First Build: Evil Dead II Chainsaw

Okay, so I haven't made any props before, but I really wanted to have an Evil Dead II Ash costume for Ohayocon this January, so here goes:

First, I bought what I thought was the right chainsaw on ebay for about $14 plus shipping, which as it turns out is the wrong model. What I wanted was the Homelite XL and what I bought was a Homelite XL-2. Small difference, but it's enough different that it threw me when I noticed.

The biggest difference is that the XL has the handle on the top only, while the XL 2 curves around to the back part, where my hand will go. The only problem I can see is that because of this design the back part might taper to a smaller area than the original, which gives me less room for the hand-hole. Still shouldn't be a project ruining issue, though.

This won't be 100% accurate, or 100% good for that matter, because of my inexperience and starting off with the wrong saw, but hopefully it turns out alright.

So here's the saw before I did anything, note that it's missing the bolt(s) to attach the bar (which is bent) to the engine, and the saw doesn't work anymore, according to the seller on ebay.


This cracked me up when I saw it. It's pretty hard to make an anthropomorphized chain, but by god Homelite tried:


And finally, I got the engine and whatnot out, and decided to stick my arm into the hole where the exhaust was to see how it looked. It's a bit cramped:


Will post more as I do things.

Outstanding! I love this project already. Looking forward to seeing more. This has been on my "to-do" list for years and would love to see someone else's take on it.

There isn't that mutch difference between the XL and XL2 as far as size and shape go with the finished saws. The XL are useually plastic body and easier to cut. I do like the way a XL-2 feels when finished becasue it is a metal bodied saw. Here are 2 saws I finished the first one is a XL the second is a XL2





Good luck with your build. I'm sure it will turn out great.

If you don't care about screen accuracy or the like, might I suggest checking out Backyard FX's $30 Evil Dead 2 chainsaw build using common household stuff and miscellaneous hardware? It of course doesn't have to match perfectly - the aluminum sheet they use can probably be substituted with other materials that would be just as sturdy, but this way you could actually make it more comfortable for your own hand.

Backyard FX's Evil Dead 2 Chainsaw build

bigbisont said:

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Outstanding! I love this project already. Looking forward to seeing more. This has been on my "to-do" list for years and would love to see someone else's take on it.

Well hopefully I won't disappoint. There are apparently tons of old threads on this build here, I just searched for chainsaw and starting with page 2 most of the results are for this project. But thanks!

jedi_master_adam said:

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There isn't that mutch difference between the XL and XL2 as far as size and shape go with the finished saws. The XL are useually plastic body and easier to cut. I do like the way a XL-2 feels when finished becasue it is a metal bodied saw.

Those saws look really nice... well, not "nice" since they're killing machines of spinning oily death, but you know.

That reminds me of another small problem. What exactly would one use to cut the metal body of the XL2? I was expecting it to be plastic (more noobishness and hubris) and I don't have much in the way of a shop.

bigbisont said:

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If you think you will do more projects beyond this one, it can't hurt to get the ball rolling on a couple tools. The key is start little. You dont need to 'buy a shop'. Just need one tool at a time to get you through the next project.

How's the pickings on your local craigslist? A corded (cordless always cost more) reciprocating saw/"sawzall" with a fine tooth blade may be a good start and are often under $30 there used.

Or, some might trash me for saying this, but if your literally only going to use these tools for light duty prop construction, maybe hit up harbor freight. Dirt cheap stuff (so cheap, any serious work would likely break them, but for occasional prop hacking? why not).

Right after I posted that I went "D'oh! Hacksaw!"

And now after I come back from the garage with my arms all noodley from sawing and see that you suggested a sawzall, I remember that I have one of those, too... I'm not doing too well in the comon-sense department today.

Anyway, here's where I'm stopping today. I got one side of the top handle hacked off. I realized too late that I should have cleaned the body of the saw a bit better before sawing, so all those metal particles are sticking to the saw like a slightly more masculine glitter. I'll get that fixed when I finish sawing.


And here's me thinking I'm a genius, shortly before realizing that I could have just used my sawzall.

I usually use an angle grinder with a cutting disk, and hack saw.

any updates?

chimplicity said:

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any updates?

Indeed!

Got the rest of the big cuts done, but I can't cut a straight line to save my life, so there are a few places that need sanded down. Even when it's sanded there won't be much wrist-room, but that's alright.


I also cut the fuel and oil tanks, the oil one still had a bit of oil in it, but nothing noteworthy about that process.

Next I filed the rough edges and put everything together to see how it fit. A bit snug still, and very uncomfortable since the only thing supporting the saw is my wrist, so the interior handle is now a top priority:


After taking it back apart I started disassembling the engine. This made my hands all greasy and disgusting, and my only camera is my touch screen phone, so no pictures of this process. I eventually got the bit that both connects to the housing and the chain bar, which is a bit big, but I think I'll still use it.

I then washed everything liberally with dish soap to try to de-grease everything. There's still a bit of compacted oily sawdust in some crevices, but nothing too bad.

Here's where I'm at now: I put everything I have so far together (minus the tanks, because I forgot them) and man it's getting heavy:


I just have a temporary nut holding the bar on there, I'll find something more appropriate later:

I used my dremel to do just about all the work for my E.D. chainsaw

JasonCash said:

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I used my dremel to do just about all the work for my E.D. chainsaw

I don't have any cutting implements left intact for my dremel, but really the hacksaw goes through this stuff like butter. I don't have pictures yet, but I cut a large chunk off of that piece of engine I'm using, and even straight through that it worked swimmingly. After that the bench grinder that the saw is sitting on in a few pictures makes short work of the rough edges... it also catches the bench on fire... but only sometimes.

Sorry about the double post, but here's a small update before work.

Okay, so just taking the engine apart this is the piece that both connects the bar to the engine and the engine to the housing, so I definitely wanted to use it:



Obviously, the problem with that is that it doesn't leave much room:



So I was looking at another thread on here and I saw where one person just made a couple cuts through that piece and added a handle to it. It's kinda hard to explain, so here's some pictures:




I had to use the bench grinder a bit because part of the piece and my knuckle were trying to occupy the same space.