davidbradley360
ArboristSite Operative
I bought a beat up David Bradley saw 5.8 cubic inch for $37 shipped, just to get the pullstarter assembly. This saw has to be the saddest looking example of a blue Sears David Bradley in existence. Many of the original flathead bolts were missing, replaced with hex head bolts. The remaining flathead screwdriver headed bolts were so worn, they looked like it had been apart 1000 times, some bolts were bent and wobbled in when turned, or tops mashed that they would not accept a screwdriver. Washers installed on the bottom handle bolts were worn flat from being set on the ground so many times.. It was shipped to me with the wrong chain that didn't even fit the bar, with loose parts and bolts inside the bottom cover- and had a homemade air filter on it. The clutch shoes were seized fast to the drum, and pulling the pullstart was very difficult as it turned the gear drive and chain sprocket too. The tip of the bar had visible blue/black marks from overheating and chain being too tight or no lube. The killswitch was replaced and jury rigged with taped wires, a switch from another saw swapped in. The spark plug wire end boot came off in my hand, and spark plug was covered with carbon. Removing the flywheel, the points had huge craters burned into them the entire diameter of the contact area, on both contacts- and someone bent the points box cover holddown arm 90 degrees. Removing the gear drive side cover, 6 fiber teeth on the driven gear were chipped and worn badly, but still engaged. The steel chain oiler line was crushed closed near the outlet fitting.
I removed the pullstart and was putting it on the "good" saw, when much to my surprise, noticed the "good" saw had boogered up keyway slot on the crank, and either needs a new crankshaft or welding/machining to fix the keyway. So I thought no problem, pull the crank from the beat up donor saw as well.
But then a little voice in my head said, "what if the donor saw actually runs ?" The real mechanic's challenge, would be to get the derelict saw running again.
So- I turned the donor saw engine with a breaker bar a few times until the clutch shoes broke free from the drum, with a nasty noise that sounded like breaking spaghetti before you drop it in a pot to boil it (yikes)- presto the clutch was free, but visibly inside the drum is very rusty on the ID- filed the points with a heavy grade file until they were flat, the crater in them was like something from the moon, but managed to get them flat and shiny, put them back in, greased the cam lobe/wick, and gapped points at .015" using the points cover (it's the gap tool on these). Reassembled the flywheel and pullstart. Greased the driven gear on the gear drive, replaced the cover. Re-attached the spark plug wire end. Removed the air filter. Cleaned the plug with Windex and a toothbrush, pulled the starter, no spark- then a few more pulls, it started to spark but looked a little weak. Put the plug in the engine, snapped the wire on.
sprayed some starting fluid in the carb hole, pulled the rope- "VAROOM"- the darn thing fired right up first pull and ran for 5 seconds on the starting fluid- mixed up some fuel, put it in, set the "H" and "L" screws on carb, and turned up the idle stop out 1 turn, pulled the rope and it was running amidst a huge cloud of blue smoke, then slowly cleared up, and in about a minute it was idling on its own- it would not take wide open throttle without loading up and smoking- turned down the "H" screw while holding throttle wide open, found the WOT sweet spot, then it would SCREAM at wide open, but had a little bog just off idle- opened up the "L" screw 1/4 more turn, the bog went away- so then it's running like a champ, but no chain/bar on it (actually had a few go cart engine ideas at this point)
I took the chain/bar from the saw that was supposed to be the "good" saw, the chain was rusted fast- soaked it in Amsoil/trans fluid/Marvel Mystery Oil in a bucket, got all the links free using vice grips and a small hammer, cleaned the bar and greased the channel, put the bar/chain on the saw, adjusted the chain tension- squeezed the crushed oiler line with pliers to make it round again, so oil could pass through it. Fired it up.
"VAROOM-rattle-rattle-shake"- the "donor" saw is now the good saw, and the oiler works too. The clutch is working fine.
:greenchainsaw:
but...the cutoff switch doesn't work- the plug has to be shorted with a screwdriver to shut it off- next job is swap in a good killswitch.
I thought maybe you'd all enjoy the story of bringing a saw back from the dead. What amazes me is, this saw was totally abused and at first glance, you'd want to pitch it on the pile at the scrap yard, for its weight value in metal. Yet it has a lot of life left in it, and lots of power. Obviously these saws were built to last a few lifetimes and take lots of abuse, i.e. they were OVERBUILT to a large degree- I'm very impressed with 1950's build quality (always was in respect to cars of the time)- and they are just so easy to work on ! Lots of space to get wrenches and tools in there, and simple, common sense design. A driveway tool set and hammer is all you need. These old saws are a lot of fun for the money, just to get running and tinker with, even if you never cut a log with one afterwards.
ps- the badley bent/wobbly bolt, I hammered straight on the sidewalk with a ballpeen hammer, then ran a 1/4-20 die on it to clean up the threads- the hardware is so good from the metallurgy standpoint, that even the bolt was salvageable.
I removed the pullstart and was putting it on the "good" saw, when much to my surprise, noticed the "good" saw had boogered up keyway slot on the crank, and either needs a new crankshaft or welding/machining to fix the keyway. So I thought no problem, pull the crank from the beat up donor saw as well.
But then a little voice in my head said, "what if the donor saw actually runs ?" The real mechanic's challenge, would be to get the derelict saw running again.
So- I turned the donor saw engine with a breaker bar a few times until the clutch shoes broke free from the drum, with a nasty noise that sounded like breaking spaghetti before you drop it in a pot to boil it (yikes)- presto the clutch was free, but visibly inside the drum is very rusty on the ID- filed the points with a heavy grade file until they were flat, the crater in them was like something from the moon, but managed to get them flat and shiny, put them back in, greased the cam lobe/wick, and gapped points at .015" using the points cover (it's the gap tool on these). Reassembled the flywheel and pullstart. Greased the driven gear on the gear drive, replaced the cover. Re-attached the spark plug wire end. Removed the air filter. Cleaned the plug with Windex and a toothbrush, pulled the starter, no spark- then a few more pulls, it started to spark but looked a little weak. Put the plug in the engine, snapped the wire on.
sprayed some starting fluid in the carb hole, pulled the rope- "VAROOM"- the darn thing fired right up first pull and ran for 5 seconds on the starting fluid- mixed up some fuel, put it in, set the "H" and "L" screws on carb, and turned up the idle stop out 1 turn, pulled the rope and it was running amidst a huge cloud of blue smoke, then slowly cleared up, and in about a minute it was idling on its own- it would not take wide open throttle without loading up and smoking- turned down the "H" screw while holding throttle wide open, found the WOT sweet spot, then it would SCREAM at wide open, but had a little bog just off idle- opened up the "L" screw 1/4 more turn, the bog went away- so then it's running like a champ, but no chain/bar on it (actually had a few go cart engine ideas at this point)
I took the chain/bar from the saw that was supposed to be the "good" saw, the chain was rusted fast- soaked it in Amsoil/trans fluid/Marvel Mystery Oil in a bucket, got all the links free using vice grips and a small hammer, cleaned the bar and greased the channel, put the bar/chain on the saw, adjusted the chain tension- squeezed the crushed oiler line with pliers to make it round again, so oil could pass through it. Fired it up.
"VAROOM-rattle-rattle-shake"- the "donor" saw is now the good saw, and the oiler works too. The clutch is working fine.
:greenchainsaw:
but...the cutoff switch doesn't work- the plug has to be shorted with a screwdriver to shut it off- next job is swap in a good killswitch.
I thought maybe you'd all enjoy the story of bringing a saw back from the dead. What amazes me is, this saw was totally abused and at first glance, you'd want to pitch it on the pile at the scrap yard, for its weight value in metal. Yet it has a lot of life left in it, and lots of power. Obviously these saws were built to last a few lifetimes and take lots of abuse, i.e. they were OVERBUILT to a large degree- I'm very impressed with 1950's build quality (always was in respect to cars of the time)- and they are just so easy to work on ! Lots of space to get wrenches and tools in there, and simple, common sense design. A driveway tool set and hammer is all you need. These old saws are a lot of fun for the money, just to get running and tinker with, even if you never cut a log with one afterwards.
ps- the badley bent/wobbly bolt, I hammered straight on the sidewalk with a ballpeen hammer, then ran a 1/4-20 die on it to clean up the threads- the hardware is so good from the metallurgy standpoint, that even the bolt was salvageable.
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+1 on that. I think we've been "had" too many times on this site.
