Graham, I don't know how it would work never tried it but my thought would be a bit of solid copper wire bent over a stick of wood and presented to the end grain.
I've a feeling, Tom, that the 'stick' would act as a heat-sink, draining heat from the wire.
Graham,
I have some guitar strings you can have, will bring them when we meet up next week. They work great with a dowel fitted at each end.
Dave
The guitar strings wouldn't work in this context, Dave, although they are good between centres and come in a handy range of sizes.
The formica needs to be a good, solid piece, trimmed to a near-point, with plenty of speed on to build up the friction. The very thin formica that is often used on post-formed worktops is too thin, it just wears away as soon as it heats up.
I've also read that it can be done with offcuts of oil-tempered hardboard, but not tried that yet.
Les