Vintage Skil 825 8-1/4" worm drive saw restoration

A couple of months ago, I picked up a vintage Skil 825 8-1/4" worm drive saw, with the intent of restoring it for a friend as christmas present.

A couple of days ago, I finally got around to restoring the saw.

Overall the saw was in pretty good condition when I got it, however, it had a thick layer of oil and saw dust that needed to be cleaned off before I could truly assess the condition of the paint below.

After stripping it down and letting it sit in the parts washer for a while, I took the parts to a wire wheel and removed the majority of factory paint before painting in primer, paint and clearcoat.

Original Condition
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View media item 66252The strain relief was broken on the saw when I received it. I modified a brass fitting to replace the broken strain relief.

View media item 66253The saw wasn't in too bad of condition, but had a lot of grease and sawdust that had to be cleaned up and scrubbed off in the parts washer before prepping for a new coat of paint

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Disassembly
View media item 66256After stripping the saw down to individual components, I started cleaning each piece using my parts washer, a toothbrush. compressed air and a bit of time.

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View media item 66258When I got the saw, the strain relief was broken at the threads where it entered the saw. I could not readily source a new adapter, so I found a 3/8" brass NPT adapter, which I bored, polished and painted.

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Restoration
View media item 66261After cleaning all of the parts, I took those that were to be painted to a wire wheel, removed the majority of old paint, applied 2 coats of primer, 4 coats of paint and a coat of clearcoat.

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View media item 66263Everything painted up and ready for reassembly.

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View media item 66294Pulling field coil leads back into the handle.

View media item 66295The new strain relief was threaded for 3/8" NPT, which was slightly larger than the stock threads. I used a tap to tap the threads to fit the new strain relief.

View media item 66296Field coil installed and handle ready to be wired.

View media item 66297Packed the back armature bearing and installed the armature back into the saw.

View media item 66298Gear case installed. The armature bearings were in great shape, so I reinstalled them, however, there was an ever so slight 'stick spot' on the blade shaft bearings, so I replaced both of those and reinstalled the blade shaft.

I reinstalled the bearing caps and gear case covers after applying a light coat of RTV sealant.

Finished Restoration
View media item 66299All assembled and back together.

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A job to be proud of. Looks great.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Nice job. What paint did you use (color)?

Great looking work!
It should be good for another 60 or 70 years of use now.
Rodney

Gorgeous work!

Very nice, I have a newer model 825 that I have apart right now. In a past life it was used to cut masonry, and that **** got everywhere. Im just cleaning mine and changing the worm lube. It runs very smooth and quiet, so no bearings at the moment. Someone put a new cord and new brushes in it not long before I purchased it.

It is going to be put into immediate service cutting wood, so I am not doing a full blown resto like yours. Can't wait to use it.

Great Job on that saw. They are beastly tools but incredibly durable and well made.
My Grandfather was a Tool and Die maker for Skil from the 50's thru retirement in the mid 80's at the Elston Ave. factory in Chicago. That was when they made really great power tools. Innovative too.
He told me about how they used to test the power cord materials for those saws by hanging them by the plug and letting them sit for weeks to see if the cords would separate from the saw's weight. They figured that the carpenters would have to lift them up and down by the cords on the sites, so that is what they designed them to do. Apparently the new Vinyl cords at the time did not fare well compared to the old rubber ones...
I still have some Skil tools from the era (all still work) and most of Grandpa's Machinist tools including some that have been handed down from him, to my Uncle (a Moldmaker) down to me. Have a couple with all our names on them.

Good to see some Skil stuff saved.

I am late to this post,but your rebuild is truly impressive

does anybody have a parts list for this one I have a 825 too but it looks different[

I am in the process of restoring mine from 1947. I can't find parts, schematic, or even the cord restraint. Does anybody know where I can find parts for this?

Have you tried Vintage Machinery. org? Sawmill Creek, etc

There must be a board somewhere. What parts do you need exactly?

Regards,

Shawn

J_Grasso said:

I am in the process of restoring mine from 1947. I can't find parts, schematic, or even the cord restraint. Does anybody know where I can find parts for this?

Click to expand...

I'd love to be able to find some of that stuff too. I have an 825 and a 77 that both need an armature. Even if I could find one, it would likely not be worth it, I know it wouldn't be worth it to have either rewound. Every time I go looking for parts, I often end up just buying another saw. If well bought, they typically need a cord, maybe brushes, maybe 2-3 of the 5 bearings and a couple of oil seals then they're as good as new. If poorly bought, stuff will be broken that's not available anywhere.

Thanks for the helpful article! My Model 87 is now rebuilt and running fine except I can not figure the steps to install the Guard spring??? Help please. Bob

J_Grasso said:

I am in the process of restoring mine from 1947. I can't find parts, schematic, or even the cord restraint. Does anybody know where I can find parts for this?

Click to expand...

Sorry for the late reply,

Here are the parts diagrams for the 825 and 825 Model 14

Skil 825
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4dbB1AeYWVMQjltTFVVS3pNYlU/view?usp=sharing

Skil 825 Model 14
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4dbB1AeYWVMeU1leldvNHAtM0U/view?usp=sharing

What parts do you need? Many of the parts are no longer manufactured, however, there is still a lot of NOS parts around.

If you can't find a NOS strain relief and aren't hoping for a 'factory' restoration, you can actually fabricate a new strain relief using a Leviton or Appleton double weave 1/2" cord grip with a bit of modification and additional fittings to reduce the threads. You will need to tap the threads on the saw body to accept the new grip and a reducer, but it is possible.

What I did with my 825 which had a broken grip was found a brass fitting to accept the spring and then taped the threads on the body of the saw to accept the new threads on the brass fitting.

As for the cord, I have used Skilsaw 95104L replacement cords for a lot of my restorations, as most the time I can find them locally and they are about the same price as ordering in a new cord when you consider shipping.

If you're just going to be using the saw at home and don't mind a 'non-factory' cord, you can just get some 12ga SOOW cord and a good Hubble cord cap.

If you need any help with your restoration or are looking for specific parts, feel free to message me.

Bigblockyeti said:

I'd love to be able to find some of that stuff too. I have an 825 and a 77 that both need an armature. Even if I could find one, it would likely not be worth it, I know it wouldn't be worth it to have either rewound. Every time I go looking for parts, I often end up just buying another saw. If well bought, they typically need a cord, maybe brushes, maybe 2-3 of the 5 bearings and a couple of oil seals then they're as good as new. If poorly bought, stuff will be broken that's not available anywhere.

Click to expand...

I definitely agree, if you can find a tool that needs a new cord, brushes, bearings or other common parts, finding parts isn't too bad, but once you start needing a new armature or field, the cost of restoration often times exceeds the value after restoration.

With that said, I have had some luck disassembling the armature and using enameled magnet wire to rewind the armature and then soldering the terminals and redipping the armature. It is definitely an art and takes a LOT of patience to accomplish, but it can be done if you have the time. The hardest part of rewinding is that you will need to rebalance the armature after rewinding.

Just my two cents.

restore49 said:

Thanks for the helpful article! My Model 87 is now rebuilt and running fine except I can not figure the steps to install the Guard spring??? Help please. Bob

Click to expand...

I have not done a model 87 yet, but looking at your picture of the guard, it looks pretty similar to the 825, without the guard bearing retention plate, as your guard doesn't have screw access holes to remove a retention plate.

Likely, the assembly will be pretty similar, you will need to screw the bearing into the guard, then put the spring into one of the slots on the inside of the bearing, wind the guard, then press the bearing in while maintaining tension on spring. Once its in, it should hold.

Could you post some pictures of the saw body and the inside of the bearing, as this would be greatly helpful in helping walk you through the reassembly process.

Thanks - Assembled without worm gear shaft in the way and used a pick to reach in and tension index spring to correct hole.

Nice. My "vintage skilsaw restoration" only involved putting on a newer, longer power cord, a new blade, and some oil. Maybe I did a real quick wipe down.

BreeStephany said:

Sorry for the late reply,

Here are the parts diagrams for the 825 and 825 Model 14

Skil 825
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4dbB1AeYWVMQjltTFVVS3pNYlU/view?usp=sharing

Skil 825 Model 14
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4dbB1AeYWVMeU1leldvNHAtM0U/view?usp=sharing

What parts do you need? Many of the parts are no longer manufactured, however, there is still a lot of NOS parts around.

If you can't find a NOS strain relief and aren't hoping for a 'factory' restoration, you can actually fabricate a new strain relief using a Leviton or Appleton double weave 1/2" cord grip with a bit of modification and additional fittings to reduce the threads. You will need to tap the threads on the saw body to accept the new grip and a reducer, but it is possible.

What I did with my 825 which had a broken grip was found a brass fitting to accept the spring and then taped the threads on the body of the saw to accept the new threads on the brass fitting.

As for the cord, I have used Skilsaw 95104L replacement cords for a lot of my restorations, as most the time I can find them locally and they are about the same price as ordering in a new cord when you consider shipping.

If you're just going to be using the saw at home and don't mind a 'non-factory' cord, you can just get some 12ga SOOW cord and a good Hubble cord cap.

If you need any help with your restoration or are looking for specific parts, feel free to message me.

Click to expand...

Phenomenal restoration Bree. Great work.
Hoping that you might be able to help me out with my own 825. Upon reviving it, I discovered that the trigger assembly needed to be replaced. I can not find anything/anywhere online to order it from and don't want to 'chance it' with a random part. Any tips?
Thank you.

restore49 said:

Thanks - Assembled without worm gear shaft in the way and used a pick to reach in and tension index spring to correct hole.

Click to expand...

Does your model 87 have the original 9 inch blade? From the looks of it in you're picture the print on the side of your blade is still visible. I too just picked up a model 87 with what looks like the original blade. no one seems to make a 9 inch blade with a diamond knock out.All that seems available is a 8 1/4" blade now a days