Ok, so it looks like laser cutting some foam is not a good idea.

General CNC CNC Routers
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Ok, so it looks like laser cutting some foam is not a good idea. Looking at the spec sheet it looks like carcinogenic + inhaling issues might be bigger than I thought.

Since these are packaging foams, I am not sure I can mill it with a single-flute up-cut end mill. What are my other options in cutting packaging foam?

P.S. Since it is used for packaging, I need to cut holes inside the foam without a lead-in cut.

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Hot wire cutter.

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Hot wire cutter is the same as laser cutter. It melts the foam along the cut and release obnoxious fume.

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Do you mean a safer type of foam? +Peter van der Walt @Kyle_Kerr I still need to do it the CNC way, would that mean I have to puncture the foam some way then perform the actual cut? For every cavity, I have to manually put on the hot wire?

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I wouldn’t worry so much about it. If you read all the lawyer written warnings on things you’d never take another pill. If it’ll do a clean cut, then a laser is the way to go IMO…

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Based on your original post, I watched this on youtube earlier. Looks like it works pretty well…

7

You can mill them with almost any type of mill (or even drill bit, but don’t blame me on the quality of the output if you go this way). My mill of choice would be a thick two flute chipbreaker mill but diameter will depend on the actual output you need (small thin features will require a thinner mill). Be prepared to have a huge amount of debris and use a mask.

For holes you most likely will need a long-ish mill (which would make difficult for it to be thin though).

Sometimes you can switch mills to complete the job.

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You can always save some money and make your own cornstarch based foam. I have never done it but you can just google it. The fumes from the laser cutter may smell like burned corn but that sounds better than burned styrofoam.

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Melting point is different from scorching and burning point… A hot wire cutter adjusted down is likely to have much less burning of the foam.

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Well the foam cost is minimal, it’s just the cutting that is rather annoying.

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What about jigling blade? You know the one that goes up and down.

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Jigsaw… messy.

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Full enclosure, and extractor-ventilation.

Being careful how & where you exhaust your extracted fumes.

Some suggest exhausting your fumes through cold water
to remove the heat and condense the organic-solvent vapors.

Many foams a pure hydrocarbon plastics ,
so the fumes from these will be,
simple organic molecules, water, and carbon dioxide
(relatively benign).
Some foams however release other noxious compounds,
(foams made with Vinyl (PVC) give off Chlorine , for instance)
(know your foam, chemically !).

Some long-life foams (polyurethane) are made with
a “two-component” process,
and have isocyanates (cyanate esters) in them
(Isocyanates are produced by treating amines with phosgene)

Isocyanates are associated with increased risk of
non-small cell lung cancer in particular squamous cell.

Methyl isocyanate was the causative agent
in the Bhopal Disaster that killed thousands of people.

15

Expanding foam, trapped inside plastic-bags,
is often an effective packaging.

But still leaves the final disposal of the
(ultimately) waste-product
to be dealt with by somebody (else).

16

@Joseph_Chiu Thank you for the video. But hot wire doesn’t work for my case because I want to create pockets inside the foam not a foam object. Given that some material has to be removed from the foam for a cut to happen, wouldn’t laser cutting be better simply because of the smaller kerf width and thus material removal comparing to hot wire?

@ElectrotechEngineeri Thanks for info, do you have some citation of such resources?