot knife tip.

I bought a 10x24 brass bolt and a coupler nut of the same thread.  I put a short bolt into the back side of the coupler and then chucked it into the drill press.  This let me thread the brass bolt in without damaging the threads.  I spun the bolt with the drill press and cut the head off with a hacksaw.  Then I used files to cut off most of the threads.

I heated the bolt to anneal the brass (I figured it probably gets work-hardened like copper does), and then pounded the end flat.  Using a hacksaw and some files, I made a quick little knife, which cut and sealed the nylon just fine.

I did try burning a piece of wood.  The soldering iron was too low amperage to burn the wood much, but did leave a nice straight depression that could be used for control surface markings on a larger model. I'll probably need to make a thinner hot knife to use for that application, though.

I also made some circular end tips with hollow points for cutting holes in the nylon.  I'm not sure what sort of application this would have for solid models.

Garet

[teddon61]

The Colwood woodburning tools company offers over 29 different shapped tips for all kinds of applications, including one similar to the circular one you mentioned. They run around $7.00 a pop, so if you can self produce them you are ahead of the game.
I've known wood carvers that use one similar to the one you made to duplicate fish scales on wood carvings.
If you would like to view some different shapes of tips, contact the C. J. Hummul Co. at http://www.hummul.com

ted Billings