Carving Moai

I am getting ready to carve (what am I thinking) a giant foam Moai.
I have three/ 4 foot by 8 foot by 1 foot thick blocks of foam. I read all the other threads on what to cover it with when I am done.
BUT, I need a large hot knife (wire) to carve with, it gets so messy with hand saws.
Does anyone know how to make or buy one.
My neighbors will love you!

Baxdog- I know you could get a hot wire tool through some devoted hobby shops. Unfortunately, all of my reference books (for toy trains and such) are in storage at the new house.
You may try walthers.com and see if they have it listed, but I imagine any major hobby shop would have one.
Walthers is probably the largest resource for toy train fans. The wires are used to cut foam to make hills, mountains and so on.

Now making one would be a good option, if you knew what you were doing. I kinda prefer that safety tested stuff.

Good luck!
:sheckymug:

Hopefully you'll post a picture or two when you are done!
Try these sources...good luck!

SugarCaddyDaddy

http://hotwirefoamfactory.com/1_home.htm

http://www.wingmfg.com/index.html

remember your respirator when you burn that foam. when burnt it gives off a deadly fume.

Thank you Thank you

Bax,
When you came over to biff's place,
you saw the two 8' KUs in his patio
room;Those are made of Polystyrene
(the white beads) instead of floral foam
(rigid "sponge" foam) that can be hot wired/cut. Polystrene must be cut by hand
saws or electric.Big mess is standard.
"Clean room" with plastic tarps taped together.
All of my originals are first carved out of
Pink insulation sheet foam (8'x2'x2") found at home depot.These are laminated together using foam in a can
(Like a cream eclaire),
until you have the block-like dimentions
you want .
If you are using a Floral type foam that is white or green suitable for hot wire,I'd
use a serrated steak knife.The smoke from heat wires/foam is Carcinogenic
to breathe. arttransplant.com/pizzuti.htm

Marcus,
What materials did you use on the carvings/sculptures on that webpage? Polystyrene, floral foam or insulation sheet foam? They look great! The paint technique looks good too. What kind of paint did you use? I know there's certain kinds of paint you have to use on foam or else it will melt. I like the texture you put on the moai statues at the Tiki Farm bash. Did you spray that on or was the foam manipulated?

Baxdog,

Don't be a wimp! Don't worry about those carcinogenic fumes that result from hot-wiring your way through the foam. Come on man, we live in So Cal. Our lungs have long become accustumed to breating in this kind of stuff.

And another thing. It's very important to take care of your feet when using electric power tools. Fill up a basin of hot water in order to soak your feet WHENEVER you use power tools. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS. I hear that all the REAL carvers do this. You want to be a REAL carver don't you?

And lastly, have your final will modified to include me, if God forbid, anything ever happens to you.

Now, grap your power saw and fill up the bath tub you tiki carving machine!

Poly Pop,
Don't listen to Bongker, he doesn't know what he's talking about; (Everybody knows you never wear shoes in the
tub of water.)
Thanks for the complement on the Aku.
The texture is a result of the original
surface after shaving smooth before
household latex paint covered the original foam and stone stain colored the copies that were cast from Vitex and burlap.
The mold was made of latex rubber and is in two parts-front and back,which are
sealed together to form a hollow cast tiki
that is 7.5 feet tall and weighs 150 lbs.

I went to page 20 and this was the last post so I figured I would bump it to the front for something to do.

So baxdog what happened? Did you carve it? Did you do something stupid and take Bongs advice and use power tools in a tub of water?

Inquiring minds want to know.

I CARVE ONE . MESSY

AFTER IT'S DONE CAN IT BE SEALED AND PAINTED? I ASSUME YOU CAN GLASS THEM AFTER COMPLETED. YES/NO

A quick suggestion for carving foam, buy an old electric knife at a yard sale. They'll cut through foam like a power/chain saw with less mess and less danger to life & limb.