Hot knife cutting???

**jeffjenn** · 05-28-2008, 22:45

My DIY projects are slowly starting to get bigger, & melting the edges of my nylon by candle is starting to become a bit of a chore. A chore I would like to skip! I have read about some that are using hot knives, soldiering guns, & woodburners. I'm thinking about trying this with a small propane torch & a butter knife so of course, I have questions...
1. How well does this work in relation to the soldiering iron & woodburner?
2. What kind of surface is needed to cut on? Cardboard, Wood, Glass?

Thanks for any help.

**Tosto** · 05-28-2008, 23:08

I worked at a hardware store and marina for a few years, so cutting rope was part of the job.

1. As for using a propane torch and butter knife, it would definitely work, but it sounds like a big hassle. Lighting the torch every time, heating the knife for a few seconds, etc. and you would probably have to wear gloves to handle the steel knife. At home I usually just cut with a knife, melt the end with a zippo and smush the end on a piece of teflon to join the ends, although glass or a ceramic plate would work fine. At the marina we used one of these attachments: http://images.cableorganizer.com/han...-knife-big.jpg which went right on an electric soldering iron, if you have one.

2. I wouldn't recommend hot cutting on cardboard unless you're outside and don't mind a small fire. Wood and glass would probably be fine. Regular glass might crack from thermal shock or from pressing too hard, and most woods are fine (don't use exterior treated; some exterior woods are treated with arsenic and the fumes might not be good, although nylon fumes arn't very good either!)

a hot cutting soldering iron attachment is probably most efficient.

**Darby** · 05-28-2008, 23:20

Originally Posted by jeffjenn

My DIY projects are slowly starting to get bigger, & melting the edges of my nylon by candle is starting to become a bit of a chore. A chore I would like to skip! I have read about some that are using hot knives, soldiering guns, & woodburners. I'm thinking about trying this with a small propane torch & a butter knife so of course, I have questions...
1. How well does this work in relation to the soldiering iron & woodburner?
2. What kind of surface is needed to cut on? Cardboard, Wood, Glass?

Thanks for any help.

Bad idea on the butter knife. Save time & blisters with a hot knife, soldiering iron, or wood burner.They have a constant temp. and are designed for such work. JMHO. I use a salvaged piece of glass (24 x 32) as a cutting board.

**headchange4u** · 05-29-2008, 09:16

Check out this thread:
http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/n...hot-knife.html

**Youngblood** · 05-29-2008, 09:49

You do know you don't have to hot cut the fabric. When I started out I hot cut everything. As I progressed, I hot cut less and less. Now I only worry about rope, ribbon and webbing, and deal with frayed edges in the hems.

It is much easier to cut most of this fabric with SHARP scissors and just rip/cut the long pieces. The rip stop nylon frays like a son of a gun but it can be dealt with. The edges of silnylon and the bugnetting I've used isn't a problem.