Specialty CNC Hot Wire Foam Cutters for Cake Designers and Event Planners

Did you know that endless shapes and objects are made of foam? If the foam is visible to the naked eye, or if it’s hiding inside wood or concrete, it’s there! – The crown moldings on houses, the exhibits and sculptures you see in a museum, the remote control you see flying in the park, the signs on the stores you pass every day, the packing material it arrived in your shipped item and much more.

The industries that need foam cutting are also endless: construction, architecture, sculptures and monuments, packaging, signs, movies, accessories, theme parks, RC and hobby models, aeronautics, aerospace, mechanical engineering, prototyping, boats, for name just a few.

Now a whole other industry can take advantage of foam cutting services: the “fake cake” and event planning industry.

Cake designers, makers, and decorators can now use CNC hot wire foam cutters to create “fake” or “make-believe” cakes for any event. There are several companies that sell hot wire foam cutters; However, a Silicon Valley, CA-based company has developed foam cutters that come in kits and are specifically suited for designing cakes, signs, logos, and lettering. The kits are low cost and easy to use.

Foam cutter kits are CNC machines, which means they are controlled by a computer. The cake maker will put the desired cake shape into the computer, and then the foam cutter will do the foam cutting for them.

The machines are built as 2 metal towers, with a hot wire between them, connected to an electronic power supply. Once ignited, the hot wire will melt the foam just before contact, moving in the directions of the X and Y axes, thus cutting the shape of the foam. The machines are made for 24 hour continuous operation with a cutting speed of 20″/minute.

The CNC hot wire can cut many types of foam, mainly EPS (expanded polystyrene), XPS (extruded polystyrene) and EPP (expanded polypropylene). Cake makers are most likely using EPS, a type of white foam, and the hot wire foam cutter is ideal for that. Since the machines can also cut logos, letters, and signs, the cake maker can also decorate the “fake cake” with letters, accessories, and shapes, and even decorate the tables. EPS foam is safe for everyone and is easily painted with any water or oil based paint in any desired color.

Before, cake designers had to cut their cakes by hand, but now they can use a hot wire foam cutter, creating a memorable finish for a special day. Using the machine instead of manual cutting will result in much more precise shapes, fast and accurate cuts, thus saving time and money. Having to supply the cake to the smallest detail, cutting cakes by hand and meeting deadlines are not easy tasks, sometimes leading to frustration and a feeling of being overwhelmed. This is where owning a foam cutter can be a life changing experience.

The foam cutter kits are easy to use, assemble and operate, and the software is easy to understand and use. Setup time is a matter of 1-2 hours from the time all parts are taken out of your package until the machine is fully functional and ready to go.

Preparing a custom cake, wedding cake, or any type of custom cake can be challenging. However, creating it with a CNC hot wire foam cutting machine can relieve some of that pressure.