The Mad Lab

Hello everyone,

I've had some questions on the saw mill project and since I did such a poor job describing it in the first place (sorry about that), I thought I'd show you all exactly how it it is made, how fast it turns, safety precautions and saw noises. I highly suggest you make this-it works consisently, not really hard to make (takes about 2 days) and if you have a victim with an outgoing personality, it will be a hit.  Darn thing has a speed controller and can go from 15 revolutions a munute to around 60+.  I run it around 30-40 rpm-shows the saw teeth better!!!!!

Step One-cutting blade: take 4 foot x 4 foot sheet sheet of plywood (1/2 or 3/4 inch) and put a wood screw in the center, then take a 2 foot piece of string, attached to a pencil and draw out a circle. Remove the screw and sand the heck of it. Make sure you sand the edges very well to take away sharp edges or splinters.  I then used white primer on it-2 coats and allowed to dry. Then I painted it with silver metallic paint. Once dry, I made a wood template out of scrap wood that was the exact size of each of the blade teeth-1 inch x 4 inches or so. I then attached he template and spray painted each tooth orange. Be sure you don't slide the template between teeth and wipe off the template between EACH paint application. Once this was done, I found an old tent pole and cut it so it was 24 inches long-I then drilled a hole in the woodblade-make this hole a little smaller than the blade-then pound the pole through till it is centered.

Step 2-Make the table: 

 First, start by making the table frame out of 2x4s.  The table dimensions are

32 inches high, 38 inches wide and 8 feet long.  38 8 12 20For the top, I used an old skateboard ramp I built my son previously but use whatever you have. I used decking screws to put it together-which also aids when you dissasemble it for next year.

Step 3- "cut the table"

First cut a 3 inch slit for the blade-I know 3 inches seem big but the blade will wobble a bit. Cut this 4 feet 4 inches long by 3 inches-use a scroll saw If you have one.  I then cut out the trap door-this is 12 x 20 with CURVED corners. Once done, I attached screwed in scrap wood to hold up the trap door cut out-these can move away when the actor gets in place.

Step 4: Mount the blade.

Put 4 washers on either side of the steel rod going through the blade.  Then get 2 12inch pieces of pvc that are just big enough for the steel rod to fit in-NOT Tight.  Fit the blade through the slit i the wood and then slip each of the pvc pieces on the rod against the washers.  Center the blade and then screw through each end of the pvc to the plywod.  I then just attached the pvc with screws, on each side closest to the blade with a bent piece of metal.

Step 5: Grab that treadmill.

I took an old working treadmill and atached 2 tires off a lawn mower. I attached them with long deck screws and washers on 2 x 4 scrap wood that was screwed in directly to the sides of the tread mill (see photo).  I then took the hand rails off the tread mill along wih the speed controls.  Spray the speed contols black.

Step 6: slide treadmill under blade.

Just slide the treadmill under the saw blade so the treadmill wheels have about 1/2 inch of clearance on each side. Since the tread mill is inclined you may not have to prop up one of the ends in order for the treadmill belt to come in contact with he blade. If it is too high, just prop 2x4s under the tread mill.

Step 7: controls

I mount the controls on the left side so that the victum has access to it-he can slow it down or speed it up. There is also a kill switch in the form of a pulled string-this came with the treadmill.  For extra noise,  put a circular saw inside of a sealed cardboard box with some small holes in it. I then attached a hand power switch next to the main treadmill controller. I then placed this box down below in front of the tread mill.  All the actor has to do is click the switch and the circular saw turns on. Makes a nice effect.

Step 8: cover the sides.

I use burlap to give it an old effect. Heck, it's cheap. I also put some extra plywood on the sides just so the internals are protected and it doesn' give the trick away.

Step 9: Make the fake body:

I used and old plastic trash can.  Cut the bottom of it with the scroll saw-about 3 inche and make a slit from bottom to ALMOST top-stop about 6 inches or so from the top. I then spayed the trash can with spray adhesive and fitted tshirts over the trash can.  then cut out the shirts and glue to the inside of the slit. Grab an old pair of pants and cut through he bottom of the zipper up/around he back. Attach this to trash can with screws /duct tape. stuff the legs with old shirts or towels and add a pair of shoes. Then spray expanding foam (1 can) around the incision to create the cut effect. I then spray this with red spray paint.

Place this on the table and screw the shoes into the table-you will be glad you did.

That's about it. There are probably better ways of doing this but this worked for me and is really cheap.  I don' think I spent more than $20 bucks on the whole thing-. Hope this helps. Just email me with any questions-love to help.

wow,looks pretty easy!!its cool too!!Thanks-Digger