Question on old Skil saw

If it is a cap start motor, the cap may be dried out at this point. This will cause the motor to start slow until you hear the click of the switch cutting out the start cap. The wiring will be not problem and my favorite source for wire is old extension cords that have a bad far end on them or cut/rubbed sections in them. You can put on a short piece of cord as well as many saws and such come with just a 1' long cord on them.

-- Why do penguins walk so far to get to their nesting grounds?

If it has an AC/DC motor (what's typically called a "universal motor") then there is no capacitor start nor centrifugal switch. Universal motors are fairly simple devices: the only things to check are the brushes, the commutator, the windings, and the bushings/bearings.

From your description, I'd guess that you have two unrelated problems:

1. The power cord is bad (obviously).
2. Your bushings/bearings are gummed-up or varnished from old oil. That could account for the slow start.

Have you tried turning the blade by hand (with the saw unplugged of course)? If it feels stiff or has a lot of drag (like stirring molasses), then you might be able to solve the problem by disassembling, cleaning, and re-lubricating.

Of course, if this is the heavy-duty Skill saw with the worm gear drive, then the problem could be in the gearbox. The oil in there may have turned gummy, or there may not be much oil at all, or a previous owner may have packed it with sawdust.

- Michael

Try a temporary new cord first - a bad cord could cause it to have low voltage / current- causing it to wind up slowly. However, the chances are even better on that saw that you have a shorted armature. If you don't now, you WILL if you use it to cut metal. The chip exhaust is too close to the armature cooling air inlet. I've fried a good saw (shorted the armature) cutting aluminum. Now I only do it with ny Beaver table saw - with drip-proof motor mounted where it doesn't see many chips.

It's a "universal" motor, like all circular saws - so obviously no cap.

I have done a few of these. Take it apart. Clean well. Polish the armature. Replace the bearings and brushes. If a worm drive clean out the gear box and relube.

Bob AZ

The 825 is a worm drive saw....and I think Bob's advice should do it....These saws are pretty hard to kill !

Jeff

Thanks to all for the tips. I ended up taking it apart and attaching a temporary power cord. The coils measured less than one ohm, but both were about the same. It did nothing at first, but then I unplugged it and rotated the blade a bit, plugged it in, and it fired right up to high speed, like a circular saw should, sounded normal. Not sure if I have a bad spot on the commutator or not, or just needed to seat the brushes. I will go down to the repair depot next week to buy a replacement cord, and I should be in business.

It is different to be taking apart old equipment, with cloth insulation on the wires, everything built like a tank, etc. Not designed for ease of manufacturing, at least to my eyes. One of the surprises was that the trigger switch interrupted both hot and neutral, not just the hot side, but maybe that is more common than I think.

Richard

Richard Fergus> I bought an ancient Skil Saw for a few bucks, thinking that I was going

Get a longer cord and make it up as necessary. Ace hardware or the like. The two pole switch is probably because they needed just one switch type both for 110 and 220.

Bob AZ