New 55 year old saw!

[capncarl]

An old friend recently gave me his dad’s electric hand saw. He knows I enjoy tools and treasure some my grandfather’s hand me down tools, and will take care ot his father’s tools too. This saw is a(1969] Craftsman 6 1/2" electric hand saw. It’s still in the original metal box, has original owners manual, original blade that’s in its cardboard sleeve. Saw still has its paper “INSPECTED BY” tag still on it. I haven’t seen one of these in quite a while! There are several old lightly used blades in the box, none carbide tipped. Even the cord is in good shape, not cracked with exposed wires like some other old tools I have. It’s obvious that this saw has always been cleaned up after using and stored in a dry environment.

I plugged it in and ran it for a couple of minutes, switch works fine and motor has no funny smells or sparks from the brushes. If I can pick up a modern carbide tip blade I will honor his father by using it on some projects.




My friend said that his dad owned just enough tools to do home maintenance repairs and took very good care of his tools. He passed away a number of years ago and my friend has been moving his dad’s tools everywhere he moves. He recently moved into a new house with less storage space and had to shed more of his dad’s stuff. Several years ago he gave me his dad’s #4 Stanley plane that is like new condition and still in its original cardboard box. I sharpened the #4 and have used it on several projects, then oiled it and put it back in its box. This plane is the perfect size for most home projects. I understand why he had it.

[twistsol]

Very nice. I wonder if any of the plastic tools we buy today will be around in 50-60 years regardless of whether their care.

[leehljp]

Nice Saw. That reminds me of a router that I got from a friend who was retiring and moving. He gave me an old B&D 1/4 in router, in excellent shape from the early 70's I think. I rarely use it and keep it in excellent shape today.
https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...essional-tools

SOME old tools are worth keeping!

[cwsmith]

My FIL was the hardware manager at the local Sears store for most of his adult life. When he passed away, he had a similar-looking, polished aluminum and steel, from back in the mid-50's. Heavy, but still in great shape.

My wife's sister's husband took that saw and a 25ft Craftsman aluminum extension ladder and sold it for scrap at the local recycling yard. I didn't find out until after it was gone! The guy doesn't know which end of a screwdriver to use, but to him the only value of anything is how much money he can get for it, with the least amount of effort.

I have a Craftsman 7-inch circular saw that I bought back around 1971. Still in great shape. That would make it about the same age. I'll have to post a picture of it.

CWS

Oops, memory failed me. I actually bought that circular saw in 1971, not the late 60's as I had recalled.

[dbhost]

So I have a Skilsaw from around '96 or '97 when I worked at an Ace Hardware, it was returned under warranty as defective, it has a bad power cord. They were just going to throw it out so I got it out of the write off bin and threw a new power cable at it. Been working great for all those years. Gone through a few blades though. No telling if I will be around in another 27 years or so to see if it made it to 55. God willing...

[capncarl]

I ran the “new” saw today. It suprised me. Seemed to take 4-5 seconds for it to ramp up to full speed, it must have quite a set of gears. The couple of used 6.5” blades looked burned like they had been running too fast for the speed that the saw was being fed. This one might take some getting use to,

My favorite electric hand saw is this old left hand 5.5” Skillsaw. A cheap plastic budget saw, but I really like the left hand feature so I can see what I am doing! No 3 fingers safety trigger lock do-dads on this saw! I’m using a carbide tipped blade intended for battery saws….. and this little gem will definitely cut! Worth every penny of the $5 I paid for it at an estate sale.

[capncarl]

Oh well!
Today I thought I’d give the old Craftsman saw a work out. 10 seconds in it started sounding like a siren, so I stopped. It sounded like dry bearings, and typical with every Craftsman power tool that I have ever owned, the small diviot of grease that the manufacturer smeared on the gears and bearing had dried up. Unlike the other power tools that ruined the gears and bearings, I thought I had caught this one in time. I pulled it apart and chipped out the old peanut brittle consistency grease and replaces it with fresh grease and gave it another test. It sounded good…….. for about another 15 seconds when it coasted to a stop. I believe the trigger switch melted away. Unless I can find new old stock switch this pretty saw is going to be a decoration.

[LCHIEN]

What a way to go! Died with it's boots on.

[Slik Geek]

I hope you are successful with a repair. I've enjoyed the brief saga.

[capncarl]

I appreciate that!
I hate to pack the saw back in its metal box, but fear that the trigger switch is the problem and can’t get the third screw that holds the hand grip out. When I get time I will break out my small torch out and see if a touch of heat will help.

[leehljp]

Here is my OTHER 50 year old tool, this one actually 51s year old, - a Sears Craftsman 9" grinder. Huge by today's standards but it is what we used back in those days. Still works and with course disk sanding can cut large surfaces of wood down quick. I haven't used it in probably 10 years. For my other 50+ year old tool see link in post # 3 above. The router was given to me, but I bought this grinder from Sears myself.
Edited in. I titled one pict as 7" but it is in fact a 9 inch grinder.

[capncarl]

Another Craftsman tool that I have owned, and that died an untimely death due to lack of grease in the gearbox., Easy to check and grease, I highly recommend doing so!