My kids were mystified. A GASOLINE POWERED CIRCULAR SAW?! What kind of freakish, medieval, bizarre implement of doom is this?! Obviously humans did not live in the realm of 18 and 20 volt battery powered tools 50 years ago so when something needed to be portable and able to be operated well outside the scope of electricity, it got a gasoline engine. There are still houses in Amish country that use gasoline powered washing machines. You can spot the exhaust pipes exiting the walls of houses down in PA and in other areas where those folks live.
Outside of the obvious reasons regarding uniqueness, the other thing that captured my attention here was the fact that this circular perfectly matches the chainsaw my dad had (and likely still has) which dates from exactly this same area. In fact, the handle side of this saw is identical to his chainsaw, which makes sense as modifications to the drive would allow it to be used to power this circular saw as well.
This is not a full restoration video. Rather this is a “clean it up and get it running” video and it is fun to see this little engine come apart, get fixed, and then fire up to saw wood by the end of the video. The beauty of these old tools is that they were very well made and the only thing that gets to them is the march of time.
These tool restoration videos have me hunting for an old chainsaw or something to bring back from the dead. Fun stuff and it is workbench zen for sure.
Echo and Stihl still make gas powered drills.
You would probably like the Mustie1 youtube channel. Guy is into old VW’s but will drag anything home he finds and gets it running…He just did an old Honda Trail 70.