Medieval Cottage For D&D Tutorial (Black Magic Craft Episode 058) 

Fantastic!

@@BlackMagicCraftOfficial thanks for replying Jeremy! And for the encouragement

Hi, a little 3 year too late, but did you enjoy using your proxxon? I just made this house just by using a cutter, and am contemplating to buy a proxxon. That you for sharing your experience!

It also carries the benefit of you being able to reheat it later on a day where you don't feel like cooking.

Or blast it with a hair dryer. They'll go away.

Yea, this is a great way to make an arsenal of small "scatter" buildings for wargamming.

Thats the goal!

To be honest I've looked into this pretty extensively. XPS foam is very harmful if it is combusted. It is pretty harmless however if it is melted. When you burn it, it emits a black smoke that is quite hazardous, when it is melted at the correct temperature it does not, it simple gives off some minimal white smoke that is mostly water vapor. It's important to have some ventilation, but at this scale open windows and a fan is more than sufficient, as long as you are using the tool correctly and not allowing the XPS to combust and create black smoke. This is why you will often see me immediately turn the machine off after a cut so any residual XPS does not burn. This is exactly why you can purchase a foot pedal for the machine. The other risk with XPS foam when using insulation as the source is that some brands, specifically older ones contain a flame retardant chemical called Hexabromocyclododecane that can be harmful when ingested or when you have excessive long term skin contact. Most manufacturers have stopped using this, DOW and Foamular no longer contain it in most areas. You can access the MSDS sheets for any brand you use to confirm. The biggest risk when using XPS foam is fine particulates and dust. Breathing those in is incredibly harmful as once those particulates enter your lungs they will never break down. This is WHY I use a hotwire instead of a saw and sanding. When I have to sand it I always wear a dust mask and vacuum up all the particles before removing it. A lot of people over react about this, mostly based on misinformation or based on applications that are not comparible. Artists and prop builders often work on a much larger scale, using handheld tools, and hot KNIVES which have a greater risk of COMBUSTION of the foam. Doing small amounts of cuts, on the correct material, with the correct tools and techniques is not a risk. No more so than sitting in traffic to go by the stuff is. If you'd like to avoid it based on their comments, that's fine. But I feel completely comfortable using the tools, materials, and techniques that I do.

Source:This information is from 'Risk Assessments for Secondary Schools' and is published by the Consortium of Local Education Authorities for the Provision of Science Services (CLEAPPS), Brunel University, Uxbridge, England UB8 3PH. Brunel is one of the premier technological universities in the UK. This is a publication advising English science teachers about classroom hazards. Process:The cutting of expanded polystyrene by means of a wire heated to about 300 degrees C. Hazards:Harmful: hazardous by inhalation; Irritant: Styrene fumes can irritate the eyes. Risk Assessment:Harmful: Styrene fumes are produced as the material degrades when overheated. Styrene has a MEL (Maximum Exposure Limit) of 100ppm (parts per million, 8 hour Time Weighted Average) and 250ppm (15 minute reference period). However, the process is safe with up to 5 cutters in simultaneous use in a well-ventilated workshop. Irritant: The eye irritation becomes severe only at exposures of 200ppm and above but eyes may water at levels below the MEL. Control Measures:Small, hand-held cutters may be used in well ventilated conditions. Large, bench-mounted types may require local exhaust ventilation: a special assessment is necessary. The ventilation required to control the toxic hazard will also control the irritant one. Further information:Small quantities of styrene fumes are produced as the material degrades when overheated. The odour of styrene can be detected at very low levels, well below the MEL of 100ppm. The fumes can cause dizziness and children are particularly vulnerable to high concentrations. However, measurements while using a hand-held cutter have shown that with reasonable ventilation and moderate care, styrene levels in the operator's breathing zone are less than 10% of the MEL.The process does not require the material to be heated beyond its melting point. In practice, because the wire has a very low thermal mass, its temperature tends to rise very rapidly when it is not being constantly cooled by the feed of the material being cut.On a basic bench machine with no means of quickly disconnecting the heating power to the wire, residual material adhering to the wire at the end of the cutting operation will quickly overheat and, in small quantities, degrade to produce styrene fumes. Effective ventilation must sweep these away immediately. It is important to ensure that the equipment operates at the lowest temperature that allows free cutting. Controlled electrical heating is desirable to obtain an even wire temperature. If smoke is given off, the wire is too hot. Some bench hot-wire cutters have a foot switch which, if correctly used, will virtually eliminate the production of harmful fumes.

From the Hotwire Foam Factory FAQ Q: Are the fumes that are given off when cutting polystyrene foams (EPS or XPS foams) with hot wire tools dangerous? A: Ventilation is always strongly suggested, but the smoke that you may encounter while cutting EPS foam is primarily CO2 and water vapor, which are far less harmful than other common art products like aerosols and paint thinners. The toxic values are far less than wood-smoke, which contains tars, resins, creosote, and acetic acid. The dust from cutting with saws and sanding EPS foam is more harmful than the fumes encountered while cutting foam with a hot wire tool. Always wear a good quality dust mask when saw cutting or sanding polystyrene foams. To get the polystyrene foams to actually combust and burn you have to have an extremely hot fire, much hotter than our tools get, burning directly on the foam to begin with. Always check with the manufacturer of the foam you are using to make sure that there are no health or safety hazards when cutting their foam with hot wire tools. Keep in mind when you read the Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for the foam you look up that they often are referring to possible safety hazards when manufacturing foam, not cutting it. You can call our toll free number at 1-866-735-9255 and we can give you the tech-support number for DOW which manufactures Styrofoam. They told us that the fumes from cutting their foam with a hot wire are not toxic, but cutting should still be done in a well-ventilated area. (On the other hand we have had many personal testimonials claiming that they have become addicted to foam cutting. Could it be the fumes or is foam sculpting is way too much fun?)

Essentially, doing a moderate amount of foam cutting with the right tools is far less harmful than sitting around the campfire one evening. So.....

Well, I have mad respect for your research cops! I'm glad you are taking care of yourself!

Dang... hope they are at least paying for the supplies.

Yes, they paid for supply both foam and paint. They also have the tools as I do not want to buy them here. Lastly, it is the only place in South Korea I can find to paly all the games I run or play ( Pathfinder, D & D, Vampire, Warhammer 40k, ect..). Can not wait to get back states side so I be work on my own stuff.

Cool. Hurry back! So you can build more!

Awesome! lucky game store.

Thanks....I try not to be boring....mostly.

I mean if you aren't using xps foam you should give it a shot.

Black Magic Craft I use Eva foam because it's uber durable and flexible. But watching your vids make me jealous of how much more diverse you can be with it.

why not both?

Black Magic Craft no reason not to!

Tairen Wolfe Imagine applying tacky glue on those wisps and painting them green then adding some flocking to give the illusion of vines

Nice, you will love it

Just wished I realized that's what they could be used for in my first roller video.

Totally, great way to quickly populate a table.

Thanks :)

Worth it

Thanks. I think you will like those rollers and make lots of cool stuff with them

Cheers

Have fun!

thank you :)

Thanks :)

cheers

MrGlickClick can you imagine...a video about watching paint dry :D

There's a market for that...there is a market for everything on youtube.

I want to. Although I don't think it would be much help for priming since I prime with mod podge.

Black Magic Craft I hadn't thought of that though people have said you can thin it. I'll test it and let you know.

I personally prime foam with water-based acrylic spray paints by Liquitex. The work wonder!

Thanks :D

More of a warlock really

thanks :)

thanks :)

cheers

great build too, good job!

thanks :)

They work pretty great for me, and lots of other people. You have to be a little gentle with the dry brushing, but you should do that anyway. Which roller did you get? Some textures probably work better than others.

1162 Bricks. Granted most the foam I use is about 15 years old salvaged from when some friends remodeled an attic apartment and it could have changed in composition in those years, but the foam board is recent. Something I did notice on the roller is that there was burring along the edges of the mortar lines. To me it seems as if these are cut individually on a CNC machine from round stock and the burring as well as the tool marks make me wonder if the cutting tip wasn't getting dull. I might try polishing it up with some very fine sand paper to knock off the burrs and give it another go but unless it works wonders, I do not see it worth using on foam. I am getting a bit old and the eyes don't work as well as they did. I don't spend all my free time building and painting as I could back in the day but I think I am still a fair hand at dry brushing. I tried very thin modge podge mix and straight paint. To work well with foam, I think it would need to be bigger round, thinner mortar lines slightly beveled to help cut the foam, and a shade deeper recesses. I really wanted it to work because my winter project is the gatehouse and outer ward of the Keep on the Borderland.

I buy the trees...nobody got time to make trees

yeah, xps is very durable.

No, it has to be extruded polystyrene not expanded polystyrene....unless you want your building to be made of a bunch of little balls that crumble and fall apart.......you need the good stuff.

Black Magic Craft alright thank you very much 👌

thanks :)

Not yet. I've wanted to for a long time but have avoided because I don't have modular river pieces made yet, and I want those first for sizing....but I never seem to get around to making those. Maybe I should just make the bridge already.

Lowes should carry DOW insulation XPS without paper on it. But varies by region. Home Depot usually sells the pink Foamular version that I use a lot.

Sometimes tight timelines is the cause for the best bits of creativity and clever building.

You don't even have to make a removable roof. It's completely sufficient, even easier, and also much more playable in-game to simply craft a floor tile the same size as the floor plan of the building and use that as the basis for the interior once player characters enter it.

thanks :)