hot knife?

[techwiz44]

From inflatable sport boats, to sailboats, and powerboats…speargun and dive equipment travel covers, bags and more. Customization projects seem to be needed everywhere. Sailing Dodgers, Bimini covers, sunshades and more all require fabrics such as sunbrella, dacron, nylon, webbing etc. Even with an industrial sewing machine, you need a good way to cut the materials.

This is what I want to be able to do:

https://d1y6jrbzotnyjg.cloudfront.ne...2XWKZ35EOVO4XA

These hot knives seem to sell across a wide range of price points. From $85 up to $300 across varying manufacturers. But they all run off all the same “R” shaped blade that seems to function just like the tips that go on every 100W soldering gun. And there lies the question. I purchased the “R” shaped blade off eBay for $12. Will it function like the video if I managed to fit it into a typical 100watt soldering gun.

If the soldering gun works off a transformer that utilizes the concept of electrical resistance, and if I understand this correctly, current forces the thicker materials to heat up, but the thinner materials will get substantially hotter when the electrical current passes through them. I’m not an electrical engineer so I’m posing the question to others who may have that skill set. Most of the fabric cutting knife’s advertised run at 100 Watts.

If I can fit that “R” shaped blade into a 100W-140W soldering gun, do you think it will glow hot just like in the video? And if that works, I could buy a regular soldering gun and save a lot of money. The more expensive hot knives run $2-$300, the Chinese knockoffs sell between $85-$130. Yet name brands such as “Weller” soldering guns are only $40-$50 brand-new.

Informed and educational comments and suggestions are welcome.

or just pay for the special tool?