[I’ve been distracted lately (by undisclosed or at least only vaguely explained bullshit). In the interest of gradually and incrementally crawling out from under one of life’s necessary but annoying rocks, I’m making a low key post about a recent project. Go easy on me folks…]
In 2021, I went to the dark side. I bought a Dewalt electric chainsaw. I was embarrassed that it wasn’t a gas saw.
At the time, I considered battery powered saws to be whiny vegan nerd gadgets for doing half-assed, half jobs in nature-free suburbs. I might as well put on a tutu! But time changes and opinions must keep up with the energy density of batteries.
Also, there’s the matter of efficiency. My beefy two stroke saw is too much hassle for small jobs. I found myself unmotivated to lug gas and oil and yank start a roaring spastic death-saw for every ten minute job. Over time, the big saw seems to get fueled and started only when I’ll be working it several hours at least.
The little saw impresses me. It punches well above its weight class! I bought a pruning saw (I playfully call it “chainsaw on a stick”) too. However, a stick mounted micro saw is overspecialized. It works for its purpose but I don’t use it very much.
The little chainsaw is a winner. It bounces around in my tractor bucket while I’m doing other shit. If I encounter incidental limbs or whatnot, I grab it from the bucket and the little saw chews through stuff like a chihuahua on crack. Then I toss it back in the bucket to be ignored for days or weeks. Brilliant!
Also, it’s a camping BEAST! Trust me on this, if you “car camp” or as YouTube influencers say “overland” you need a little electric saw. A nearly silent little electric chainsaw can hack up an ass-load of campfire wood without pissing anyone off with the sound. It’s much faster than my old bow saw. Toss a little electric saw in your truck and you’ll never want for firewood again (barring legal shit like National Park campgrounds).
I flogged the little saw mercilessly. By 2024 I’d done no damage other than breaking the housing on one of my batteries (and I nuked a few chains). That’s about as reliable as one could ever hope. I’m impressed!
The battery broke from being tossed around in my tractor bucket, not from overwork.
I set out to buy a new battery at a local box store. I lost my shit over the price!
By Crom’s throbbing nutsack I’m not dropping a c-note on a battery the size of a potato!
The box store was stupidly expensive. I sought to buy a two pack of 20v 5 Amp Dewalt batteries from Amazon which wasn’t cheap but less of a kick in the nuts.
Then, as now, I noticed an anomaly:
Adding a charger reduces cost? WHY?!? It’s madness! It’s marketing gone beyond any semblance of logic! It’s an affront to economics, dignity, and the concept of reality… but it’s true. You’ll save $20 by buying two batteries AND a charger over the cost of just two batteries.
If anyone reading is from Dewalt… explain this to me. Use small words!
Last year I didn’t see generic non-Dewalt batteries. Now, in 2025, there are knockoffs. Dewalt deserves this for doing stupid shit like charging more for NOT getting a charger. The knock offs are cheaper and they look real close to the original… but I doubt it’s true. It’s like saying “this pill looks like that pill, I’m sure the chemicals are identical so I’ll take them”.
I’ve had bad luck with knock off batteries from China. They might be the same as name brand. They might not. YMMV.
On the other hand, I had no qualms about buying a cheap Chinese knock off “box” and cramming the still functioning Dewalt components in the box. Which is exactly what I did.
Check my post for a step by step guide. I yanked the Dewalt components out of the trashed housing and cramming them into a cheap knock off housing. It’s not rocket surgery.
The knock off housing (at the time) cost $12.32. It’s no longer listed and I don’t recommend it anyway. It was made of the shittiest plastic imaginable. If it was any flimsier it would have arrived as dust.
But it did work… for about a year. Last month I broke the housing. This time it broke everywhere.
I fully expected cells themselves to wear down or the electronic board to short out. Not yet. I just broke the housing. I’m very impressed by what 20volts/5amp-hours can do.
Since it was broke, should I toss the battery cells? They’ve outlasted the OEM case and a rip off junker case, time to give up?
Hell no!
Last December I bought a 3d printer. I am officially a big bad maker of things.
First I tried to print a replacement following a free design I found on the ‘net somewhere. My only investment was a buck of filament and some time. Oh… and you need $500 worth of printer, filament switching hardware, filament, and the knowledge to use it. So it’s either “almost free” or “just over $500” depending on your point of view.
If that’s not an allegory for life I don’t know what is!
The free design sucked! I expected it to suck and printed it in cheap PLA just to see what would happen. The build looked ok but it cracked. I don’t mind. That’s why our language has the word “prototype”.
A broke “prototype” is just a lesson learned.
I could improve things by altering the slicer settings but there was a fatal flaw. The object I’d made didn’t fit right. That’s a deal killer! This housing design was close but inadequate.
I gave up and bought a more carefully made design.
Did you hear what I said? I paid money for information. Folks have been awash in bullshit so long they forget that true knowledge is worth real money.
Ponder where that leads us as a society. There are people with $50,000 in student loans debts over an education in “advanced navel gazing” with a return on investment of jack squat. Simultaneously online folks will fret over $15 for a 3d print model that’s exactly what they need.
Fifty large for bullshit or $15 for knowledge of value. Such choices abound.
I paid for knowledge that is useful and was happy to do so. Shouldn’t anyone?
I printed the new model using PETG filament. Without going into detail PETG is a step up from the simplest 3D printing filament (PLA). It only adds a few bucks per spool. It’s stronger, tougher, supposedly more resistant to temperature, and otherwise more awesome… but it’s still reasonably easy to use.
I have some exotic filaments. Carbon fiber infused PETG. TPU for AMS (which was lame). Real 95A TPU. Etc… I haven’t mastered those materials yet and don’t need them for a simple battery housing anyway.
I changed slicer settings too. I went to 100% infill. I altered orientation to make the least overhang but I also used supports. In retrospect I could have chosen a “stronger” orientation at the risk of more bullshit with supports. Life has trade offs.
The image below has a lot of nerd in it. The supports are hollow “trees”. The white stuff is PLA “interface” between the PETG object and the PETG support… meaning it breaks apart easily. The 100% infill consumes more filament but it seemed worthwhile on a thin object that’ll get used hard. The result seemed pretty tough.
I chose stupid colors because I wanted to use up the last of a spool on the small half of the job. Also who gives a shit about colors on a chainsaw battery? Actually I do. After I started, I found a spool of PETG clear translucent… I wish I’d used that. A translucent battery housing would have looked cool.
I don’t know how much the filament cost. I’m guessing about $5 total? That includes the PLA sacrificed as a prototype.
Lastly I chose a design with through bolts instead of screws that grind into the housing. This differs from OEM and is almost certainly stronger.
In the pictures you can see the 3d print lines. This is something generally minimized or avoided but it’s only cosmetic. It has nothing to do with the strength of a work tool.
I have a shitload of tiny metric bolts for 3d printing and smugly assumed I’d be set. Alas, I had none of the right size. I paid $8 total for four bolts and four nuts and the little hex key at my local store. Considering the size of the tiny bolts, $8 is obscene! Then again it’s a miracle I found them for sale at the local hardware store. Also, I like to throw money their way. Just as I value knowledge, I value my local hardware store. They’ve been ever so helpful for years. They’ve earned the right to rake me over the coals if I want to buy obscure tiny metric threaded hardware on a Sunday.
Final assembly was trivially easy. The results are better than the Chinese knock off housing, and (if you ignore the ugly colors I chose) it’s basically identical to the OEM product. When (not if but when) I break the next battery, I’m all set to “fix” that one too.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Happy 3D printing y’all.