Quickie Q2 Lite Construction Manual - page 40
Templates are made from thin plywood, sheet metal, masonite or
Formica. A variable voltage control is used to supply the electrical
current that heats the wire.
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The blue-white or orange foam used in your flying surfaces was
selected for a combination of reasons and its hot wire cutting
ability was one of them. Other types of foams are readily hot wire
cut, but some (white expanded polystyrene) have poor physical
properties and others (urethane) give off poisonous gases when hot
wire cut. Use only the recommended materials!
.....
Hot wire templates can be made from 1/16 to 1/4 inch plywood,
Formica, or masonite or .032 to .064 sheet metal. It is important to
have smooth edges on the templates. A rough edge may cause the wire
to hang up and burn into the foam excessively. Templates are required
on both ends of the foam being cut. The size, shape, and orientation
of the two templates is varied to taper, and twist the foam core as
required. The planform (span and sweep) is set by squaring up the
foam block before the templates are used. In general, the trailing
edge of the wing is the reference.
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Full-size template drawings are provided in the plans. To make
your templates, just glue the template drawings to a piece of plywood
or sheet metal and trim to the contours shown. There are a number of
markings on each template which aid in the alignment and cutting of
the foam core.
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Each template has a waterline (W.L.) marked on it which is used
to align the twist of the foam core. Each template's waterline is
leveled using a carpenters bubble level. This assures that the
relative twist at each template is correct. The template is then
nailed to the foam block to obtain the correct planform.
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Each template has numbered marks running from the trailing edge
around the leading edge and back to the trailing edge. These are
called "talking numbers." When the foam cores are cut into their
airfoil shape, the talking numbers are used to assure that each end
of the hot wire is coordinated to obtain the correct, tapered
airfoil. The person calling the numbers should be at the largest
template. A typical cut would sound like this: "Resting on the tab
1/4" from the foam, moving forward, entering foam now - one, half,
two, half, . . .,34, half, 35, half, 36, coming out of the foam and