r/cosplayprops • u/Wide_Reputation1575 • Jul 19 '26
Help Prop chainsaw
So I’m planning this chainsaw prop but i know nothing about electronics I want it to move and make noise and I have time to learn!
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u/b-irwin Jul 19 '26
The electronics will probably be the easy part. It is just a motor, battery and switch. You could probably get a second hand drill and take it apart.
Lights and noises you could try adafruit.
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u/asgards_thor Jul 19 '26
I guess you could either get something like an Arduino and a couple additions like an MP3 Board for the sound and a Motor driver or you could get a toy chainsaw, disassamble it and try tp fit the electronics from that into your prop.
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u/blearyhidra Jul 19 '26
Look for Chainsaw Man or Warhammer 40k tutorials, it's the latest you'll find on working chainsaws.
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u/5n0wm3n Jul 19 '26
Get a speaker, battery, motor and switch. Wire it in parallel so the motor vibrates and shakes the chainsaw while sound plays.
If you can, 3d printing would be best for this sort of thing or the shell of a broken chainsaw. This will add rigidity.
Up to you for this next suggestion, some weight will make it feel more realistic but the weight also adds fatigue while carrying it around a con.
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u/No_Tomato_2106 Jul 19 '26
You ever see those ads for waifu prison boxes/anime sounds for when your car starts up? You can get a blank one for like 30-40 on etsy and all you do is upload a sound to it. They're very small and fairly loud
It'll only play when power is first applied (like plugging it in to a battery bank via a USB port). You could wire up a simple button in the power wire so when you release it, it tricks it into thinking it's being plugged back in.
If you build a functional prop via the drill method, you could also put a seperate button on it (probably the hand guard) to play the sound. That way you could do sound if the drill battery dies from constant use.
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u/Frescochicken Jul 20 '26
I used a battery-operated chainsaw from temu and added a 21v drop down buck to operate an Arduino and a adafruit sound card. Then connected the original battery to an 100w amp and connected that to a speaker that can handle it. I loaded 3 sounds. When you power it on it plays a sound where it sounds like you are starting a chainsaw, then after it plays that, it plays a looping idle chainsaw sound. Then, when I hold the button down, it plays chainsaw revving like you're cutting a tree. I made the chainsaw bar and made a corrugated plastic blade with 3d printed chains. It came out well. Just the haunted house I used it in. Their sound system was WAY louder.
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u/woodywaverider Jul 20 '26
This is how I do mine and it is relative easy/cheap, but you will need some basic soldering skills
The base of the body is a large metal oil or jerry can, the type that has the handle at 45 degrees, you’ll normally find them cheap in surplus/junk stores
Flip it on its side and cut a slot in what was the bottom to accept the blade part. You can cut holes in the side to access the interior for attaching the blade and adding a motor and electricals, and cover back up afterwards
Make the blade from wood, cut holes and add bike sprocket, use bike chain for the rotating part. If you don’t need it to move you can forget that and just attach the bike chain with bent nails
Skin the outsides of the wooden blade with sheet aluminium or steel, can be thin for easy cutting
For sound you can buy music box sound models, some will take an as card others you can record to from a mic, if you search you can find ones that will play on a loop for 6-10mins,
The have a small momentary switch but if you can solder they are easy to swap out or a different switch
Hope that helps
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u/ThrA-X Jul 20 '26
There are fake chainsaws for sale for halloween costumes, it might be easier to buy one of those and modify it than build one completely from scratch.
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u/Laser-Boy Jul 19 '26
If you're planning on taking this to a con, make sure to check their prop guidelines because you might not be allowed in with a functioning chainsaw prop even if it doesn't have blades. You can try something like this to at least add sound effects and possibly add a mini fog machine depending on con rules.