# DIY Arrow Saw...Not a budget saw but unique



## Coonhound40 (Nov 22, 2018)

I built this saw a few years back, I was looking to just purchase a saw but then I got bored and needed a winter project. I went to e-bay and bought everything I needed: a sewing machine motor, switch, 80/20 t-slot, adhesive tape measure, a few bearings and hardware. I scrounged around our bone yard at work to find some scrap aluminum to machine it out of. I probably didn't actually save much money on it but it's fun to have a unique tool that you built yourself sitting on your bench. I've cut many dozens of arrows with it and it works great. 

The only bad thing is when you get things like bow presses, arrow saws etc all your friends now see you as the local pro shop. :wink:


----------



## blueflyingarrow (Jan 10, 2005)

Man, your saw is sweet. I’ve Been thinking of doing a project like this for quite some time. Nice!!!


----------



## tryn2hunt (Aug 29, 2018)

Awesome work, very cool!


----------



## huntfish25 (May 29, 2004)

very nice you need take more picture and give us a parts sheet location where to get them. i like it alot i sure if you started put up a labor charge they wont asked you to do much, LOL


----------



## NYyotekiller (Dec 7, 2011)

That is one sexy looking arrow saw!


----------



## Brettski7 (Sep 13, 2017)

How much? I’ll take one 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## WASHECA (Jan 3, 2012)

yes what a beauty!!!!!! what is sticking out beside your allen wrench holder, chamfer tool????


----------



## Coonhound40 (Nov 22, 2018)

WASHECA said:


> yes what a beauty!!!!!! what is sticking out beside your allen wrench holder, chamfer tool????


I shoot ACC's so the countersink works great for deburring the aluminum core after cutting.


----------



## blueflyingarrow (Jan 10, 2005)

I second the idea of more pictures and a parts list.


----------



## huntfish25 (May 29, 2004)

Coonhound40 said:


> I shoot ACC's so the countersink works great for deburring the aluminum core after cutting.


i was wounder that to great ideal. i love it it great machine. i think the roller ideal is great you dont have to worry if the arrow is true. when you said a "sewing machine motor, switch" do you mean the foot switch to turn it on and off? if so the pretty smart and safer.


----------



## Coonhound40 (Nov 22, 2018)

huntfish25 said:


> i was wounder that to great ideal. i love it it great machine. i think the roller ideal is great you dont have to worry if the arrow is true. when you said a "sewing machine motor, switch" do you mean the foot switch to turn it on and off? if so the pretty smart and safer.


No, I meant the little lighted rocker switch next to the motor. The sewing machine motor is a 5000 RPM 120 V AC motor.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


----------



## mkral (Sep 15, 2013)

Very nice!,


----------



## blueflyingarrow (Jan 10, 2005)

The part that adjusts for arrow length, where the back end of the arrow sits. What did you make it from?


----------



## Coonhound40 (Nov 22, 2018)

blueflyingarrow said:


> The part that adjusts for arrow length, where the back end of the arrow sits. What did you make it from?


I turned it on a lathe from a piece of bar stock. I bored it for a press fit bearing, the same bearing as you see on the arrow supports. You'll see a small hole on the end, it accesses a small flanged sleeve with a socket head bolt inside to attach it to the adjustment block. The bearings I used are just roller blade bearings, available cheap from Ebay. 

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


----------



## Thumbs (Sep 8, 2013)

Great work!


----------



## fishingolf (Jul 21, 2009)

Very nice work!!! Pro grade level! I love your arrow scrap shelf.

Sent from my LG-H872 using Tapatalk


----------



## b0w_bender (Apr 30, 2006)

Best DIY saw I've seen, spinning the arrow while cutting is definitely the way to go!


----------



## B.Hunter (May 4, 2009)

That is a sweet arrow saw. Thanks for sharing.


----------



## Coonhound40 (Nov 22, 2018)

fishingolf said:


> Very nice work!!! Pro grade level! I love your arrow scrap shelf.
> 
> Sent from my LG-H872 using Tapatalk


The scrap shelf was an add on, I found out the hard way that occasionally a cut end would fall just right and get sucked into the blade. That little channel did the trick.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


----------



## DarnYankee (Oct 24, 2007)

Nice saw. Quality is normally never cheap in terms of $ or time. Well done !


----------



## WNCbuck13 (Sep 25, 2007)

Very nice!


----------



## DBowers01 (Mar 13, 2016)

wow...……….


----------



## blueflyingarrow (Jan 10, 2005)

I checked out the 80/20 site. Thats such a great resource. Thanks for the info.!


----------



## Jasonw77 (Nov 29, 2018)

Man that think is sweet I'm looking to get a saw soon so great ideas


----------



## tominoz (Mar 23, 2011)

Thanks for the ideas, I’ve got the motor but how do you attach the cutoff wheel?


----------



## Nockonater (Oct 8, 2007)

Nice. How much were all of the materials for this build. Or did I miss that? Whats the ballpark?


----------



## Coonhound40 (Nov 22, 2018)

Nockonater said:


> Nice. How much were all of the materials for this build. Or did I miss that? Whats the ballpark?


Its been a while, I think it was about $100.00, the motor was the biggest item.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


----------



## Coonhound40 (Nov 22, 2018)

tominoz said:


> Thanks for the ideas, I’ve got the motor but how do you attach the cutoff wheel?


I have access to a metal lathe, I turned an arbor that slid tightly onto the motor shaft and locked on with 2 set screws (1 on the motor shaft flat and 1 90 degrees for that one) I turned the arbor to fit a standard Apple cutoff wheel and threaded it so a nut would sandwich it between a heavy machined washer and the arbor. I believe the standard sewing machine motor is the same as an Apple or Weston saw, you could probably buy a replacement arbor from one of them.


----------



## tered (Sep 29, 2014)

great thread

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk


----------



## ceratops (May 17, 2017)

Beautiful! Is that an adjustment for different arrow thicknesses (on the roller support base close to the cutting wheel)?

It's obvious a lot of thought has gone into this.


----------



## Coonhound40 (Nov 22, 2018)

ceratops said:


> Beautiful! Is that an adjustment for different arrow thicknesses (on the roller support base close to the cutting wheel)?
> 
> It's obvious a lot of thought has gone into this.


I made it adjustable because I wanted to penetrate the arrow at the minimum depth so I could spin the arrow and get a square cut. 

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


----------



## bbolstad81 (Dec 4, 2016)

Nice build.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


----------



## Alaska at heart (Aug 25, 2009)

Everyone has a gift and yours is clearly in this realm.....well done, sir! It makes my Weston look like a cheapo....:embara:


----------



## KYBowhunter (Nov 22, 2005)

Your title says "Not a budget...." but I would disagree. If you made this saw for around $100 I would say that's a great deal. This is the best saw I've seen and for an investment of $100 it's a fantastic deal. Well done.


----------



## ccryer (Oct 15, 2017)

That's sweet!


----------



## DadOf3Girls (Dec 4, 2018)

Wow... I wish I had the know how, to make something this nice.


----------



## kgsmith1960 (Dec 27, 2018)

That truly is some nice work.


----------



## jonahw12 (Aug 30, 2016)

wow, great build!


----------



## ironbear60 (Nov 10, 2017)

Great work


----------



## Blinker6675 (Feb 26, 2010)

sweet


----------



## ole4x4 (Mar 18, 2014)

Seeing this is making me want to talk to one of my machinist buddies about building something like it. Nice Job!!


----------



## Coonhound40 (Nov 22, 2018)

ole4x4 said:


> Seeing this is making me want to talk to one of my machinist buddies about building something like it. Nice Job!!


If you need any deeper details or pics, let me know.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


----------



## Bow Str (Apr 18, 2015)

Wow, I need one of those. Nice work.


----------



## Piratehawk (Jan 10, 2013)

Very nice and clean.


----------



## Huddlebots (Oct 22, 2018)

Very impressive. I understand why you said not a "budget" saw, but still a great value. I will give it a try.


----------



## tommy d (Aug 10, 2006)

looks much nicer than my Harbor Freight cut off saw screwed to a 1x6. :smile:


----------



## Publichunts (Oct 7, 2011)

That's a great looking saw.


----------



## nvcnvc (Jan 27, 2009)

I always admire the work of experts. I wish I knew how to build something like this....Well done Sir!


----------



## Ibeck (Dec 4, 2018)

Nice work!


----------



## ChrisK (Nov 27, 2018)

That's awesome!


----------



## Siegfried_1984 (Nov 26, 2013)

great work nicely done


----------



## Jeremy K (Oct 16, 2013)

I like that design , my thought when i have time and space is to do something really close to that but use this t slot . I wanted to run it flush on my workbench and have the different attachments depending on what i was doing . I still need to come up with the arrow saw components like yours . I have a bow vice i can use that i made for using outside at the range .


----------



## notagoodfish (Feb 11, 2019)

Nice, I've gotta try making one.


----------



## dazz (Feb 4, 2018)

Brilliant


----------



## notfilckr (Jan 21, 2019)

That is impressive, I'm amazed at the skill a lot of guys like you have on here.


----------



## gwseabold2 (Feb 13, 2019)

You can tell you put some thought into making it. very cool.


----------



## BWT (Mar 23, 2017)

Really nice job on the DIY saw.


----------



## Coonhound40 (Nov 22, 2018)

Jeremy K said:


> I like that design , my thought when i have time and space is to do something really close to that but use this t slot . I wanted to run it flush on my workbench and have the different attachments depending on what i was doing . I still need to come up with the arrow saw components like yours . I have a bow vice i can use that i made for using outside at the range .


That T-slot extrusion should work great and give you a great flexible platform...good idea

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


----------



## Japflip33 (Feb 24, 2019)

Sweet setup


----------



## Jimmy_o80 (Nov 25, 2018)

looks the goods here mate.

the cut end does it slide in and out at the moment of cutting or is that slot to allow for centre line changes for different arrow diameters etc?


----------



## nzabel18 (Feb 27, 2019)

I like it! Probably more durable than a manufactured one!


----------



## PRidd17 (Jul 27, 2019)

Looks good!


----------



## oldbowbender7 (Aug 6, 2019)

Nicely done!


----------



## Darton'em (May 15, 2014)

Omg that thing is top nock 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## jeffkoloski (Mar 15, 2018)

Nice post thanks for the ideas will help me on myn


----------



## Don Schultz (Jul 5, 2002)

WOW!! You have a whole kitchen in your shop!!


----------



## 340bull (Jul 17, 2019)

Impressive!


----------



## 925767 (Oct 4, 2019)

Curious, what does the wife think about the carbon dust in the kitchen?:mg:


----------



## Coonhound40 (Nov 22, 2018)

garys333 said:


> Curious, what does the wife think about the carbon dust in the kitchen?:mg:


I'd be sleeping in the shed if I turned it on in the kitchen...always in the garage with the vacuum attached 

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


----------

