Help identifying a vintage craftsman saw

[nglauer]

Hi! This is my first post, after hours of searching online i stumbled across a post and linked to this site. After reading some of the really cool garage threads i thought i would join this community. First, a little back ground on me. I am 34 and recently purchased my grand parents property. My garage is stuffed full of old tools and junk, as my grandfather was a retired union carpenter and all around craftsman... who kept everything apparently from the 40's till around 2004 lol. He could build just about anything and spent quite a bit of time fabricating or wood working in his shop. The building/garage is roughly 35x80 (estimate) and has two 9' garage doors on the front and two 9' on the backside. It is a two car garage in the front with a folding wall that opens into a small shop in the middle, allowing the garage to be expanded to accommodate 4 cars parked 2x2 deep. The rear section has a man door, two 9 x 10 doors (estimate) some industrial racks, misc. cabinetry, and a few rolling work bench/cabinets. As i slowly sift through the mess, i hope to find some hidden treasures and make room for my own stuff. My goal is to add a few windows, replace the garage doors, and part ways with anything that i can't use or need. I plan on keeping all of the tools, but i do have one that is baffling me. It is some type of saw with a craftsman motor. It currently has a cutting disk on it and was sitting beside a vintage Kalamazoo metal bandsaw. Any help identifying it and it's use is greatly appreciated. Please pardon the mess, grandpa kept everything.... but eventually i will have this back section of the garage turned into a nice usable space.

Kind regards,
Nick

 

[nglauer]

Here are a few more pictures. Again, i havent had time to sort, organize, or part ways with anything yet. Hopefully I will have enough out of the way, including the left red industrial rack to accomidate a boat next season, my hobby tractors, and some of the wood working tools from the upper shop. Grandpa also had a 2 story metal pole building with 3 garage doors and stuff packed to the ceilings on more industrial racks. I will try to post some exterior pictures and more interior pics of the other parts of the garage, although.. fair warning.. it looks like something from one of those hoarding shows lol.

 

[nglauer]

Well... its a little difficult to navigate the site from my phone (via tapatalk), but i actually found a craftsman catalog from 1961 on here.. which shows this as a "swing saw". Anyone own one? Silly questions.. but... can i safely cut metal with the type of disk thats on there? Do i pull it towards me to cut? Or pull it out and let is swing back inward? I have a craftsman mitre saw and a craftsman radial arm saw. What advantage would i have if any with a swing saw? Thanks again.

Nick

 

[Faisal]

hi

i found your swing cut off say in 1941 catalog ,nice find my friend

 

[Scimonetti]

Here is what my 54 Craftsman saw catalog says.

Also here is a manual.http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/222/5975.pdf
Check the model number to make sure this is the right one.

 

[Faisal]

Here is what my 54 Craftsman saw catalog says.

Also here is a manual.http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/222/5975.pdf
Check the model number to make sure this is the right one.

its difficult to find the right picture without model number ?also the pictures are not clear

by the way i have 54 catalog and i didn't see the same picture ?i found in 54 this one

 

[Scimonetti]

I don't know about the model number, age or anything, I was just showing a picture of the later models that adjust on the column.

I included the saws catalog/manual to give him an idea of how they work.

 

[Stuart in MN]

There was a discussion a few months ago about Craftsman swing saws: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=280285

 

[nine4gmc]

Cool but scary!

 

[nglauer]

Thank you for all of the help. I havent used it, but i believe my grandfather used it to cut some of the metal for the racks in the garage. He didnt have any of the uprights for the industrial shelves, so he cut and modified the side pieces to work. I believe he may have also used this swing saw to cut the metal channel he used to make his utility trailer.

Thank you again! It has always baffled me.. glad to have the help!