Spent $85 on a foam core cutter and it burned me hard

I dropped 85 bucks on a fancy foam core cutter for making custom board game inserts. Thought it would save me time compared to a utility knife. First try, it tore the foam instead of cutting clean, totally ruined a $12 sheet of black foam core. Then the blade locked up after 10 cuts and I had to pry it apart with pliers. My cheap $3 box cutter from the hardware store does a better job with a straight edge. Has anyone else tried those specialty cutters and just gone back to basic tools?

3 comments

3 Comments

kimmurphy3d ago

Had the exact same thing happen with a hot wire cutter I bought for like 60 bucks a few years back. The first cut on a brand new sheet of XPS foam was a total mess, the wire left these huge melted grooves and the whole thing felt like a waste. Your mileage may vary, but I ended up going back to a sharp utility knife with a fresh blade and a good straight edge. With that foam core specifically, I've found just scoring it lightly a few times and then snapping it works way better than trying one deep pass with any fancy tool. The cheap stuff in my experience always wins for the cleanest cuts and less headache.

ray_martinez823d ago

Yeah @parkerbrown what brand of utility knife works best for you?

parkerbrown3d ago

@kimmurphy man, that hot wire cutter experience sounds like a total bummer. I had one of those cheap foam cutters from a big box store, and the wire broke on the second cut, so my track record with them is basically zero. The scoring and snapping method you mentioned is honestly my go to now, even for thicker foam core boards. Sometimes I feel like a real doofus trying all these gadgets when the simple stuff works better. Your tip about light scores is spot on, I used to press too hard and end up with a jagged mess.