Arrow / Tube / Pipe cutting jig

thingiverse

This is an adjustable arrow or tube cutting jig. I banged one of these together when I needed to cut some arrows a little while ago and found that I kept using it to make nice square cuts in other sorts of tube. It wasn't very adjustable, so i thought it was worth having a proper go. Seems to have worked out alright. If you want to get a very clean cut, the trick is to cut the arrow lightly and rotate it as you move it toward the blade. You can adjust the SCAD files to suit different grinder or rail profiles, or if you're really struggling let me know. The spacer was actually pretty useful. I got the profiles close on the grinder mounts (one had to be built up with a little tape), but they didn't sit flush on a surface. I was trying to think of how to shim them to the same level then I realised that I had a machine that could build the exact shim I was after. duh! I can't see myself making another one of these, but if I were to, the things I'd do differently are: 1. Slot for the standoff should have been wide enough for an M6 bolt (and knob), but I just made a mistake here so I've had to use some screws that were lying around. When I have to adjust it to allow for blade wear, I'll have to use a screw-driver. I've updated the SCAD and STL that I've uploaded, so they should be ok. 2. I'd probably use a heavier rail. the 1mm aluminium is quite flimsy. I might add a couple of extra stand-offs to stiffen it up. 3. After I put it together, I couldn't come up with an easy way to check that the blade was vertical. I'd probably try to include some way of doing this (maybe I should print a jig!)