power tool restoration inquiry

[BreeStephany]

Just wanted to throw out an inquiry about a tool I am restoring to get peoples opinions. Feel free to give me your input.

I recently purchased a 1948 Skil 127 20A 12" worm drive beam saw that I am in the process of ripping down, cleaning and reassembling. My inquiry is this

Should I powder coat the saw or should I polish the saw. The saw has a solid aluminum body and a steel shoe. From looking at the cleaner parts of the saw, it looks to have been bare unpolished but smooth aluminum, which was pretty standard for Skil tools of that period, however, I am looking at restoring the saw for use rather than display or collectibility, and for that reason, restoration back to original is not a major priority as much as condition the saw to a point in which it will last the longest.

I know that with polishing, I wouldn't have to worry about paint scratching, chipping or fading, but at the same time, polishing it would be QUITE labor intensive given the overall size of the machine. If I polish it, I would still have to either coat the shoe in lacquer or have it powder coated to protect it from rusting.

I know that powder coating, though extremely durable, does ultimately have a life to it, and will scratch, chip, and eventually fade from everyday use. The benefit of powder coating is that it would protect the aluminum from corrosion and oxidation, furthermore, the powder coating would work on the shoe as well. Due to the age of the saw and overall condition, it has quite a few hard scratches that couldn't be buffed out, but could easily be filled in by having it powder coated.

If I have it powder coated, I would have it done in anodized silver, which is almost exactly the same color as the original Skil silver paint used in the 60's and 70's on all of their power tools.

What are everyone's thoughts on it?

 

[Provincial]

Remember, if you powder coat a part, it has to be baked at a pretty high temperature. That means that you can't leave anything like field windings installed. You have to get it disassembled into bare metal parts.

 

[Joe B.]

If you are just going to use it, why bother with anything fancy. Just clean it up and use it. If there are surfaces that could be victim to corrosion, just hit them with some spray paint.

 

[rsanter]

Blast the aluminum with glass beads or steel shot. That will leave a smooth finish similar to original.
Protect threaded parts before blasting

The base would be cad plated. Either plate it or use steel shot

Bob

 

[2oolhound]

I'd say polish the aluminum. It will last a long time and look great. I hope people aren't too sick of seeing my little grinder but here it is again:

It's 2 years now since it was buffed and it still looks great. I'd powder coat the steel which will rust but just buff and polish the aluminum and it will last longer than any paint surface. No other finish coating is required. Check out all the old motorcycles you see on the streets. Most people just buff the aluminum parts on em because any finish coat will discolour eventually.

 

[BreeStephany]

Remember, if you powder coat a part, it has to be baked at a pretty high temperature. That means that you can't leave anything like field windings installed. You have to get it disassembled into bare metal parts.

Yeah, I plan on doing a complete restoration, which means stripping it completely down and reassembling. Trying to paint or polish while its assembled would not only look like hell, but would be a true pain to mask everything, furthermore, would be near impossible to get it clean enough for either coating or polishing.

I just got my 1959 Skil 100 7.5A 3" Power Plane back from the powder coaters. I am quite happy with how it looks and with the quality of the finish, but I'm not sure if this is what I would want to do for the saw.