Big Jig Saw

[johnsironsanctuary]

I picked this up off of a Craigslist ad. It is a 1939 Craftsman 103-0404 24" throat jig saw. I did not know that they were built this big. It is a beast. It was mounted on a Sears tool stand with the motor below the saw. The original mounting was behind the table. It has some mechanical issues that need to be dealt with and it is waaay beyond the age where Sears has parts.  The blade mechanism is a Scotch Yoke. That's the thing that changes rotary motion into linear motion. I'll get photos of the innards later. A set screw rattled loose and chewed on a sliding bore. Then a crank pin in the rotary counterweight pounded it's way out of a press fit. I'm almost done with repairs and the frame has been sanded, primed and repainted blue. The old underlined logo is in great shape. The only thing missing is the presser foot and blade roller. I am planning to build them from scratch because the only way to find one is to buy another machine and that is not in the cards now.

[scottg]

This is a nice saw John! I am glad you got the drive back together.
Its the same size all the good ones were, when I was a kid.  I like the stand too.
Be sure to keep or restore the step pulleys so you get a range of speeds. Proper speed control is important.
   yours Scott
   

[ron darner]

Nicely snagged, John!  Looks like a good one.

[mikeswrenches]

This looks a lot like a Delta that I saw at a garage sale in upstate NY a couple years ago. Possibly they were who made yours.

Mike

[johnsironsanctuary]

Thanks Ron.

Mike, from what I can tell, so far, I think that this is an Emerson Machine. It appears to be a high end home shop machine. The scotch yoke would not be made up mostly of die castings if it were for professional shop use.

Scott, I'm not done with the repair yet. I'm waiting for an ebay item. When I found a press fit pin hammered itself loose in a die cast counter weight, I made a new pin from a shoulder bolt. The item is a HeliCoil kit to thread the counter weight. I have not started making the hold down foot/guide roller assembly yet. I did manage to sand and repaint the frame Craftsman Blue.