On 1/18/2018 2:01 PM, Electric Comet wrote:
mine is a skil saw from the 70s i think

seems to run fine

am curious because i wonder if they can become unsafe to use in the
electrical sense and what to do besides replacemnt

guessing that replacement parts might be hard to come by

Oldest still in active use would be B&D 1/2" drill in press that had
been around quite a while when I was a pup...I'd guess it dates from
mid-50s; certainly had been in the shop for a number of years by time I
finished HS in '63; I don't remember ever _not_ having it.

There are several others of roughly same vintage in hand drills, saws,
etc. The small B&D saw is one of "go to's". All that's been done to
any of 'em replace power cords and a couple of bearings that I know of.

As long as internals don't fail as in wearing out or breaking gears,
etc., what's to do?

Oh, I did replace the power switch on the saw a few years ago...a
close-enough match to fit was in the selection at the local Ace; of
course there are no actual parts available.

The latter bugs me immensely as I have at least three 3x24 belt sanders
(B&D 7440 iirc) that have the motor mounted _between_ the wheels so the
balance is better than anything on the market today. Unfortunately, the
drive gear matching the end of the rotor wears out and there are no
replacements available any longer (nor have been for 20+ yr now) and
haven't been able to find anything on open source that fits. Having one
machined was excessively expensive altho that raises the recent question
of what might be done with new 3D printer technology? Maybe I'll take
one in to the local community college machining class and see what they
can do...

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