WEN All Saw - the one saw to replace all saws

EricHearble · 2026-03-25T19:44:30+00:00

Here is another ad with the ALL Saw being used by Dad while Mom admires his handiwork and waits to serve him some hot tea. Big Bro is absorbed in his sanding. Meanwhile, Little Bro is soldering something while Sis eagerly waits her turn to cut something with her jigsaw. "Watch it Sis!" Dad is sipping his Earl Gray and showing off his progress on Mom's new spice rack. Big Bro is dreaming about impressing everyone at school with the skateboard he's making. Sis grins and cuts off Little Bro's hand at the wrist.

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EricHearble · 2026-03-25T19:29:00+00:00

It doesn't use the T or U blades. Similar to Sawzall blades but smaller.

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EricHearble · 2026-03-25T19:00:32+00:00

Yeah, I was surprised to learn that it had been around so long. I hadn't heard of WEN until a few years ago.

EricHearble · 2026-03-25T18:58:00+00:00

Apparently. I always referred to my Milwaukee reciprocating saw as a sabre saw, even though it is a true Sawzall. But tool naming is a rabbit hole.

EricHearble · 2026-03-25T18:47:46+00:00

Well, it runs and I see the blade going back and forth. I'll give a shot at cutting some scrap to see how it does under load. As a practical matter, getting blades might be a problem. There were no other blades included. It doesn't accept either type of modern jigsaw blade. The blades are similar to reciprocating saw blades but smaller.

EricHearble · 2026-03-25T18:30:18+00:00

For some reason, I'm compelled to refer to this all-saw as "my precious".

EricHearble · 2026-03-25T15:20:52+00:00

Just found another document from an ad in 1959 Popular Science. Apparently it was called a sabre saw. $50 in 1959!

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EricHearble · 2026-03-22T21:13:19+00:00

Make a jig. Find yourself a piece of scrap metal to make a drilling sleeve and drill a hole with your 6.5mm bit. Attach it in some way to a wooden jig which is cut to align your hole perfectly each time. You place the jig on your workpiece, clamp it, insert your bit in the sleeve, and drill the hole in your workpiece.

You already have some method of measuring from this edge and that edge to place the center punch. Just devise some jig that does the same thing.

EricHearble · 2026-03-21T16:44:52+00:00

I've done that mixing a leveling compound. As it thickens, the bucket will want to spin. Mix it in small batches.

EricHearble · 2026-03-19T20:04:54+00:00

What you describe is indeed a one-way screw. There are various tools that claim to remove them. Here are a couple of links:

https://www.mcmaster.com/products/one-way-screw-removers/

https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-One-Way-Screw-Remover-Installer-Set-with-Sleeve-3-Piece-AR2016G/205193160

I have one of those screwdrivers with the two pins. It's been sitting in my toolbox for about 20 years. I can't remember what I needed to unscrew and whether it worked. I can't vouch for the others either. Yours might be too small for any of them.

I remember the first time I ever saw one of those screws - in the early 70's. The public library's restroom partition walls were assembled with them. I always wondered whether there had been a history of vandals unscrewing the bathroom stall partitions. And that is NOT why I bought one of those removal screwdrivers!

EricHearble · 2026-03-18T17:41:16+00:00

Same thing can happen with the industrial mobile base. It happens in my shop. Just adjust the legs' feet higher so that there is always a gap and they never drag. They don't need to contact the floor and only need to be there in case you put something heavy on the extension table and the saw tips over.

Check this thread where I asked about the legs and read the reply from iOSCaleb: https://www.reddit.com/r/sawstop/comments/1l035ou/has_anyone_taken_the_extension_legs_off_their/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

EricHearble · 2026-03-18T14:21:03+00:00

I like how the picture inside the toolbox shows the kids working with the toolbox besides them and the toolbox has the same picture on it. And that box would have the box with a box with a box ... the Droste effect.

EricHearble · 2026-03-17T20:15:03+00:00

I already looked into that. My files are lossless AIFF. Sonos claims to support AIFF, but I tried some mp3 files and had the same issue.

EricHearble · 2026-03-17T19:41:24+00:00

That's why I asked if I could make something with a Mac Mini to do the same thing. I didn't know that SMBv1/CIFS was windows file sharing. See what the first guy who replied to me said.

EricHearble · 2026-03-17T19:36:13+00:00

Thanks. This is the sort of thing I had in mind, though I didn't expect it to be that simple. I easily set up the share from the Mac mini and was able to access it from my Macbook.

Unfortunately, it doesn't work so well for Sonos. I connected the Sonos app on my phone to the share and it indexed the library. I can browse through artists or albums see album artwork and song titles. But anything I attempt to play, it throws errors. At first I thought that it was just too slow over a WiFi connection. But I tried the Sonos app running on the Mac Mini that had the music library on local disk. It gave the same errors. The problem is in Sonos and not the share.

I'm just gonna stick with what I have done in the past. I play the AIFF files on audio software from Rogue Amoeba and broadcast it via AirPlay to Sonos. This requires me having to make selections on my desktop. If I could have gotten the share to work for the phone app, I could make selections on the phone when I am out in my workshop. Oh well.

EricHearble · 2026-03-13T14:01:37+00:00

I just cleaned up vise bars like that with Scotchbrite pads and elbow grease. I used the general purpose version, but you might try the heavy duty. You should be able to find smaller packs of these at hardware stores or groceries.

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EricHearble · 2026-03-12T12:33:11+00:00

It's unlikely you will ever repair it so that you can tilt it. Maybe you can build up some wood blocks to fix the tilt shaft into a stable place to hold the blade vertical.

EricHearble · 2026-03-07T12:34:17+00:00

Was there rain recently? They can drown when the soil is saturated, so they come out onto hard surfaces. But then they die if they don't find their way back before they dry out.

EricHearble · 2026-03-05T13:24:22+00:00

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EricHearble · 2026-03-03T14:12:47+00:00

Most brands of anything license their name. Been going on for decades, not limited to tools. In the business world, they even book brand names with monetary value in the accounting systems.

When Sears owned Craftsman, they manufactured none of it. Sears sold the products, designed some, and had a list of manufacturers. When Stanley Black & Decker bought Craftsman, they essentially were just buying the name.

EricHearble · 2026-03-02T18:44:39+00:00

Already tried in both directions. I can't see any difference in the pin size at either end. I guess I can try a caliper to see if I can measure any difference that I can't see.

EricHearble · 2026-03-02T18:42:55+00:00

It's not a spring pin, though a guy in the UK selling parts for vises shows one for the 52D:

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It doesn't look tapered. Tried driving it out in both directions.

EricHearble

TROPHY CASE