80's Milwaukee sawzall (6507) question

[drmanhattan]

Hi there,

Apologies if this in the wrong thread. I recently picked up an old (80's I think?) heavy-duty Milwaukee sawzall model 6507(631B, I also think?). I grabbed it for $10 at an estate sale as I really just wanted the metal box but it came with the saw so I figured I could maybe tinker around with it and see if I can get it working again?

When I plug it in, the motor hums but the chuck doesn't move. I take it apart and pull the front end out and it looks like this is where the problem is. Using this video as a reference (granted it's a much older model than mine)

(he examines the piece I'm talking about at the 20:12 mark)

, it looks like the gear should easily spin and move everything around when it's working well. The gear on mine barely moves and nothing else does. I believe the top shaft is bent slightly, but, considering the bearing was machined at an angle so it works with the wobble plate, I can't 100% tell? Also, the part the guy in the video has conveniently has screws everywhere so his easily comes apart. My version appears more machined so, short of grinding stuff off, there's no way to get further into the mechanism.

I'm attaching pictures below if anyone has any thoughts about this and getting the chuck to move again. Again, my outlay was $10 so I may just grind into it anyway, toss the saw, and use the metal box as a toolbox like I originally intended.
Thanks

 

[JHuston]

Your Sawzall wobble mechanism is disassembled by removing the snap rings on the gear and wobble shaft bearing, then pressing apart. Your biggest issue is that the bushing in the intermediate plate that your shaft goes through is worn out, causing the shaft ( the one the chuck is attached to) to rotate out of alignment. That alone can cause jamming. Other than that, you may have a bad bearing.
-James Huston

 

[drmanhattan]

Thanks, James. I'll see if I can pry those rings off without resorting to cutting them.

 

[drmanhattan]

Blergh...update. Having sourced a new OEM bearing and wobble plate (as I had to cut through the bearing race on the old one with a dremel to get it out and, in the process, nicked the wobble plate a bunch) I find myself in the same place the previous owner left off.

The base of the wobble plate pops out of the shaft after a few turns. (see last picture above). The version of this sawzall on the video I posted has a tiny metal bracket screwed into the shaft that holds it in place (see timestamp 20:20). Mine does not and there are no holes in the shaft indicating that there ever was one.

So, at this point , just between the wobble plate and bearing, I'm twice into the sawzall what I paid for it. I don't own a drill press to modify the shaft to make a bracket so, unless anyone has any bright ideas (I can't imagine they made a variety of different sized wobble plates?) - uh, anyone want a greasy non-functionng sawzall to take a crack at? I'm keeping the case, however.

 

[bad_idea]

I suggest you find one with a bad motor and use it for parts. If you have the space, stick it in a bin until you run into another one down the road.

I have about 4 milwaukee angle grinders. My company deems them too cheap to repair. When one fails they buy another and toss the old one. I like to have three angle grinders on my weld table (at home). As one fails, I rummage through the bin and piece one together.

 

[JHuston]

Milwaukee has always been notorious for making subtle running changes to their products. It's critical to look up parts not only by the catalog number but by serial number as well.
What are the numbers on your saw? I'll try to figure out what you need to fix it.
-James Huston

 

[Bigblockyeti]

The snap ring is removed from the gear and that allows, first, the gear to be removed, then the remaining assembly (the wobble shaft, plate and spindle to all together be pressed out of the front of the bearing plate. The wobble plate will then fall out of the spindle. Your spindle is of the newer variety introduced sometime between late 84' and 86' and was done so to reduce the spindle to a single piece instead of having two screws and a dedicated ball socket for the wobble plate to rest in. The front of you wobble shaft appears to be either bent or broken as it doesn't look to be parallel with the large body of the wobble shaft, the two should be coaxial and when assembled into the case, it would certainly cause binding if it's even slightly bent. Someone had a cutaway video on YouTube at some time with zero grease in the case to demonstrate how everything works together. In my experience it was the single bearing in the wobble plate that usually failed as it was subject to sometimes extreme moment and thrust loads, next was the bearing the in the bearing plate as it handled all of the reaction forces of the spindle including the abuse these saws were often subject to. If you're already into the saw for ~$20 and the ball bearing in the bearing plate needs to be replaced, it's the exact same bearing as in the wobble plate, the wobble shaft shouldn't be too expensive, Milwaukee has it listed as $11.15 but no longer available directly from them. As previously mentioned, the rear spindle bearing also needs to be replaced and it's no longer available but was last listed at $1.14 when it was so NOS shouldn't be too expensive and I might have a used one laying around you could have if you're still trying to get the saw going.