I had the same problem. i first blew the motor out with compressed air while it was still installed, it started up once then failed on the second try. I took the motor off the saw, and unscrewed the plastic housing and blew it out again, there was hardly any particles left but upon reassembly it started working as new. Minimal use on this machine, my father-in law had it for 15 years, said he used about 10 times; I've used it for four light bookcases, a bat house and a bed frame. Not a lot of built up funk in the motor, my guess is that these just need some attention TLC every 20 years or so..