I picked up this 1940′s Dunlap scroll saw off craigslist in December 2007. It came with a few blades, a 1/4hp Century motor, and some parts for bolting it down.

I found the Old Woodworking Machines forum, and companion .com site and registered my machine.

At that point, the restoration process began, work progressed, methods were perfected, and restoration was completed.

As it says on the Old Wood-Working Machines profile

The saw was purchased by a cobbler (shoe maker) in Fishers Indiana in the late 40′s. It was installed on a wooden support with the motor cantilevered off the back to keep tension on it. As far as I know, this saw was never used on wood. From the amount of leather dust that has collected on it, I think this is a fair assessment. The old bastid is in pretty rough shape. The building it was stored in was nearing a roof collapse from snow the day I picked it up. The grandson of the cobbler owned the property until this past year, and let it dilapidate in ways I can’t begin to describe.

The saw came with the belt and an ancient 1/4hp Century motor. The old stand it was on was so rotten it barely held the saw up. I’m surprised it hadn’t collapsed when the new property owner tried to move it. By the time I got there, it was mostly dust and toothpicks in the dumpster out front.

The last week in March 2008, I built a cabinet carcass to mount the saw and motor to. The motor is mounted inside the cabinet with the saw on top. I painted the cabinet with two coats of white primer, and plan on building a panel cabinet door with some scrap wood as soon as I have scrap that has matching lengths for the rails and stiles. Until then, the cabinet will remain an open-front box. I’m also planning on picking up some cheap, 10″ drawer slides to put a small drawer in the front to hold blades and other small tools. I’ve got casters on the way, which will raise the cabinet another 4″ off the ground, and allow me to move it about the shop for actual use. At this point though, the saw is fully operational, and it works beautifully!

Here’s a picture of the saw as it stands in the shop, April 6th, 2008.

Words aren’t enough to describe the condition of the saw when I got it, and as it sits now. So here’s a few thousand words worth of pictures.