Smaug Ichorfang wrote:
| Smaug jumps in just as others are losing interest...
|
| My Dad was a manager at a Mongomery Wards. Had his choice of hand
| and power tools, and could get them *much* under retail. Other
| than some inexpensive hand tools, all his tools - hand tools, power
| tools, etc. - were from Sears. This was back in mid-60's early
| 70's when even Monkey Wards had decent stuff. He spent a lot of
| time using his RAS, and did a lot of tinkering with it. I don't
| know what the original motor was, but I *think* he replaced it (may
| have been original) with a 110/220 (voltage was selected by
| changing a jumper) and rewired the garage for 220. He said that
| 220 provided more torque and the motor ran more quietly. He also
| added a DC brake/clutch. The only problem I can remember was that
| it had one of those funky little metal "safety keys", which he
| would remove to prevent my brothers and I from using the saw when
| he wasn't around. He lost the key (Ha!) and replaced the switch
| with a more conventional heavy- duty snap-action switch. By that
| time he could trust us not to cut our fingers off (at least not
| more than once...).
|
| Wish I still had that saw, I think would still be going strong.
| The stuff I have now is decent; can't really afford the higher
| quality power tools. But then you learn a lot when you have to
| "make do".

Not losing interest - I just don't have the machine from Sears...

Too bad your Dad didn't bring home the ToolKraft RAS. Mine came from
the Monkey Wards store in Poughkeepsie and hasn't had a problem in
over thirty years of (moderate) use and being hauled around the
country...

....and it's probably only fair to mention that the Craftsman band saw
and shaper bought about the same time have given similarly good
service.

It just ocurred to me that some of my old tools have seen more miles
than board feet. :-)

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/solar.html