This restoration was on a 1940s "The Model" swing saw made by Irvington Machine Works of Portland, Oregon, USA. I was unable to locate a specific patent related to this saw, but swing saws were popular even in the late 1800s in sawmills and lumber yards for quick cross-cutting.

The swing saw was sent to me by a viewer after he purchased it in an auction in Minnesota, USA. Once I saw it, I knew I had to have it. The danger level is too high for it not to be mine!

For this restoration I needed to remake a brass angle indicator through acid etching. I also had to create a custom bushing for the saw blade as the saw arbour is an odd size. The machine tags on both the saw and the original electric motor were left alone with only a little clean-up. All other parts were completely disassembled, de-rusted, sandblasted and painted.

The saw arbour had more modern roller bearings whereas all other bearing surfaces used babbitt. Luckily they all seem to be in good enough shape as to not need repair or replacing.

The new saw blade for this tool is one with a negative rake. This means the teeth of the blade are hooked in a backwards direction in relation to the the direction of spinning. Negative-raked teeth on circular saw blades are the safest choice for swing saws, radial arm saws, and sliding miter saws as they have less of a chance of grabbing the wood and driving saw toward your body and face.

Personally, I find this tool to be one of the most terrifying to use out of all the ones in my collection.

I would like to thank Evapo-Rust for sponsoring this video.

Wrenches are now for sale at www.handtoolrescue.com

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Podcast (with Jimmy DiResta and Andrew Alexander) - https://anchor.fm/fitzall