Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

Grandpa wrote:

wrote:

Traditionally, I buy a ten lb bar of chocolate for Easter. Half goes
to the kids. The other half goes in my desk drawer at work (plus half
of what I gave the kids because they're not nearly as passionate as I
am for chocolate, but that's another story).

Cutting this bar is never fun. I've thought about making a chocolate
cutter out of a piano wire or maybe a guitar string - sort of like the
big cheese cutters they use at the cheese store that I frequent. If I
could heat the wire, it would make the job much easier. Is there a
safe way to electrically heat such a wire sufficiently to cut
chocolate? What sort of low-voltage circuit could I use for this? Or
is this idea completely off the wall?

Clever idea, but piano wire or a guitar string won't have enough
resistance to heat up when you apply a current. You want something
like nichrome wire which is used in styrofoam cutters. Check eBay.
There are some which will run on 2 "D" batteries.


Or spring for one of the first item pictured on this page. It comes with
several knife blade tips which should make short work of your job.

(Click on the small picture to enlarge and see what the blades look like.)

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

Traditionally, I buy a ten lb bar of chocolate for Easter. Half goes
to the kids. The other half goes in my desk drawer at work (plus half
of what I gave the kids because they're not nearly as passionate as I
am for chocolate, but that's another story).

Cutting this bar is never fun. I've thought about making a chocolate
cutter out of a piano wire or maybe a guitar string - sort of like the
big cheese cutters they use at the cheese store that I frequent. If I
could heat the wire, it would make the job much easier. Is there a
safe way to electrically heat such a wire sufficiently to cut
chocolate? What sort of low-voltage circuit could I use for this? Or
is this idea completely off the wall?

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

Cutting this bar is never fun. I've thought about making a chocolate
cutter out of a piano wire or maybe a guitar string - sort of like the
big cheese cutters they use at the cheese store that I frequent. If I
could heat the wire, it would make the job much easier. Is there a
safe way to electrically heat such a wire sufficiently to cut
chocolate? What sort of low-voltage circuit could I use for this? Or
is this idea completely off the wall?

Don't make this into a project, unless you are bored. Simply heat a knife
over your stove and then slice the bar.

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

On 2 Apr 2007 13:45:07 -0700, wrote:

Traditionally, I buy a ten lb bar of chocolate for Easter. Half goes
to the kids. The other half goes in my desk drawer at work (plus half
of what I gave the kids because they're not nearly as passionate as I
am for chocolate, but that's another story).

Maybe give them something else instead. Or a one pound bar?

My mother was too thin as a child/teenagere, so my grandmother would
give her a nickel to go buy a milkshake, another nickel to have them
put an egg in it, and another nickel to get my mother to drink it.

Later, she had learned to love milkshakes and sweets, and it made it
much more difficult for her to keep weight off.

Cutting this bar is never fun. I've thought about making a chocolate
cutter out of a piano wire or maybe a guitar string - sort of like the
big cheese cutters they use at the cheese store that I frequent. If I

They used to have, and maybe still do, the same wire cheese cutter in
consumer size. I have two of them, and I would give you one, maybe,
but they are from my mother and grandmother.

could heat the wire, it would make the job much easier. Is there a
safe way to electrically heat such a wire sufficiently to cut
chocolate? What sort of low-voltage circuit could I use for this? Or
is this idea completely off the wall?

I was going to suggest 110 volts through a lightbulb and the wire, but
after reading Grandpa, I realized that wouldn't work either. It
wouldn't blow a fuse, but because there is so little resistance in the
wire you mention, it wouldn't make any heat either.

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

wrote in message
oups.com...
Traditionally, I buy a ten lb bar of chocolate for Easter. Half goes
to the kids. The other half goes in my desk drawer at work (plus half
of what I gave the kids because they're not nearly as passionate as I
am for chocolate, but that's another story).

Cutting this bar is never fun. I've thought about making a chocolate
cutter out of a piano wire or maybe a guitar string - sort of like the
big cheese cutters they use at the cheese store that I frequent. If I
could heat the wire, it would make the job much easier. Is there a
safe way to electrically heat such a wire sufficiently to cut
chocolate? What sort of low-voltage circuit could I use for this? Or
is this idea completely off the wall?


I think the wire idea is not too good as a thick slab of chocolate does not
lend itself to being severed by a blunt wire. The hot wire would be messy
and stinky as well as potentially a shock hazard.

I would suggest buying a saw to use for chocolate. You can get a thin
bladed saw, and just wash it after severing the chocolate. You will get
some chocolate dust, but that can just be tossed in a coup of coffee.

--

Roger Shoaf

About the time I had mastered getting the toothpaste back in the tube, then
they come up with this striped stuff.

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

On Mon, 2 Apr 2007 17:05:23 -0400, "Charles Schuler"
wrote:



Cutting this bar is never fun. I've thought about making a chocolate
cutter out of a piano wire or maybe a guitar string - sort of like the
big cheese cutters they use at the cheese store that I frequent. If I
could heat the wire, it would make the job much easier. Is there a
safe way to electrically heat such a wire sufficiently to cut
chocolate? What sort of low-voltage circuit could I use for this? Or
is this idea completely off the wall?

Don't make this into a project, unless you are bored. Simply heat a knife
over your stove and then slice the bar.


I say chill it, break it and give the small pieces to the kids.
--
Oren

"If things get any worse, I'll have to ask you to stop helping me."

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

On 2 Apr 2007 13:45:07 -0700, wrote:

Traditionally, I buy a ten lb bar of chocolate for Easter. Half goes
to the kids. The other half goes in my desk drawer at work (plus half
of what I gave the kids because they're not nearly as passionate as I
am for chocolate, but that's another story).

Cutting this bar is never fun. I've thought about making a chocolate
cutter out of a piano wire or maybe a guitar string - sort of like the
big cheese cutters they use at the cheese store that I frequent. If I
could heat the wire, it would make the job much easier. Is there a
safe way to electrically heat such a wire sufficiently to cut
chocolate? What sort of low-voltage circuit could I use for this? Or
is this idea completely off the wall?

USe either nichrome wire, which is designed for such heating,
or a wire-saw.

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

On Apr 2, 4:05 pm, "Charles Schuler"
wrote:
Cutting this bar is never fun. I've thought about making achocolate
cutterout of a piano wire or maybe a guitar string - sort of like the
bigcheesecutters they use at thecheesestore that I frequent. If I
could heat the wire, it would make the job much easier. Is there a
safe way to electrically heat such a wire sufficiently to cut
chocolate? What sort of low-voltage circuit could I use for this? Or
is this idea completely off the wall?

Don't make this into a project, unless you are bored. Simply heat a knife
over your stove and then slice the bar.


Tried that. The chocolate is about 2" thick. The knife appears to
give up virtually all of its heat after about 1/8".

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

On Apr 2, 4:48 pm, Oren wrote:
On Mon, 2 Apr 2007 17:05:23 -0400, "Charles Schuler"

wrote:

Cutting this bar is never fun. I've thought about making achocolate
cutterout of a piano wire or maybe a guitar string - sort of like the
bigcheesecutters they use at thecheesestore that I frequent. If I
could heat the wire, it would make the job much easier. Is there a
safe way to electrically heat such a wire sufficiently to cut
chocolate? What sort of low-voltage circuit could I use for this? Or
is this idea completely off the wall?

Don't make this into a project, unless you are bored. Simply heat a knife
over your stove and then slice the bar.

I say chill it, break it and give the small pieces to the kids.

Too thick. It breaks into big chunks. Too big to eat.

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

On Apr 2, 4:17 pm, mm wrote:
On 2 Apr 2007 13:45:07 -0700, wrote:

Traditionally, I buy a ten lb bar ofchocolatefor Easter. Half goes
to the kids. The other half goes in my desk drawer at work (plus half
of what I gave the kids because they're not nearly as passionate as I
am forchocolate, but that's another story).

Maybe give them something else instead. Or a one pound bar?

The chocolate is actually for ME. The kids are just an excuse to buy
the big bar. ;-)

My mother was too thin as a child/teenagere, so my grandmother would
give her a nickel to go buy a milkshake, another nickel to have them
put an egg in it, and another nickel to get my mother to drink it.

Later, she had learned to love milkshakes and sweets, and it made it
much more difficult for her to keep weight off.

Too late. I'm already addicted.

Cutting this bar is never fun. I've thought about making achocolate
cutterout of a piano wire or maybe a guitar string - sort of like the
bigcheesecutters they use at thecheesestore that I frequent. If I

They used to have, and maybe still do, the same wirecheesecutterin
consumer size. I have two of them, and I would give you one, maybe,
but they are from my mother and grandmother.

I've made those from guitar strings. Cheese can simply be cut.
Chocolate needs the heat to do it well. Thanks for thinking about
giving one to me, but I couldn't take it.

could heat the wire, it would make the job much easier. Is there a
safe way to electrically heat such a wire sufficiently to cut
chocolate? What sort of low-voltage circuit could I use for this? Or
is this idea completely off the wall?

I was going to suggest 110 volts through a lightbulb and the wire, but
after reading Grandpa, I realized that wouldn't work either. It
wouldn't blow a fuse, but because there is so little resistance in the
wire you mention, it wouldn't make any heat either.

I don't think 110V is a good idea.

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

On Apr 2, 3:45 pm, wrote:
Traditionally, I buy a ten lb bar of chocolate for Easter. Half goes
to the kids. The other half goes in my desk drawer at work (plus half
of what I gave the kids because they're not nearly as passionate as I
am for chocolate, but that's another story).

Cutting this bar is never fun. I've thought about making a chocolate
cutter out of a piano wire or maybe a guitar string - sort of like the
big cheese cutters they use at the cheese store that I frequent. If I
could heat the wire, it would make the job much easier. Is there a
safe way to electrically heat such a wire sufficiently to cut
chocolate? What sort of low-voltage circuit could I use for this? Or
is this idea completely off the wall?

Chainsaw? :)

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

On Apr 2, 4:21 pm, "Roger Shoaf" wrote:
wrote in message

oups.com...

Traditionally, I buy a ten lb bar ofchocolatefor Easter. Half goes
to the kids. The other half goes in my desk drawer at work (plus half
of what I gave the kids because they're not nearly as passionate as I
am forchocolate, but that's another story).

Cutting this bar is never fun. I've thought about making achocolate
cutterout of a piano wire or maybe a guitar string - sort of like the
bigcheesecutters they use at thecheesestore that I frequent. If I
could heat the wire, it would make the job much easier. Is there a
safe way to electrically heat such a wire sufficiently to cut
chocolate? What sort of low-voltage circuit could I use for this? Or
is this idea completely off the wall?

I think the wire idea is not too good as a thick slab ofchocolatedoes not
lend itself to being severed by a blunt wire. The hot wire would be messy
and stinky as well as potentially a shock hazard.

That's why I'm looking for a 'safe' way to do it. How do the pros
deal with this problem? I assume there are some who cut chocolate
bars.

I would suggest buying a saw to use forchocolate. You can get a thin
bladed saw, and just wash it after severing thechocolate. You will get
somechocolatedust, but that can just be tossed in a coup of coffee.

This is really, really good chocolate. The kind that turns into
something that resembles stale chewing gum when the temp gets much
above 98.6. So the coffee idea wouldn't work.

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

On Apr 2, 2:21 pm, "Roger Shoaf" wrote:
wrote in message

oups.com...

Traditionally, I buy a ten lb bar of chocolate for Easter. Half goes
to the kids. The other half goes in my desk drawer at work (plus half
of what I gave the kids because they're not nearly as passionate as I
am for chocolate, but that's another story).

Cutting this bar is never fun. I've thought about making a chocolate
cutter out of a piano wire or maybe a guitar string - sort of like the
big cheese cutters they use at the cheese store that I frequent. If I
could heat the wire, it would make the job much easier. Is there a
safe way to electrically heat such a wire sufficiently to cut
chocolate? What sort of low-voltage circuit could I use for this? Or
is this idea completely off the wall?

I think the wire idea is not too good as a thick slab of chocolate does not
lend itself to being severed by a blunt wire. The hot wire would be messy
and stinky as well as potentially a shock hazard.

Would the chocolate re-fuse itself as it cools fast? (Like cutting
plexiglass with a sabersaw)

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

On 2 Apr 2007 15:21:02 -0700, wrote:

On Apr 2, 4:17 pm, mm wrote:
On 2 Apr 2007 13:45:07 -0700, wrote:

Traditionally, I buy a ten lb bar ofchocolatefor Easter. Half goes
to the kids. The other half goes in my desk drawer at work (plus half
of what I gave the kids because they're not nearly as passionate as I
am forchocolate, but that's another story).

Maybe give them something else instead. Or a one pound bar?

The chocolate is actually for ME. The kids are just an excuse to buy
the big bar. ;-)

I suspected that about you, subconsciously or consciously.

They used to have, and maybe still do, the same wirecheesecutterin
consumer size. I have two of them, and I would give you one, maybe,
but they are from my mother and grandmother.

I've made those from guitar strings. Cheese can simply be cut.
Chocolate needs the heat to do it well. Thanks for thinking about
giving one to me, but I couldn't take it.

To be fair, I didn't think about it much, and I only meant that if
they weren't from my m and gm, then I would maybe give you one. But
they are, so there's no maybe.

You're welcome anyhow.

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

You may have a problem with the phenomenon of regelation. It's like a block
of ice. You can sit it on a wire, and the block of ice will eventually go
around the wire, but it refreezes once the wire passes. Chocolate may do
the same thing if it is a thick piece.

Let us know how this idea works.

Or not.

Steve

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

On 2 Apr 2007 15:16:26 -0700, wrote:

On Apr 2, 4:48 pm, Oren wrote:
On Mon, 2 Apr 2007 17:05:23 -0400, "Charles Schuler"

wrote:

Cutting this bar is never fun. I've thought about making achocolate
cutterout of a piano wire or maybe a guitar string - sort of like the
bigcheesecutters they use at thecheesestore that I frequent. If I
could heat the wire, it would make the job much easier. Is there a
safe way to electrically heat such a wire sufficiently to cut
chocolate? What sort of low-voltage circuit could I use for this? Or
is this idea completely off the wall?

Don't make this into a project, unless you are bored. Simply heat a knife
over your stove and then slice the bar.

I say chill it, break it and give the small pieces to the kids.

Too thick. It breaks into big chunks. Too big to eat.


Yep, just nibble a bit. Will it melt in your office desk drawer? If
so, nibble more often.

--
Oren

"If things get any worse, I'll have to ask you to stop helping me."

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

On 2 Apr 2007 15:24:12 -0700, wrote:

That's why I'm looking for a 'safe' way to do it. How do the pros
deal with this problem? I assume there are some who cut chocolate
bars.

Ask EMERIL? He's on the in-ner-net.
--
Oren

"If things get any worse, I'll have to ask you to stop helping me."

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

wrote in message
oups.com...
Traditionally, I buy a ten lb bar of chocolate for Easter. Half goes
to the kids. The other half goes in my desk drawer at work (plus half
of what I gave the kids because they're not nearly as passionate as I
am for chocolate, but that's another story).

Get a Weller gun-type soldering iron and remove the tip. Insert bare 16 or
18 gauge solid wire in a loop as big as you need, but not too big (probably
6" long with 1" between the wires would be good). Re-secure the ends. (This
would make sense if you were looking at one). Pull the trigger, wait a bit
for it to heat up & burn stuff off the wire, and cut. Pull the gun slowly,
let the heat melt the chocolate before you move the gun.

Works great for styrofoam and other similar things.

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

"Oren" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 2 Apr 2007 17:05:23 -0400, "Charles Schuler"
wrote:



Cutting this bar is never fun. I've thought about making a chocolate
cutter out of a piano wire or maybe a guitar string - sort of like the
big cheese cutters they use at the cheese store that I frequent. If I
could heat the wire, it would make the job much easier. Is there a
safe way to electrically heat such a wire sufficiently to cut
chocolate? What sort of low-voltage circuit could I use for this? Or
is this idea completely off the wall?

Don't make this into a project, unless you are bored. Simply heat a knife
over your stove and then slice the bar.


I say chill it, break it and give the small pieces to the kids.
Best answer yet. Whenever I used to see that type of chunk chocolate in the
stores, it was in broken chunks- obviously just wrapped in cheesecloth, and
slammed on the chopping table real hard, and then unwrapped and repackaged.
I bet it would break pretty cleanly over a fulcrum like a table edge.
aem sends...

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

wrote:
Traditionally, I buy a ten lb bar of chocolate for Easter. Half goes
to the kids. The other half goes in my desk drawer at work (plus half
of what I gave the kids because they're not nearly as passionate as I
am for chocolate, but that's another story).

Cutting this bar is never fun. I've thought about making a chocolate
cutter out of a piano wire or maybe a guitar string - sort of like the
big cheese cutters they use at the cheese store that I frequent. If I
could heat the wire, it would make the job much easier. Is there a
safe way to electrically heat such a wire sufficiently to cut
chocolate? What sort of low-voltage circuit could I use for this? Or
is this idea completely off the wall?

Use a froe and mallet.
http://thelibrary.springfield.missou...et/9i1p24a.jpg
Material is relatively brittle, edge is relatively sharp - impact
manageable chunks. Stuff would scoot about, but that's just
containment and not a major issue.

R

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

On 2 Apr 2007 15:24:12 -0700, wrote:


That's why I'm looking for a 'safe' way to do it. How do the pros
deal with this problem? I assume there are some who cut chocolate
bars.

Contact a pro and ask. Track down the company that makes or
distributes your chocolate, or something similar, and call and ask to
speak to the production manager. Be reticent and obsequious and say
thanks a lot, and be as nice as you can, and have your questions
narrowed down in advance, and ask. Remember you're not going to buy
the fancy expensive thing they may use, but they'll know about
something else.

When I was in college, I had no experience but I wanted to repair the
grand piano at the fraternity where I lived, and I had only one simple
question, and I found a major piano company downdown, and I called and
asked what floor the repairs were done on, and I went downtown, and I
asked my question nice, and the guy ended up taking me to the first
guy in the repair line who told me what he did, gave me a few spare
parts and took me to the second guy, who took me to the third and I
think the fourth. They each gave me a small sample of wood parts, or
felt, and a couple hammers. The first tour took about 15 minutes.

I had to come back a second time with the size of my piano harp
(there's a letter on it) and then another guy gave me 20 feet of the
right diameter of piano wire. I used about 7 to replace one pair of
broken strings ,and I've been saving the other 13 feet for 40 years,
in case I need it.

One of them gave me an oversized tuning pin, and taught me to support
the soundboard so it wouldn't break while I pounded in the pin. (The
original wouldn't stay tight anymore.)

Also the guy in charge gave me the address of the piano repair supply
house, a mile or two awaqy, and his name so that I could get 50% off
everything I bought. I think all I needed by then was a tuning wrench,
but it was good for everything.

And he told me where to get repair ivories for the keys, and spare
black keys too, from another company that refurbished keyboards and
saved all the stuff they removed. There were about 8 keys which were
damaged on this grand piano, some black keys missing and some ivories
missing or cigarette damaged. I fixed them all. (I just called them
on the phone to find out where they were, and they volunteered to mail
be a 9x12 manila envelope with lots of each, including some ivories
that had there own burns. I can't find this bag anymore, and that
bothers me, but I do know where the piano wire is.

I had the movement under my bed for 3 weeks while I glued evewrything
together with Elmers and rubber bands, and it was fine for years
afterwards.

Of course it helps to be young and clearly "poor", but being nice is
the most important thing.

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

On Mon, 2 Apr 2007 19:55:43 -0400, "badgolferman"
wrote:

, 4/2/2007,4:45:07 PM, wrote:

Traditionally, I buy a ten lb bar of chocolate for Easter. Half goes
to the kids. The other half goes in my desk drawer at work (plus half
of what I gave the kids because they're not nearly as passionate as I
am for chocolate, but that's another story).

Cutting this bar is never fun. I've thought about making a chocolate
cutter out of a piano wire or maybe a guitar string - sort of like the
big cheese cutters they use at the cheese store that I frequent. If I
could heat the wire, it would make the job much easier. Is there a
safe way to electrically heat such a wire sufficiently to cut
chocolate? What sort of low-voltage circuit could I use for this? Or
is this idea completely off the wall?

Have you tried a long serrated knife cutting at an angle on a cutting
board? You will have to keep turning the hunk of chocolate over and
over to cut at an angle so there will be less area to cut through.

Have you tried Kinjo Karate?

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

wrote in message
ps.com...
On Apr 2, 4:21 pm, "Roger Shoaf" wrote:
wrote in message

oups.com...

Traditionally, I buy a ten lb bar ofchocolatefor Easter. Half goes
to the kids. The other half goes in my desk drawer at work (plus half
of what I gave the kids because they're not nearly as passionate as I
am forchocolate, but that's another story).

Cutting this bar is never fun. I've thought about making achocolate
cutterout of a piano wire or maybe a guitar string - sort of like the
bigcheesecutters they use at thecheesestore that I frequent. If I
could heat the wire, it would make the job much easier. Is there a
safe way to electrically heat such a wire sufficiently to cut
chocolate? What sort of low-voltage circuit could I use for this? Or
is this idea completely off the wall?

I think the wire idea is not too good as a thick slab ofchocolatedoes
not
lend itself to being severed by a blunt wire. The hot wire would be
messy
and stinky as well as potentially a shock hazard.

That's why I'm looking for a 'safe' way to do it. How do the pros
deal with this problem? I assume there are some who cut chocolate
bars.

I would suggest buying a saw to use forchocolate. You can get a thin
bladed saw, and just wash it after severing thechocolate. You will get
somechocolatedust, but that can just be tossed in a coup of coffee.

This is really, really good chocolate. The kind that turns into
something that resembles stale chewing gum when the temp gets much
above 98.6. So the coffee idea wouldn't work.


Sure the chocolate dust in the coffee would work. It would impart chocolate
into the coffee. Heck if you think about what chocolate is, cocoa butter,
cocoa butter, sugar and cocoa liquor and perhaps some vanilla, all of that
would be tasty in a cup of coffee.

I had assumed that it was good chocolate that is why I was not suggesting
that you waste any even the little bits that come shaving off the blade. I
would bet that it melts at less than body temperature as the good stuff
melts in your hand and your mouth.

From a culinary perspective a hot wire would probably have negative effects
on the chocolate just as it does if you were to overheat chocolate when
melting it in a double boiler. If you set the heat of the wire lower to
prevent the chocolate from becoming overheated, then the large thermal mass
of the block would cool the chocolate right behind the point you just melted
it.

The saw would take a minimal amount away from the block, and you probably
would not have to cut more than 1/3 of the way before you could snap it, but
it would give you a reasonably defined chunk.

Of course another solution to your dilemma would be to just buy two 10 pound
bars.

--

Roger Shoaf

About the time I had mastered getting the toothpaste back in the tube, then
they come up with this striped stuff.

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

Get some nichrome wire from a hobby shop. that's what we use to cut
styrofoam wing cores for model airplanes. Hook a 6 or 9v power to it. 12v
if you're in a hurry.

--
Steve Barker

YOU should be the one
controlling YOUR car.
Check out:
www.lightsout.org




wrote in message
oups.com...
Traditionally, I buy a ten lb bar of chocolate for Easter. Half goes
to the kids. The other half goes in my desk drawer at work (plus half
of what I gave the kids because they're not nearly as passionate as I
am for chocolate, but that's another story).

Cutting this bar is never fun. I've thought about making a chocolate
cutter out of a piano wire or maybe a guitar string - sort of like the
big cheese cutters they use at the cheese store that I frequent. If I
could heat the wire, it would make the job much easier. Is there a
safe way to electrically heat such a wire sufficiently to cut
chocolate? What sort of low-voltage circuit could I use for this? Or
is this idea completely off the wall?

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

On Apr 2, 4:45 pm, wrote:
Traditionally, I buy a ten lb bar of chocolate for Easter. Half goes
to the kids. The other half goes in my desk drawer at work (plus half
of what I gave the kids because they're not nearly as passionate as I
am for chocolate, but that's another story).

Cutting this bar is never fun. I've thought about making a chocolate
cutter out of a piano wire or maybe a guitar string - sort of like the
big cheese cutters they use at the cheese store that I frequent. If I
could heat the wire, it would make the job much easier. Is there a
safe way to electrically heat such a wire sufficiently to cut
chocolate? What sort of low-voltage circuit could I use for this? Or
is this idea completely off the wall?

Fine wire with an overhand knot about every half inch or so will work
just fine as a saw with no electricity involved.

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

"Steve Barker" wrote in message
...
Get some nichrome wire from a hobby shop. that's what we use to cut
styrofoam wing cores for model airplanes. Hook a 6 or 9v power to it.
12v
if you're in a hurry.


This is not going to work so well on a block of chocolate. Chocolate being
a blend of solids, fat and sugar and can have 6 different kinds of fat
crystals in the mix. Each one of the crystal structures has a different
melting point and great lengths are gone to by chocolate makers to see that
the one that forms is the crystal that melts just below body temperature.

The hot wire works good on foam as it melts the shell of the cells that make
up the foam and the melted bits recede from the heat. The chocolate would
flow back and melt together. The melted part may also suffer from a loss of
its desired crystalline structure if overheated.

Better to score and snap it.

--

Roger Shoaf

About the time I had mastered getting the toothpaste back in the tube, then
they come up with this striped stuff.

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

On 2 Apr 2007 15:15:06 -0700, wrote:

On Apr 2, 4:05 pm, "Charles Schuler"
wrote:
Cutting this bar is never fun. I've thought about making achocolate
cutterout of a piano wire or maybe a guitar string - sort of like the
bigcheesecutters they use at thecheesestore that I frequent. If I
could heat the wire, it would make the job much easier. Is there a
safe way to electrically heat such a wire sufficiently to cut
chocolate? What sort of low-voltage circuit could I use for this? Or
is this idea completely off the wall?

Don't make this into a project, unless you are bored. Simply heat a knife
over your stove and then slice the bar.


Tried that. The chocolate is about 2" thick. The knife appears to
give up virtually all of its heat after about 1/8".

Cleaver. Hatchet. 8 Pound mallet.

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

On Apr 2, 10:21 pm, "RicodJour" wrote:
wrote:
Traditionally, I buy a ten lb bar of chocolate for Easter. Half goes
to the kids. The other half goes in my desk drawer at work (plus half
of what I gave the kids because they're not nearly as passionate as I
am for chocolate, but that's another story).

Cutting this bar is never fun. I've thought about making a chocolate
cutter out of a piano wire or maybe a guitar string - sort of like the
big cheese cutters they use at the cheese store that I frequent. If I
could heat the wire, it would make the job much easier. Is there a
safe way to electrically heat such a wire sufficiently to cut
chocolate? What sort of low-voltage circuit could I use for this? Or
is this idea completely off the wall?

Use a froe and mallet.http://thelibrary.springfield.missou...odicals/bitter...
Material is relatively brittle, edge is relatively sharp - impact
manageable chunks. Stuff would scoot about, but that's just
containment and not a major issue.

That's essentially what I've been doing for years. I use a nice,
sharp French knife and smack the back of the blade with a mallet. The
resulting mess is what I'm trying to avoid. After I'm done with a ten
lb bar, I have about one lb of crumbs on the board, and maybe another
1/2 lb on the floor.

A few have suggested a 'score and snap' method, kind of like cutting
glass or wallboard. Depending on how deeply I would need to score it,
this sounds like it has a good potential to solve, or at least reduce
my problem. That sounds like my next likely approach.

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

On Apr 2, 5:09 am, Jeff Wisnia wrote:
Grandpa wrote:
wrote:

Traditionally, I buy a ten lb bar of chocolate for Easter. Half goes
to the kids. The other half goes in my desk drawer at work (plus half
of what I gave the kids because they're not nearly as passionate as I
am for chocolate, but that's another story).

Cutting this bar is never fun. I've thought about making a chocolate
cutter out of a piano wire or maybe a guitar string - sort of like the
big cheese cutters they use at the cheese store that I frequent. If I
could heat the wire, it would make the job much easier. Is there a
safe way to electrically heat such a wire sufficiently to cut
chocolate? What sort of low-voltage circuit could I use for this? Or
is this idea completely off the wall?

Clever idea, but piano wire or a guitar string won't have enough
resistance to heat up when you apply a current. You want something
like nichrome wire which is used in styrofoam cutters. Check eBay.
There are some which will run on 2 "D" batteries.

Or spring for one of the first item pictured on this page. It comes with
several knife blade tips which should make short work of your job.

(Click on the small picture to enlarge and see what the blades look like.)

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Jeff,
How many fathoms per fortnight would that be?
Joe G

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

On 3 Apr 2007 09:10:30 -0700, wrote:

On Apr 2, 10:21 pm, "RicodJour" wrote:
wrote:
Traditionally, I buy a ten lb bar of chocolate for Easter. Half goes
to the kids. The other half goes in my desk drawer at work (plus half
of what I gave the kids because they're not nearly as passionate as I
am for chocolate, but that's another story).

Cutting this bar is never fun. I've thought about making a chocolate
cutter out of a piano wire or maybe a guitar string - sort of like the
big cheese cutters they use at the cheese store that I frequent. If I
could heat the wire, it would make the job much easier. Is there a
safe way to electrically heat such a wire sufficiently to cut
chocolate? What sort of low-voltage circuit could I use for this? Or
is this idea completely off the wall?

Use a froe and mallet.http://thelibrary.springfield.missou...odicals/bitter...
Material is relatively brittle, edge is relatively sharp - impact
manageable chunks. Stuff would scoot about, but that's just
containment and not a major issue.

That's essentially what I've been doing for years. I use a nice,
sharp French knife and smack the back of the blade with a mallet. The
resulting mess is what I'm trying to avoid. After I'm done with a ten
lb bar, I have about one lb of crumbs on the board, and maybe another
1/2 lb on the floor.

A few have suggested a 'score and snap' method, kind of like cutting
glass or wallboard. Depending on how deeply I would need to score it,
this sounds like it has a good potential to solve, or at least reduce
my problem. That sounds like my next likely approach.


If a break a snickers bar in half, it crumbles some. If I freeze it
first, it snaps clean at the break. Score one block, and try chilling
it and then break the score.
--
Oren

"If things get any worse, I'll have to ask you to stop helping me."

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

Perhaps a chainsaw. WTF?

--
Steve Barker

YOU should be the one
controlling YOUR car.
Check out:
www.lightsout.org




"Goedjn" wrote in message
...
On 2 Apr 2007 15:15:06 -0700, wrote:

On Apr 2, 4:05 pm, "Charles Schuler"
wrote:
Cutting this bar is never fun. I've thought about making achocolate
cutterout of a piano wire or maybe a guitar string - sort of like the
bigcheesecutters they use at thecheesestore that I frequent. If I
could heat the wire, it would make the job much easier. Is there a
safe way to electrically heat such a wire sufficiently to cut
chocolate? What sort of low-voltage circuit could I use for this? Or
is this idea completely off the wall?

Don't make this into a project, unless you are bored. Simply heat a
knife
over your stove and then slice the bar.


Tried that. The chocolate is about 2" thick. The knife appears to
give up virtually all of its heat after about 1/8".

Cleaver. Hatchet. 8 Pound mallet.

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

On Tue, 3 Apr 2007 13:09:11 -0500, "Steve Barker"
wrote:

Perhaps a chainsaw. WTF?

I was going to suggest a band saw, but you will choc-dust.

--
Oren

"If things get any worse, I'll have to ask you to stop helping me."

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

On Tue, 03 Apr 2007 10:53:49 -0700, Oren wrote:

On 3 Apr 2007 09:10:30 -0700, wrote:

On Apr 2, 10:21 pm, "RicodJour" wrote:
wrote:
Traditionally, I buy a ten lb bar of chocolate for Easter. Half goes
to the kids. The other half goes in my desk drawer at work (plus half
of what I gave the kids because they're not nearly as passionate as I
am for chocolate, but that's another story).

Cutting this bar is never fun. I've thought about making a chocolate
cutter out of a piano wire or maybe a guitar string - sort of like the
big cheese cutters they use at the cheese store that I frequent. If I
could heat the wire, it would make the job much easier. Is there a
safe way to electrically heat such a wire sufficiently to cut
chocolate? What sort of low-voltage circuit could I use for this? Or
is this idea completely off the wall?

Use a froe and mallet.http://thelibrary.springfield.missou...odicals/bitter...
Material is relatively brittle, edge is relatively sharp - impact
manageable chunks. Stuff would scoot about, but that's just
containment and not a major issue.

That's essentially what I've been doing for years. I use a nice,
sharp French knife and smack the back of the blade with a mallet. The
resulting mess is what I'm trying to avoid. After I'm done with a ten
lb bar, I have about one lb of crumbs on the board, and maybe another
1/2 lb on the floor.

A few have suggested a 'score and snap' method, kind of like cutting
glass or wallboard. Depending on how deeply I would need to score it,
this sounds like it has a good potential to solve, or at least reduce
my problem. That sounds like my next likely approach.


If a break a snickers bar in half, it crumbles some. If I freeze it
first, it snaps clean at the break. Score one block, and try chilling
it and then break the score.



What you need, is a chicken guillotine.

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

On Tue, 03 Apr 2007 15:28:54 -0400, Goedjn wrote:

On Tue, 03 Apr 2007 10:53:49 -0700, Oren wrote:

On 3 Apr 2007 09:10:30 -0700, wrote:

On Apr 2, 10:21 pm, "RicodJour" wrote:
wrote:
Traditionally, I buy a ten lb bar of chocolate for Easter. Half goes
to the kids. The other half goes in my desk drawer at work (plus half
of what I gave the kids because they're not nearly as passionate as I
am for chocolate, but that's another story).

Cutting this bar is never fun. I've thought about making a chocolate
cutter out of a piano wire or maybe a guitar string - sort of like the
big cheese cutters they use at the cheese store that I frequent. If I
could heat the wire, it would make the job much easier. Is there a
safe way to electrically heat such a wire sufficiently to cut
chocolate? What sort of low-voltage circuit could I use for this? Or
is this idea completely off the wall?

Use a froe and mallet.http://thelibrary.springfield.missou...odicals/bitter...
Material is relatively brittle, edge is relatively sharp - impact
manageable chunks. Stuff would scoot about, but that's just
containment and not a major issue.

That's essentially what I've been doing for years. I use a nice,
sharp French knife and smack the back of the blade with a mallet. The
resulting mess is what I'm trying to avoid. After I'm done with a ten
lb bar, I have about one lb of crumbs on the board, and maybe another
1/2 lb on the floor.

A few have suggested a 'score and snap' method, kind of like cutting
glass or wallboard. Depending on how deeply I would need to score it,
this sounds like it has a good potential to solve, or at least reduce
my problem. That sounds like my next likely approach.


If a break a snickers bar in half, it crumbles some. If I freeze it
first, it snaps clean at the break. Score one block, and try chilling
it and then break the score.



What you need, is a chicken guillotine.

Been along time since I used my axe...g
--
Oren

"If things get any worse, I'll have to ask you to stop helping me."

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

wrote in message
oups.com...
Traditionally, I buy a ten lb bar of chocolate for Easter. Half goes
to the kids. The other half goes in my desk drawer at work (plus half
of what I gave the kids because they're not nearly as passionate as I
am for chocolate, but that's another story).

Cutting this bar is never fun. I've thought about making a chocolate
cutter out of a piano wire or maybe a guitar string - sort of like the
big cheese cutters they use at the cheese store that I frequent. If I
could heat the wire, it would make the job much easier. Is there a
safe way to electrically heat such a wire sufficiently to cut
chocolate? What sort of low-voltage circuit could I use for this? Or
is this idea completely off the wall?


You would need a transformer to drop the voltage and increase the current.
For steel wire, the current needed would be high.

How about a standard coping saw?

Bob

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

On Tue, 3 Apr 2007 14:09:34 -0700, Bob F wrote:



wrote in message
roups.com...
Traditionally, I buy a ten lb bar of chocolate for Easter. Half goes
to the kids. The other half goes in my desk drawer at work (plus half
of what I gave the kids because they're not nearly as passionate as I
am for chocolate, but that's another story).

Cutting this bar is never fun. I've thought about making a chocolate
cutter out of a piano wire or maybe a guitar string - sort of like the
big cheese cutters they use at the cheese store that I frequent. If I
could heat the wire, it would make the job much easier. Is there a
safe way to electrically heat such a wire sufficiently to cut
chocolate? What sort of low-voltage circuit could I use for this? Or
is this idea completely off the wall?


You would need a transformer to drop the voltage and increase the current.
For steel wire, the current needed would be high.

A soldering gun might work as a cheap power supply.

Using piano wire to cut chocolate
 

"Oren" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 3 Apr 2007 13:09:11 -0500, "Steve Barker"
wrote:

Perhaps a chainsaw. WTF?

I was going to suggest a band saw, but you will choc-dust.

And choc-dust contributes to global warming ... I know cause Al told me so.