Walnut Hollow Professional Hot Knife for Cutting & Carving Foam Making Stencils and Cutting Vinyl & Plastic

Great hot cutter

I am so OBSESSED!!! This made cutting the signs for my wedding on foamboard so incredibly easy! I plan to use it for other foamboard stands and props!!

The item seems well built. I was able to attach the blade and heat it up without issue. It takes about 5 minutes to reach temperature. I checked the blade with a pair of pliers once hot, and it was still tight. I first tested with standard paracord. I had to go very slowly and apply heavy pressure but it was eventually able to cut through. It took probably 10 seconds. The cut was clean and the ends of the cord were properly melted.I next tested the main reason for me getting this. PET Expandable Braided Sleeving. This thing wouldn't even touch it. Laying the blade on top with heavy pressure didn't do anything. I tried slowly cutting with it like I would a regular knife. It was able to cut a few strands but they frayed everywhere. The heat played no part. I was eventually able to cut the sleeving after over a minute. The sleeving was completely frayed and not usable.Overall it was ok for paracord and NOT recommended for PET Expandable Braided Sleeving. This is most likely not a fault of the product. It is only 25w and I suspect I will need something much hotter to tackle the sleeving.

The plastic nut and bolt set which anchors the toilet seat somehow got fused together. I tried wd-40 specialist solution but because it was fused, didn’t loosen up. I tried sawing chunks off with my steak knife. It worked somewhat, but id be there till Christmas. I needed a faster solution. The awkward angle under the side of toilet made it impossible to get a hacksaw or anything bulky in that space. So I figured why not use a hot knife. It worked! Instructions say let the knife do the work and don’t force. I admittedly didn’t follow that rule to a tee. I did do a cutting motion on the pieces. It took about an hour or so, with cramping and pain in my knees. But I powered through and the bolt broke free. I was able to remove those pesky pieces and replace them. The con is that the knife gets so hot it smells like fire and whatever it burns through will leave dark burn marks on the blade. The cord is only 2.5 ft short the most. All in all, it did the job and I’m at this price point, I’ll keep it in my tool arsenal. The pics show what the nut and bolt should look like, versus it fused onto the toilet, and the end result.

I selected this one out of many available because of the riveted blades. The others have a blade held in with a friction lock nut type arrangement and I have had problems with blades like these coming loose on exacto knives. This tool works fine but it is under powered at only 25 watts. I tried to cut out the bottom of a clear plastic tote and it struggled to penetrate the plastic. My next project is installing a filter on my truck heater by cutting out an area where an optional filter goes. I don't know how thick that plastic is but I suspect it is thin abs.

Works exactly how it is supposed to.

I purchased this particular hot knife because the reviews were good.I received a defective knife. It worked for a few minutes, but then it started to smoke, so I shut it off.Sometimes, defective items get sent; it happens.I ordered a replacement, the replacement works great, just as it should..

Knife works and cuts PLA as I needed, but it gets very hot and there is no insulator on the handle and will burn your hand if you use it for more than three or four minutes continuously. You will have to cut what you need to cut quickly or provide your own insulator on the handle as I did so you can use it for extended periods of time. The design is just like old solderings irons I've had in the past, but the soldering irons have had a protective rubber coating or cork coating to keep your hand from being burned. This looks to be a design where they neglected to put the insulator around there to save money and make it a cheap item. I recommend finding something for a few more dollars that has something to protect your hand from being burned.