I made a home made version of this hot wire foam cutter with an old battery charger, stainless cable, and a big resistor. My sons will play with it for hours. I use a box fan to exhaust any of the fumes (they say it’s safe, but I like to err on the side of caution). Machines like these are used on an industrial scale…
The Proxxon 37080 Hot Wire Cutter THERMOCUT can be used to cut Styrofoam (expanded polystyrene) either freehand or with stencils. Ideal for architectural models, prototypes as well as classic railroad, plane and boat model building.