DIY Soap Tools

[scotsman]

I usually make all my own equipment for soap making whenever possible as it tends to save me a good deal of money and honestly I just like building things. I'm working on building a soap loaf cutter as well as a planer/beveler. I had a couple quick questions for those of you who also make your own equipment or are in the know.
1)For a loaf cutter, such as the type of the "Tank", it seems to me like guitar strings would be the easiest to use for the cutting wires as they already are twisted around the little brass nut at one end to lock the wires into place in the upper carriage of the cutter.. Obviously you would go with the high E string, but what I was wondering is what gauge of string is typical for these cutters. Guitar strings come in a variety of gauges. .007 gauge strings are extremely thin and would make an extremely clean cut but I worry if they would break too easily. I use this gauge string on my stratocaster and the high E tends to break easily. I was also looking at .008 & .009 gauge. Which do you guys think would be a good balance between thickness and strength?
2)My second question is about planers/bevelers. Do you feel that you get a better looking, consistent cut from a wire or a blade? What type of metal for a blade would you recommend that would be more resistant to corrosion from the alkalinity of fresh soap? I've seen some decent blades at the hardware store that go into those electric planer rigs. They look perfect for the job but are kinda pricey and I wouldn't want to have to replace them too often at that price point. The other blades I was looking at are the refill blades that go in those snap knives but I wonder if they would be too thin and flimsy to accomplish the task well. What do you guys think?

 

[dixiedragon]

My soap slicer is very similar to the tank, and the manufacturer flat out said they use guitar string, and recommended asking for broken strings at music stores for replacement wires.

I am not a musician, but my mom used to play the guitar. The wires on my cutter are somewhere in the middle - not the thickest on the guitar, but not the thinnest either.

Would you like me to vague that up some more for you?

 

[DeeAnna]

Most wire cutters I have looked at are using the G string, not E. Not sayin' I've seen 'em all, however, so YMMV.

Planers and bevelers need to be blades, not wires. A wire needs roughly equal pressure on both sides of the cut to be able to provide a stable cut. A planer or beveler will see unequal pressure -- a lot of soap on one side, a thin shaving of soap on the other. That means a wire will want to bow toward the shaving side of the cut. A blade will give more consistent results.

If you use a mild steel blade, it will need to be wiped off after use with soap or it will discolor and rust. Soap isn't that physically hard, compared to wood. Using a planer blade would definitely work, but a box cutter type of blade would probably be fine in a planer if it's well supported along the cutting edge. A snap off blade would probably put score marks on the soap if used as a planer, but would be fine in a beveler.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I know I am supposed to be a grown up, but

Most wire cutters I have looked at are using the G string................

chuckle

I am thinking of making a wire cutter, too, so this is good to know. I wonder if violin or cello strings would work, too - I can get a lot of those from the orchestra colleagues of The Admirable Lady.

As for the planer, if you build it in a way that you can get access to the blades, you can take care of them and get the more expensive ones. Look at straight razors - spend a lot of time in the lather of soap but can last forever with the right care.

 

[scotsman]

The thought about the G string crossed my mind too, lol! I was thinking about integrating a beveler into the loaf cutter. I also had an urge to make a "manly" soap cutter with flames painted on it and skull heads for the tuning keys, lol! I get all these ideas but fining the time to do them is another thing entirely

 

[DeeAnna]

I wasn't gonna make any wise-acre comment about the G string thing. :angel: I really wasn't until you 2 brought it up ... but it certainly crossed my mind. :twisted:

 

[scotsman]

I'm used to hearing the off-color remarks. Most of my employees at work are in their late teens and early twenties so I usually can't get through a while day without hearing "That's what she said". Lol

 

[DeeAnna]

I want to add, in a serious vein, that a wire might work well as a beveler if it's set to take a fine cut as one would normally use it. After a bit of a re-think, I realize that's a fairly light duty application and a wire might work plenty good. Still think a soap planer needs to be a blade, however.

 

[guygarr]

Won't picture hanging wire work?

 

[DeeAnna]

No, because picture-hanging wire is a multi-strand wire, not a single wire. At least the stuff I use is like that. It would leave a rough surface on the soap. The multiple strands also make the wire overly thick, compared to a single-strand guitar wire, so it would not glide through the cut efficiently.

A "normal" single-strand mild-steel (or copper or whatever) wire can be used as a cutter in very simple situations, but it is not really capable of being tensioned -- being put under stress -- without becoming brittle and eventually breaking. A tempered wire like a guitar string can be tensioned with less chance of breakage. When under tension, a wire will cut much straighter.

 

[goji_fries]

Piano wire maybe? A string built for higher tension. There are quite a few loaf cutters that use a high tension wire to cut the whole entire loaf in one WOP. I think it would be great as a beveler/ planer too since it can be cleaned quite easily.

All you have to do now is build a contraption.

 

[Zoeybean]

Today I got all the boards cut for a planer and the blade is in its proper place. I was interrupted so tomorrow I will put it together permanently. I bought a 4" window razor/scraper on ebay and it came with 5 extra blades it was cheaper to buy the tool set than it was to buy replacement blades alone, now I'm afraid I won't have any bars of soap left just a big pile of shavings, LOL this could be to much fun...

 

[SoapWorks]

this sounds interesting. To tension the strings would you also use a guitar tuning peg? It would be good to cut an entire log or two in one pass.

On the lighter side, you could perhaps pluck the wires between cuts and create a soap maker's work song!

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

"Na OH, Na OH, it's off to soap I go................"

I was thinking something like

 

[goji_fries]

this sounds interesting. To tension the strings would you also use a guitar tuning peg? It would be good to cut an entire log or two in one pass.

On the lighter side, you could perhaps pluck the wires between cuts and create a soap maker's work song!

Tra-la-la-la-la, I am a soap addict, dee dee dee dee :razz:

"Na OH, Na OH, it's off to soap I go................"

I was thinking something like

^ Yes, like this

 

[scotsman]

I was thinking of using corrosion and rust-resistant guitar strings. Elixir has really good ones that I've used on my acoustic guitars for years and never even had so much as a discoloration in the strings. Also, I was planning on using guitar machine heads(tuning pegs) to tension the wires. I was leaning toward the locking machine heads. They actually have a nut that locks the string into the string post, holding consistent tension quite well and eliminating the need to wind the wire around the post multiple times to maintain tension. Works great on guitars, so why not on a soap cutter, right? Still debating whether or not to get the skull head tuners, lol!

 

[SoapWorks]

Tra-la-la-la-la, I am a soap addict, dee dee dee dee :razz:



^ Yes, like this

And all this time I thought you were a Compulsive Lyer. ;-)

 

[goji_fries]

And all this time I thought you were a Compulsive Lyer. ;-)

:Kitten Love: ..coming from a soap-ciopath

 

[Booko]

I am thinking of making a wire cutter, too, so this is good to know. I wonder if violin or cello strings would work, too - I can get a lot of those from the orchestra colleagues of The Admirable Lady.

I expect it requires a wire string, and gut will not hold up under the pressure, and likely not cut either.

But now I know I need to ask my son to save his old guitar strings for me. At least I'll get something out of listening to him play his Japanese metal stuff. :lolno:

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I expect it requires a wire string, and gut will not hold up under the pressure, and likely not cut either.

But now I know I need to ask my son to save his old guitar strings for me. At least I'll get something out of listening to him play his Japanese metal stuff. :lolno:

Most violin strings are now wire. It is mainly the Baroque instruments that still play on real gut. The tension on a string instrument is also very high, more so than guitar in general, I would say.