Hot Knife wattage?

[Norman_E]

Can anyone who has a hot knife for cutting and sealing rope tell me what wattage it is? The reason I ask is that I have two perfectly good electric soldering irons (25W and 45W) doing nothing in my workshop, and am thinking of making a knife blade to fit in place of the soldering bit if either are suitable.

 

[TigaWave]

Mine's 100w, but its only that power so that it heats up quickly. A soldering iron works but takes longer to heat up.

 

[Norman_E]

Thanks, I'll try fitting a blade to the 45 watt iron.

 

[jackho]

The tip is normally copper an is easy to file into a wedge without going to all the trouble of making a "blade". Also the smaller area should be be quicker to heat.
hope this helps.

 

[Malcb]

I use a gas hot knife. It works fine although it takes a while to heat up it will cut through 10mm rope fairlt easily.

 

[evmars1]

Engel hotknife is 60watt. Mine works well.

 

[Norman_E]

I had to make a new bit, machined to a wedge shape, as the original was an unsuitable shape. Whole thing made from 3/8 inch copper bar. Cuts polypropylene rope easily. I will try to post a photo later.

 

[Norman_E]

I have now photographed the modified soldering iron. The original bit is the bent object with the slot in it. The new knife bit has a similar 1/8 inch slot to take the heating element. I machined the knike part to a wedge shape in a milling machine, but it could be done with a file.