10-1/4" SuperDuty Skilsaw Model 860

[jimmj43]

It's been a real workhorse. I think I injured it ripping some full-dimension, long, old, and well-weathered maple planks. It got hot and showed a little smoke. Just a whiff told me it was electrical and not just the blade + heat + resin. I took it apart and found a couple of fried commutator inserts, To its credit, the saw still runs! But I don't want to push my luck. I know it's old and Google has proven fruitless in finding a parts source, never mind a parts breakdown. I found one picture with Google Images:

2 X 10-1/4" Super Duty Skilsaws

I'd be grateful if someone could point me to an "old" tool parts shop.

Thanks

[UtahAV]

Hi jimmj43,

Bummer about your old saw. Those old Skilsaws sure are work horses.
Open up the saw and inspect the armature and field for damage. I am guessing that the armature probably has some melted insulation. You won't have much luck finding parts for your saw as they have been discontinued for years. I did do a quick search on Google for "armature rewinding" and found several shops. I am sure that you could send off the armature and/or field to have them rebuilt. You will just need to decide how much you are willing to spend. I can see the bill adding up pretty quickly.

Good luck with your repair and let us know how it works out.

-UtahAV
-Mark

[jimmj43]

...but with one [possible] detour: Parts interchangeability. That is... maybe the armature out of a Skil wormdrive saw might do the trick for me.<--NOT optimistic. The rewinding idea hit me earlier today as I was eyeing my home-made table saw that I built from scratch just for the Skillsaw. I'll look for motor rewinding shops online, but first I'm gonna try something. There are two, adjoining, obviously over-heated copper bars in the commutator group. I'm going to try clipping the wires that are common to those two burned bars. It'll for sure cost me a bit of ooomph, but if I can subdue the bright blue arc-light effect I now get when I apply power, and smooth it out by removing the shorted windings from the circuit, I might be able to get some more useful mileage out of it. BTW, no cheezy sheet metal or aluminum baseplate either. I'm almost certain it's magnesium! Talk about "tough"!

Now to start a new thread with another *OLD* workhorse: A 3/4" B&D drill that predates the use of a model number!

And thanks for the response.