Which hot knife?

[freshy]

Kindly suggested by @Chanmenie

 

https://hilltop-products.co.uk/tools-cutters-machinery/hot-knife-rope-cutters/hand-held-hot-knife-rope-cutters/hand-held-kd-7x-premium-hot-knife-foam-cutter-groover-kit-with-case-accessories-230v.html

 

I'm looking for less expensive options, which one did you use?

 

 

[Conor]

I got a cheap one off Amazon. Wasn't great and died before the end of the job. Small money in the grand scheme of things really.

[Chanmenie]

1 hour ago, freshy said:

Kindly suggested by @Chanmenie

 

https://hilltop-products.co.uk/tools-cutters-machinery/hot-knife-rope-cutters/hand-held-hot-knife-rope-cutters/hand-held-kd-7x-premium-hot-knife-foam-cutter-groover-kit-with-case-accessories-230v.html

 

I'm looking for less expensive options, which one did you use?

 

 

Yeah the hilltop one is expensive but it’s very good 

I’ll sell it on when I’ve finished with it 

[Tom]

3 hours ago, freshy said:

Kindly suggested by @Chanmenie

 

https://hilltop-products.co.uk/tools-cutters-machinery/hot-knife-rope-cutters/hand-held-hot-knife-rope-cutters/hand-held-kd-7x-premium-hot-knife-foam-cutter-groover-kit-with-case-accessories-230v.html

 

I'm looking for less expensive options, which one did you use?

 

 

 

I bought a similar but less expensive one off eBay IIRC, it has a bigger "sled" than the one above, and a long bendable blade to put in it. Perfect for chasing out the polystyrene for my downpipes. It was worth it's weight in gold in the end - and as Conor says it's small money in the grand scheme of things.

[BotusBuild]

I bought one of these

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07F8LFRCF/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

It was £89 when I purchased it in Oct 2023

[Chanmenie]

3 hours ago, Tom said:

 

I bought a similar but less expensive one off eBay IIRC, it has a bigger "sled" than the one above, and a long bendable blade to put in it. Perfect for chasing out the polystyrene for my downpipes. It was worth it's weight in gold in the end - and as Conor says it's small money in the grand scheme of things.

I bought the big sled as well, I used it for letting in 4 x 2 timbers and cutting out socket boxes 

https://hilltop-products.co.uk/kd-7x-kd-dc100-sled-and-12-blade-kit.html

[Dobbie]

I bought this 

 

https://cpc.farnell.com/duratool/d03295/hot-knife-tool/dp/TL19867?mckv=s_dm|pcrid|426684131426|kword||match||plid||slid||product|TL19867|pgrid|100371162878|ptaid|pla-1683489497252|&CMP=KNC-GUK-CPC-SHOPPING-9262013734-100371162878-TL19867&s_kwcid=AL!5616!3!426684131426!!!network}!1683489497252!&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwl4yyBhAgEiwADSEjeFWpH-kon--c8i6_61chlanY4IQ_VWVKiD66TPUyrnmPQPHCyOnrjRoC-lAQAvD_BwE

 

And then bent the 'knife' to the correct shape to chase a channel into the ICF. Cheap and cheerful, but it worked well. 

[Nick Laslett]

I bought this kit. 
 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224480494499?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=oGB3l66TRIO&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=-pz3vhJaRz2&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
 

But my electrician actually used his masonry wall chaser for the cable runs. As you can imagine it made very light work of the EPS. Very little mess because his kit had good dust extraction. 
 

I didn’t actually like the hot knife very much and used my multi-tool for all the plumbing pipe chasing. 
 

I did use the hot knife to create a channel for a piece of timber, but the EPS caught light. Luckily the fire retardant in the EPS did its job. Obviously user error, but be careful with this thing. 

[Chanmenie]

6 hours ago, Nick Laslett said:

 

 

I did use the hot knife to create a channel for a piece of timber, but the EPS caught light. Luckily the fire retardant in the EPS did its job. Obviously user error, but be careful with this thing. 

Crikey, I’ve had my hot knife glowing red hot but the EPS did not catch light.

 

I do find it really easy to use and it makes very little mess as the cut bits come out in large pieces.

Not looking forward to rasping the outside ready for render, that’ll be messy and the neighbours won’t be happy 😃