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Skil Saws

yardiron

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Oct 9, 2014
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I got a knock on my door early this morning, an old woman down the road who walks every morning had left three old saws on my porch for me. She said the guy down the road had passed away last fall and his grandson had moved into the house. She said the first thing they did was start throwing things away.

There are two Skil Worm Drive saws, an HD5860 and a 77, and a Skil 553 circular saw. All three work fine, the 553 is missing the lower blade guard though.
She came back a few hours later with a box of new blades, and tonight with a box of hand tools. She said she asked why he was throwing all the tools away and he told her that 'old tools' are dangerous, he didn't want any saws in the house to get hurt with. I took a walk down there myself and went right back with my truck and went right back. I picked up an old hip roof Craftsman tool box mostly full of Proto tools, a 1/2" Skil hand drill, a newer Skil 3/8" drill, and two 6ft wood step ladders, a pile of garden tools, a Sharp portable shortwave radio, an older JVC stereo receiver, two JBL and two old Dynaco speakers, a Maple writing desk, two old English made Robin Hood bikes, several buckets of nuts and bolts, boxes of new nails and staples, and a smaller tool box full of files, chisels, and hacksaw blades. I basically took all the tools and anything I thought was interesting. My shed and back porch are packed and I still have stuff in my van. The kid just dragged all the old guys stuff out to the curb and went to work.
All the tools work fine, they're not new but there's nothing wrong with anything he threw away. Another neighbor told me that he had grabbed a pair of taxidermy mounts from the 50's that the same kid tossed out last week. he guy was an avid hunter and fisherman, I'm wondering now how much fishing tackle I may have missed too.

Does anyone know if a lower blade guard can still be gotten for the 553? I seem to recall Sears sold some under the Craftsman name back then too?
 

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Bigblockyeti

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Damn, that's quite the score! Can't help you on the lower blade guard, I would imagine frequent ebay searches would be your best bet.

That's a shame about gramps old stuff, sounds like he could have netted legal thousand $$$ with a little time and some good pictures posted for sale on the usual suspects.
 

jonshonda

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Get your *** down there and flash a little cash around for the kid to see, and clean up for him!
 
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yardiron

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Oct 9, 2014
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NJ
This is another saw from the same place, I wasn't sure if this one worked or not, it had an old braided cord that was falling apart to the point the wires were completely bare and shorting on the relief spring. I hobbled on a temporary cord and gave it a try, the thing runs great but the switch sticks a bit, there's a few second delay where it stays running after you let off the switch. Most likely just needs a little cleaning up.
The blade is even still sharp, although its only a plain steel blade.
I think this one will need a complete tear down and service, there's nothing broken on it, it just needs a new cord, some cleaning, and likely a gear box oil change.
The model on this on is an 825.
 

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Bigblockyeti

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That's a great saw and a tear down just to clean it up wouldn't be a bad idea. I would double check the armature and spindle oil seals as older one made from rawhide that have sat idle for a long time can leak constantly. Modern replacement are available if they're leaking. The switch can't be reliably disassembled but it can be cleaned with compressed air and a tooth brush. I typically use liquid wrench vs. WD-40 while cleaning and try to leave as little as possible behind. I've only had WD-40 ignite on me once and that was enough to keep flammable lube out of switches.
 

KnurledNut

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That 5860 is a 8-1/4 saw. Looks like someone put a 7-1/4 blade on it. Its a bulletproof old saw.
 
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James-W

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Some of those old saws are better built than some of the new ones. They will need some TLC but once you get them all cleaned up they should give many more years of service.
 

Miss the Pontiacs

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I had originally glanced at the title and thought you were looking for pics of Skil Saws. So when out in the garage today I took a pic of mine. Once I opened the thread I actually found out about your good luck/find. Well I’m not going to waste my pic of my Skil Saw so here it comes :lol_hitti
 

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yardiron

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There's a stack of blades that came from the same place, everything from 4 1/2" up to 12" including a couple of brand new Oldham and Skil branded blades. Not all have the diamond center knockout though.

I've not been able to catch the kid that lives there yet, he not been around any time I went up there, but the old woman next door did drag an early 50's era 8" Craftsman table saw and motor out of his trash pile earlier today. She showed up here with it behind her garden tractor in a trailer, along with a Craftsman 1/3 sheet sander, a "Sears Best" Craftsman jig saw, and about 30 pipe wrenches. She said he threw away a pile of patio furniture that she kept for her self. She also brought down a bunch of old paintings the kid threw away that the old man had painted himself. The old guy apparently was a bit of an artist too. Most of the paintings are of WWII ships and aircraft as seen from a carrier.
The most disturbing thing she showed me that he tossed in the trash were all the guys old photo albums, one was all from his time in the Navy, another was all family pics, some looking to be from the 30's or older. Who throws away family picture albums???

I've been replacing the T111 siding on my one shed all week, I've been using the 5860 and the 553 to cut. The 553 is a strong saw too, but the missing blade guard is a real pain but I've just been flipping it over when I set it down.
The 5860 has been cutting the T111.
I did change the gear lube in the 5860, I got a tube of the original Skil worm drive lube from HF.
 
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yardiron

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NJ
Some more pics of tools from the same trash pile

A Skil jig saw, two Black and Decker drills, and an older Black and Decker circular saw in a homemade wooden case. The saw looks hardly used.
These all work as found, other than the die grinder needing a new cord due to some cracking of the outer casing on the cord. Its sort of like a Dremel but super heavy duty looking. The die grinder says Chicago Wheel & Mfg. Co. on the but end in fine cast in print.
 

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WisJim

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Glad you are rescuing all these tools. I'd say that the neighbor lady deserves a nice meal out or yard help or something to show appreciation for bringing those first tools to you.
 
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yardiron

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I think the woman who brought the tools down to me was friends with the original owner there. She told me she feels its such a waste of all that he accomplished there seeing the grandson just rip it all apart and toss out all his things.

Myself I just can't understand why anyone would just throw away good tools, let alone anything that has family history.
The old guy who owned all this stuff is probably rolling in his grave. I'm only listing the major items here that came this way since last week, the full list would take pages.
 

XJPat

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Nov 28, 2015
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Central Jersey, Merica
Living in NJ, I too have gone for a walk only to quickly return for a vehicle and then to go "shopping."

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
 
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yardiron

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Oct 9, 2014
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NJ
Over the past few years most of what I've found out for the trash has been right in my own neighborhood. Its usually a matter of beating the scrap guys to it.
In the past few weeks, I've been pretty amazed at what some people will throw out. I would think that with money being tight lately people would at least try to get a few dollars for stuff rather than tossing it in the trash.
 
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