Thread: It's Yard Sale... And Decision Time!!

So, it's that time of year! The community garage/yard sale is this weekend. The wife is in full-on "tornado mode", blowing through the house like a whirlwind. Things that haven't been used in [insert moving target here] amount of time find themselves at the eye of the storm; aka the staging area known as the living room.

One of the few things of mine that I volunteered without being told to do so was a few tools that were part of a "lot" that I got from the local auction house for pretty cheap. I mean, cleared half a table for $2-$4 cheap! Anyway......

Because of that lot, I have redundant circular saws. Having never owned a circular saw before, and these both being halfway to vintage, I could really use some help deciding which one to put out on the table for, I dunno... $20, O.B.O.?? And yes, they both work. I replaced the plugs on any of these tools that needed it, then tested all of them.

Details are in the pics below.

K-Mart saw.








Black and Decker saw.








I think they can both take a rabbit/guide thingy, but came with no such straight line cutting aide. I wonder when they were made? No obvious dates on them, that I could find.

So what do you think?

I look forward to your thoughtful responses!

Both are antiques, which means repairs in the near future (brushes or bearings). K-Mart hasn't subcontracted power tools for A LONG TIME,
so finding replacement parts for it will be a snipe hunt. Plus K-Mart was never known for their quality power tools. On the other hand, the B&D
has also seen it's better days and looks to be in need of some TLC (parts are still attainable). IMHO, let them both go and treat yourself to a
new circular saw (my fav is Porter Cable). There are some really nice cordless options out there with decent prices. If you must keep one, my
vote would be to keep the Black & Decker (with a strong recommendation to upgrade).

As for the rabbit/guide thingy, don't trust those for straight cuts. Learn to use straight edges and clamps to run your saw along if you want
truly straight cuts with a circular saw.

The K-Mart saw has a better base plate, one amp more power and a forward handle that is quite low. I doubt if you are about to start contracting so my guess is either of those will work for the occasional cut that you will be making. They are both pretty low end saws.

Originally Posted by RezDog

The K-Mart saw has a better base plate, one amp more power and a forward handle that is quite low. I doubt if you are about to start contracting so my guess is either of those will work for the occasional cut that you will be making. They are both pretty low end saws.

I like what Shaun said. Either will be fine & amazingly, some of those old saws you can still get parts for like brushes & bearings. If you don't do much woodwork then keep either one & sell one. I have one because once in a while I need one & after one was stolen from me, I had to borrow one. I found another one on the bay from one of the pawn shops that lists on there. I got it cheap & it has a carbide tooth blade on it too.

Like Shaun, I appreciate the base plate on the 1st one. Cut some boards with each. Which one do you like more?
I don't have anything except 4 similar old saws. I keep different blades on them for different uses.
They cut.
All I need them for!

Take and swap the blades between them, the one at the bottom has a carbide blade, the top one has a HSS plywood blade. Getting an HSS blade sharpened will cost some money as will a carbide blade, but the carbide will last a long time unless you cut through a nail or two... the HSS blade would be in pretty bad shape after an encounter with a nail.

Hands down, keep the 2HP if it runs fine, it has a decent base plate, just swap the blade. Don't buy a guide, they are not worth the money... if you need one, make a wooden guide you can clamp onto sheet goods. If you don't know how, ping me and I'll point you in the right direction... you *may* need help from someone with a decent tablesaw to cut one part.

Don't worry about parts.... your not going to get any, though any decent repair shop would be able to fit a pair of brushes to it, if worn out. Anything else, just get a new saw if you really need it.

Price for the old one.... around here, $20 would be too high.... But, it all depends on who's shopping and how bad they want a circular saw.

Regards

Kaptain "Shiver me splinters" Zero

Originally Posted by Panama60

Both are antiques, which means repairs in the near future (brushes or bearings). K-Mart hasn't subcontracted power tools for A LONG TIME,
so finding replacement parts for it will be a snipe hunt. Plus K-Mart was never known for their quality power tools. On the other hand, the B&D
has also seen it's better days and looks to be in need of some TLC (parts are still attainable). IMHO, let them both go and treat yourself to a
new circular saw (my fav is Porter Cable). There are some really nice cordless options out there with decent prices. If you must keep one, my
vote would be to keep the Black & Decker (with a strong recommendation to upgrade).

As for the rabbit/guide thingy, don't trust those for straight cuts. Learn to use straight edges and clamps to run your saw along if you want
truly straight cuts with a circular saw.

Agreed, but I would recommend Rigid instead of porter cable, personal preference and rigid is cheaper.

Thanks again for all the responses! Sorry it's taken me this long to get back about the base plate. The wife has kept me busy with the garage sale preparation.

This is the only significant deformation I could find on either base plate: (B&D)


And with a pen for an impromptu straight edge:


After weighing the responses, it seems that the pros and cons of the K-Mart vs. Black and Decker, they come out mostly even. It's power & 2nd handle versus brand & base plate .

Moral of the story: I opted to keep both. They are mostly even. And considering their age, it won't hurt to have a second one around ! Told the wife I was holding back both saws. She blinked at me & said "okay". I already added a couple tools that were either wholly redundant, or not usable for myself (like the Campbell Hausfeld 6" pneumatic orbital sander/polisher, which I have no system to run it on).