Archery Carbon Arrow Shaft Cutter with Dust Remover

WARNING: Do not cut carbon arrows indoors if you don't have a vacuum with a HEPA filter! You should always wear an FFP3 mask as the dust is REALLY bad for your lungs. 
You may ignore this warning if you vape or smoke since you don't care about your health anyway 🤮

This model is a work in progress
I have used it to cut 30 arrow shafts to length and I am happy so far but I may adjust some parts in the future. Check the “Specifications” below to see what the current version can do.
Last updated: 27.02.2024

This arrow cutter is using of the shelf components to create a reasonably priced arrow cutting tool that can keep up with the 100€+ tools sold by archery stores.
It is using a diamond cutting wheel attached to a 775 electric motor. You can find this motor as a set with speed controller and chuck for ~35€ shipped.

The chuck is rather cheap so it is not well balanced and not made for the high RPMs the motor is capable of. This results in some vibration so don't run the motor at full speed. I cut all of my arrows at around 40% speed and never had the motor stall.
The chuck carries enough momentum to get over the initial contact with the arrow. After that it only cuts small sections as you rotate the arrow shaft.

The first few cuts can be a bit rough with a new diamond cutting wheel. I recommend you do a few practice cuts before you cut the shaft to your final length.
You will get a smooth and straight cut once the diamond wheel has been broken in.

Specifications

• Tested with arrow shafts with an ID of 4,2mm and 6,2mm. OD between 5,50mm and 7,35mm. Should work upto OD of 7,75mm
• Maximum arrow shaft length is determined by the length of your aluminium extrusion
• The vacuum adapter fits a 35mm hose. I have posted the .obj file so you can modify it if required.

Assembly Video

Required parts

1x 60mm diamond cutting disc: 
* https://www.amazon.de/dp/B07RHJ5G1S
* https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XR7B1L2 

1x 775 motor with speed controller and chuck: 
* https://www.amazon.de/dp/B09XM8FDVR
* https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09XM8FDVR

1x On/Off Switch 21x15mm for a 19x13mm hole
* https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B076VLJL37

5x M5 T-slot nuts for the aluminium extrusion
 

3x M5x9 screws, 1 for the "Rear Shaft Holder" and 2 for the electronics box

2x M5x50 screws to attach the base to the aluminium extrusion

4x M3x25 screws to attach the motor mount to the base

4x M3 flange nuts to attach the motor mount to the base

4x 3x30 wood screws to attach the two disks to the base

3x 3x12 wood screws for the two disk sides

2x 3x12 wood screws to attach the lid of the electronics box to the body

2x 4x40 wood screws for the slide clamps

1x 20x20mm aluminium extrusion or a piece of wood 20mm thick. It needs to be around 80cm long.
This is where everything attaches to and is used to determine where to cut the arrow. I used two pieces of aluminium extrusion from my old 3D printer.

1x 12V 3A power supply. I use my bench power supply RND 320-KA3005P but any 12Volt supply with enough Amperes will work. If you slowly increase the speed of the motor then a 1A supply should work well. I suggest you use at least a 12Volt 20Watt supply

You also need a HEPA vacuum cleaner. I use my trusted Metabo AS 18 HEPA.

Printing

Double check the printing temperatures if you use my .3mf files as they are setup for a hardened nozzle which needs higher temps.
I printed everything in PLA with a 0,6mm nozzle. The “Base.stl” needs “Support on Build Plate” and the two “Disk Side X.stl” need to be oriented with the open disk facing up. It also needs support on build plate.
Everything else can be printed without support if oriented as shown in the .3mf files.

Print one of each except the “Arrow Slide Clamp”. You need two of those.
 

How to cut arrows

WARNING
Do not run the motor at full speed since I have not idea what these cutting discs are rated for. Keep in mind that they are held in place by a thin aluminium pin with a tiny screw.
I hope that the case will contain the disc when it rapidly disassembles itself but I don't know.
The diamond cutting disc does not have as much mass as a laser disc but this stuff is no joke
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFQTAUkRAog&t=118s

Set the speed to about 40%. The drill chuck has enough mass to ensure consistent speed during the cutting process so you don't need super high RPMs.

Insert the arrow into the rear holding block and keep pressure towards the rear. Now close the front and rotate the arrow.
It is important that you push the arrow towards the rear holding block during the cutting process to ensure that you get a clean cut.