Gas Powered Skill Saw

Gas Powered Skill Saw

Chain Driven Skill Saw - Why?

I had to clean up my work shop...

...the first thing I came to was a Poulan Chain Saw that my dad had used for a season, but it never really ran properly. He'd had it back to the dealer, and was informed that it was a disposable unit. We both tried cleaning out the carb and jets.

That was over 10 years ago, and still it sits under my bench, being moved to get at some box of parts or to shelter something else from dust. It should be noted that a chain saw is a poor substitute for a dust cover. I had to either fix the damn thing or pitch it in the land-fill. I won't go into the sad state of our consumer bound society or the benefits of Pack-Rat tendencies.

Suffice it to say I had to figure out what the problem was. After carefully disassembling the air breather and carburetor, I started to poke at the intake manifold to get a better look at the reed valve. The instant I pulled the manifold off, I knew exactly what the problem was.

A torn gasket was allowing the engine to suck air, under the manifold. A clean dark line fanned out across the machined grey steel scribing the path the offensive non-fuel enriched atmosphere had followed. Gasket material, gasket material... ... I had to get some gasket material, maybe a cereal box soaked in sealant would do it. It took me about 15 minutes to collect my thoughts enough that I had a barely used gasket kit no more than 3 (three) feet away.

It's not often you need the stuff, but it's such a rare feeling of satisfaction when you can lay your hand on the very object you need, when you need it.

I carefully hammered out a perfect duplicate of the original, less the break, and slapped the carb back into place. Set the jets to the factory turns and filled the tank with fresh gas.

After 3 or 4 quick pulls the Saw kicked to life, and screamed like it just came off the line. As I already have a chain saw that I'm very happy with, my head started to swim with visions of a Go-Kart for the kids, or a powered Hang Glider, maybe even a 1/2 scale remote controlled Gyro Copter.

Ultimately I settled on the idea of a Gas powered skill saw, due to it's practicality and the fact that I had a dead skill saw that had been tortured beyond it's limit cutting framing from an old S15 4X4 that had an unfortunate altercation with our tractor.

I'll spare you the details of trial and error that married the Black & Decker to the Poulan, but the baby that resulted sure looked cute. The chain tracked nicely and the steel cutting disk sang as I'd rev-up the motor.

It even worked for awhile sliding through roofing steel and sheet metal. I have to be honest, though as it simply wasn't up to the task of 1/4" plate, as the internal drive gears simply tore each other to smooth disks lacking the bite to even spin the cutting blade.

Back to General Workshop Projects