BOLTR: Skillsaw 77 | Made in USA vs. CHINA 

My college professor told me that there is no engineering skill required to design something that works. The skill is to design something that barely works.

I'm actually restoring that exact era Model 77 Skilsaw sometime next year! This will help on the teardown.

Watching the Essential Craftsmen gives me the warm and fuzzies like everything's going to be alright. Just tuck you into bed like.

That ND bearing stands for “New Departure”. Their bearings were also used in the bigger 1940s-1950s Craftsman power tool motors (drill press, table saw, etc) made by Packard Electric.

Essential Craftsman and AvE are my two favorite channels!!! And they're fans of each other! Quality knows quality!

"Focus you fa..thank you" You've changed man.

After watching about 60 Boltr videos and getting to know Unkle B and being a lifetime carpenter (including a "stripper) I have to say this 'vijaayo' gave me a fulfilled appreciation Unkle B. and left me compelled to give him a shout out and thumbs up support for bringing this content. I knew I was onto something special about 30 vids in when my wife catches me in front of the '"confuser" procrastinating those manly duties AGAIN and surprises me with her reaction. As I sat there in guilt once again most certainly looking like a dog in shame and paralyzed by my conscience cringing in remorse expecting the shameful feeling as the door closes and her eyes quietly share disappointment with that "really??" look she surprises me and tosses me a bone and quietly sits down and begins to watch with me. My first thought is one of suspicion and thankfully I did not "let the smoke out" by sharing that because as she sat through 4 back to back vids with me. Sitting there in blissful awe my mind raced with many thoughts and in a rare moment of clarity wisdom prevailed understanding I just need to continue keeping mouth shut. Her enjoyment was genuine evidenced each moment I caught her laughing along side me and when it was over and I thought I was at the apex she delivers the hat trick and confirms her approval with a indirect statement. As the door closed she states that she believes Unkle B is my kindred spirit. Translated as the dude is cool:) Thanks Unkle B! You have validated my existence and proven once and for all to my friends and family that I am not an anomaly and they can take me out in public and leave the masks at home...hahahaha Peace Out-Unkle K

That's why I drink my scotch in one night, don't want it to evaporate through the cork.

Essential Craftsman referred to AvE as a certain Canadian who takes tools eah-part.

C'mon man, I was about to start studying for an enginerding final. EDIT: I probably got about an 80%? EDIT the second: Got an 87%, woooooooooooooooo

The intermission was hilarious and also extraordinarily accurate. 10/10

my workbench looks similar to yours. Haven't actually seen the top of it in years. When I see yours, I feel better about myself. Thank you!

My observation is that old gear like this had variations of "safety factors" or parts that varied between 1% and 300%. Some parts were going to inevitably wear/break while others were heavily overbuilt. Modern design/manufacturing keeps that safety factor down to a consistent 10% or so, keeping price competitive while having enough margin for average use.

For the broken saw, you should run it till it breaks and see what fails. See if the broken nut fully breaks or something else goes first.

The essential craftsman is also how I found your channel and now I've spent the past 4 months watching your videos!

I love watching your videos! I've learned so dang much and had a lot of fun doing it. You're a fantastic teacher. Thanks, peace!

As a proud commercial construction estimator I take offense to your accurate description of our esteemed value engineering processes.

Wise decision Intermission video was priceless.

You're passion for machining is inspiring.

AvE and essential craftsman wiring together, I like it

Give the tool some nice big ass visible ding on the case so it's still perfectly usable but not returnable to a store. Like, mill AVE on the side with the bridgeport or something like that

The Essential Craftsman, what a great channel!

I'm so glad the two of you master RU-vidrs are plugging each other. You're both brilliant. He's just a touch more safe for the kids. Until he throws that running chainsaw toward his feet!

I loved this video so much. Your commentaries are LOL funny. That framing guy insert was just wonderfully entertaining. Thanks

AvE and Essential Craftsman are a couple of my favorite channels here. I always appreciate videos like this where one channel responds to another.

Maybe the magnesium base not bending is a feature? I'd say it'd be better to have a few chunks missing than to have the base all cattywompus.

Love the channel!! Not a engineer but can’t stop watching the tear downs! Good work boss 👍🏻👍🏻

Going through some of your older videos, so much good stuff to find.

I love how you guys are doing the reviews like this. Good way to link it all together.

Tools like that are the reason smart boys didn't pick bar fights with older timey tradesmen. One punch by a guy who used that beast would knock a water buffalo into next week. Who needs a fucking gymnasium or health club when every fucking tool weighs 25 pounds or more?!?!

Email a picture of the broken nut with an explanation to their marketing department with a clickbaity title such as "Your Skillsaw will kill you!"

This video was the one where i found out about Essential Craftsman. I've since watched every single one of his videos lol. Great channel.

Knowing that the new saw is already garbage, you should do a torture test until it blows up. Find out if it fails at the cracked gear nut or if something else let's out the magic blue smoke.

“That’s when men were men and sheep were scared” 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Good call on the defective saw! You did the right thing. And thanks for another informative video! I always enjoy watching your work. Years ago my father owned a armature manufacturing facility (back before the politicians sold us down a river). We manufactured new units, as well remanufactured units. I don't know about other facilities, but we only inked the steel laminations on remanufactured armatures, and not the new ones. Blue, just like the one depicted from the USA saw. I inked many of them! back in the day. I can still smell the ink from the pad we rolled them on.

Man, I moved away from the Pacific Northwest 18 years ago, and I just now realized when you said it that I haven't heard anyone call the ol work truck a crummy since then. Guess it's just not a thing on the east coast. Crazy the waves of nostalgia I got just from that one word.

The triumvirate (Essential Craftsman, AvE and Handtool Rescue) are singlehandedly together going to drive up to price of the Skil 77 saw. Get 'em while they are still cheap!

I’m glad you found that intermission video. Minnesota proud.

That's awesome it was through his channel that I found your channel.Great stuff man, you are a beast.

Took a break from the RU-vid but this sir is comedic gold, the intermission was epic. I too found the silver-haired Craftsman In trying to learn a thing or two and was hooked. You're both great educators. Thanyou.

No mileage in alerting the manufacturers to the issue and getting a new nut? Old nut out of circulation, new nut for the tool and a slight chance of design review. Win, win, win.

theres nothing worst than getting a hair around the top of your hammer.... especially if the wife finds it first

"The recipe is overexertion and gas station cookies."

That was a great objective look into that old (and the new) beast. Glad that you didn't get too sentimental about how things used to be. Great to see the engineering and machining involved but some of those modern touches are a plus.

send it along to the next guy but keep the box. Ain't no one taking back a skillsaw in a walmart grocery bag.

Essential Craftsman is an excellent channel!

Just finished a long shift at the hospital and watched this with a cold beer to unwind. Love your vidayos:)

Thanks for the name drop, just found my new favorite channel!

Just grind/mill AvE logo into the casing, that way it is not returnable item anymore and yet for a fan it doubled in value.

i'd like to see ya machine a replacement nut! surely this is with in the capabilities of the empire of dirt!

I think you should contact the company and complain about the broken parts

Damn you with that intermission, ye should give a fella fair warning, it nearly done did kill me, pepsi cola is for drinking not inhaling. Quality as ever.

My old boss always said.. the heat is in the tools. I never understood until I was freezing outside knee deep in construction. Lol

Found your channel from the @essential craftsmen. Haven’t stopped laughing during the lesson

I love how proud of the mess he is during the viggeo, especially when he goes to compare or show something up close, he just drops whatever was in the right hand. Even into a bunch of ancient, dirty tool blood. Fucking awesome comparison viggeo my friend!!

Nice tip o' the hat to the essential craftsman. I too enjoy his format and leasons.

I have the tool about middle of the two. Somewhat lighter, not a lot, than the old, more ergonomic to the hand but still WAY more durable than the new. I'll keep it. These tools were designed to last as long as you're willing to take care of it. Rebuildable. No new crap for me. I'm lookin for an older hole hog. :)

Intermission....’That laugh people do when they almost die.’ Hahaha. Wakes you up! Great review of the 77 I just bought. Skookum!

That is literally what it was like for me working as a framer for the first few houses. 100% exact representation of the job. I loved that job.

Thank you for turning us on to guys you like too sir! immense value and entertainment

ND bearing probably New Departure (Hyatt) Bearing most likely made in my home town of Sandusky, Ohio

📌🙋Ave just letting you know I love the things you do its nearly winter here and i suffer from s.a.d. 😢and the stuff you do take my mined off things and makes me feel better so thank you so much 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Love the intermission worked in hvac for 8 years in Minnesota and worked with CCC every day love it lmao

I have the next larger saw, the 825. It's a beautiful thing for sure! I love taking old tools apart. The worm drive Skilsaw is a wonderful machine and the one I like best on a framing job, but Porter Cable made many of the very finest and most expensive power tools in the USA back in the 1930s up into the 90s. Tear into a PC K series circular saw, or a worm drive "Take About" sander such as a 503, or a BB10 and you'll be amazed.

I just watched The Essential Craftsmanship do a first impression video a couple days ago on this saw and noticed he mentioned AvE... So I was hoping you'd do a dissection on it soon.

call skill saw directly and tell them about the quality control issue

AvE and Essential Craftsman, my two favorite channels!

It’s funny that I’ve been watching both of your channels for quite some time now and both of you have mentioned each other

I've commented before about these old Skil and Milwaukee worm drive saws. I love them, they're heavy, powerful and last a long time. BUT framing houses in the pacific northwest in the winter... yeah, that metal handle is the ground and the first raindrop that hits it, and you're going to be looking for the double insulated Makita hypoid.

Ah! haha! It’s on my hammer now. Bleh! 😩 Nothing worse than another man’s hair on your hammer. 🔨

Old vs new teardowns would be a good addition to your channel! We all loved seeing the difference 50 years makes.

this is the video where i learned of easily one of the best channels on the Tube. Essential Craftsman his channel is silly good. like its insane how great he is. watched EVERY video he has

The Killsaw I used today was less than 6 months old and the shaft bent on the common encounter of a knot in the wood.

Do you know what was an absolute nightmare to strip, speaking of old machinery. A 3 speed column shift Toyota corrola gearbox, shit was skookum, still worked after 50 years of sitting in a paddock but it was a pain to get apart and even worse getting back together. The bearings didn't pull with a normal puller, there was circlips needing unreasonable pressure. You'd think something that simple would be easy to pull apart but it took me forever

Great vid! Remove the cracked nut and place it on the Shelf of Broken Dreams. Send off the balance of parts as a basket case to a lucky winner, along with the part number of the nut needed to assemble the drive shaft. That way the recipient can reassemble it and use it.

Love the all-metal power tool action, my grandpappy left a bunch of them old all-metal sears roebuck power tools - most of em still work 30-40 years later... Some will give you a nice little shock - better than coffee! I've got a few crank drills and Yankee 30A's I've been thinking about restorating and bringing to work as a gag. When my mechanic tells me to drill 3/8" holes in some steel angle and I whip out the 'ol hand crank drill.. I'll either get a laugh or a wrench thrown at my head.

You want that weight so that it "falls" through the wood you're cutting.

Essential craftsman, I love his vids.

I’m a big fan of essential craftsman too. He is one of the reasons I’m got kinda good with a chain saw. I am also a big fan of yours I really enjoy you videos. Big hello from Ireland, keeping it in a vice 😆

I have a 1/2" drill of that vintage and construction. I think it was also alternate stock for the main drive for Gato class submarines. Handy for removing your wrists and knocking out moose, and as a bonus, ITS HEAVY.

Hey, I think I know why that powdered metal retaining nut is cracked. You tried to get it off by hitting it with some round stock and a hammer; the shock loading could have easily caused that crack.

the reaction to human smoo is priceless

awesome find I decided to set up a fabrication shop at home. complere wood shop , welding, sheet metal, forge, machining set ups. but a twist I have been on the hunt for vintage tools only easy to repair, often more accurate and durable. what's amazed me is how much I have already acquired in 6 months, I haven't even put the new shop building up yet and I'm over run in equipment for next to nothing in actual costs.

I love that you are friggin hilarious... AND I get material science lesson every time as well!

AvE could you do more head to head comparisons like this? New Makita vs. old. Post TTI Milwaukee vs. old.

Your bench looks like a diy open heart surgery.

Thanks for much needed laughs and expanding my vocabulary!! I love being knee deep in tools even though I'm a girlie girl...!! so glad I found your channel....

Thank you so much for that interlude, I about fell over laughing. It was exactly what I needed.

Send the nut back to the manufacturer and ask for a new one. Give 'em a link to the video. It's not accepting freebies if they legitimately owe you one because it was cracked on the brand new saw you purchased... I'd be interested to find out how common that problem is..

Knowing you, you tossed instructions 10 seconds in. But in case ya didn't is there a parts list to order a new nut. If not then sure trade it, if he will take it.

Liked for the Essential Craftman shoutout. Top notch guy. EDIT: Also a good vidjayo.

Scott has fantastic content. His musings on hard work are deep and smack of a truth you only understand after earning them through years of hard fought experience. Fortunately for us, he isn't stingy with his wisdom.

Are you refering to handtool rescue? I love his channel.

I completely agree. Scott the Essential Craftsman is a class act... But, he's no AvE!!!

The way you described cutting the stakes; I worked for a guy who was doing it exactly how you described. However, one day he caught the blade on his left hand between the thumb and index finger and it ripped its way up his arm and around a good 12 inches. He never had much use of his hand after that and he kept using that same Skil Saw for over 10 years.

Why can't I like every time I watch a video? Six start to finish watches later, I deserve an extra effing like!!!

AvE, Good call honoring your gut there. You could fix it or include the replacement part to whoever you give it to. That cracked pm nut isn't sold separately, but sold with the gears pre-installed, p/n 1619X07035. List price is $41 freedom, and can be found at list on amazon, free ship eligible. Saw as high as double that price from crooks elsewhere online so be careful. Why don't you just warranty the damn thing tho? Has a 1yr against defects and that sure as shit is a defect.

@29:15 : "Flimsy delrin" /tries to break it, can't Haha :)

Did my apprenticeship with a guy that was 67 years young, been in the business for over 50 years, learnt more from him in my tea break than most guys could teach you in a month.

My first saw was older than this one, (early '50's)got it second hand in the seventies, supposedly rebuild once before I got it. Used it at least 20 years. Compared to what they made later it was a gem.