This 1960s Wright Reciprocating Saw can be found listed here on Facebook Marketplace in Cascade, Wisconsin, and the seller is asking $150. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Lothar… of the Hill People for the tip!
I found another similar one here on eBay in Florence, Montana, and they’re asking $165 or best offer. Let’s check out these two unusual non-chainsaw saws.
Sometimes, there isn’t enough info, or any info, on unusual motorized items like this saw. Sellers often don’t know, and they rarely show a photo of any number plates or stamped numbers, which is unfortunate. The first photo of the red and white saw is the Facebook example, and the orange one above is the eBay saw. You can see that the orange one above appears more complete, with the covers in place on the right side as shown. Wright saws were made in Sheboygan, Wisconsin and Louisville, Kentucky, from what information I can find out about them.
There isn’t a lot of information about Wright saws available, unfortunately. It’s mostly forum entries with a lot of “… if I recall correctly…” type of information, which is often incorrect. We do know, or think, that Wright Power Saw & Tool Corporation started making these unusual reciprocating saws in the 1940s. They were thought to be safer than chainsaws, but weren’t as efficient or conducive to heavy production or the business of cutting trees. Here’s a video on YouTube showing a newer model cutting through a log, or attempting to.
We saw a regular vintage chainsaw last December here on Barn Finds, and it’s a beast compared to this relatively tame reciprocating saw. There were several models of Wright saws, but without knowing any numbers, there is no real way to 100% positively identify this one, at least that I know of. I believe this is either an 18″ or 20″ saw blade, and the cutting teeth on early models were direct drive, as in, they weren’t operated by a clutch, so the teeth are always moving. This little saw weighs between 20 and 25 pounds.
Wright saws had Wright engines, and were at some point built by Poulan and Thomas Industries, which is what I’m assuming the “T” is for on the left side, but I don’t know for sure, so that’s just spreading more potentially false information. The engine should be a Wright 7.06-cu.in. two-stroke single, and this straight-handle model seems a bit rarer than one with a curved handle, but again, info is pretty spotty on these things. Have any of you heard of a Wright reciprocating saw?
Amazing how this came and went, yet resepricating saws are still a go to in demolition. Myself I prefer a plugin for the tuff stuff from metal to heavy deconstruction. If they could have figured that out you still may know the name. They used a tried and true method as even early saw mills used a reciprocating motion until someone finally found those teeth turning worked better and faster.
The blade end reminds me of the electric knife my dad used to carve the turkey. This would work for Emu’s, Ostriches and such…
Anyone remember the Ted Nugent debacle?
I was not aware of that one, 8banger. I just looked it up, sound brutal, as any chainsaw incident tends to be.
I do remember the 90’s group Jackyl, who included a chainsaw solo in their act…
Very cool, and I have seen images of these, I’m not sure they are as dangerous as they look, it sure beat the heck out of hand saws. The author is correct, not much, except I read something called a “drag saw”, was attached to a log, and a similar recipro action. These seem to date to just after WW2, and chainsaws had been around a long time, so this must have been a different way of doing the same thing. I bet these cut a lot of wood. I actually enjoy cutting down wood, standing timber is not for the faint of heart. You think dirt bikes are bad, I read almost 36,000 ER visits per year in the US, are chainsaw/wood cutting related.. Makes a dirt bike seem safe, no? Great wall art, but really, there are much better ways to cut wood. The best? Why, that’s a Stihl, of course, and it was never disclosed what kind of chainsaw Ted “The Sledge” was using. I read, the 1st “endless” chainsaw was made in 1905, but it was Stihl that patented the 1st gas chainsaw in 1929.
This is really unique. I’ve never seen, nor heard of this before. On paper its not a bad idea, possibly safer ( at least safer than that widow maker Scotty wrote up before. Very cool Scotty!!! I need to watch the video on how it cuts.
Ok…… So……. I watched the video….
Thats, at least from my best guess looking at my phone, about a 6 to maybe 8 inch diameter log. I have to admit, it took a bit longer for that thing to work through that log than I thought it would. Maybe the blade needs to be sharpened? Its still a neat find and a great shelf piece / conversation starter for sure.
Hi Dave, I think perhaps that was the attraction with these, is one could easily sharpen the teeth, much like a bucksaw. I know that chain teeth take a certain knack to sharpen, and early chainsaws exhibited a phenomenon called “kick back”, and modern chains eliminated that. I never had any luck sharpening chain saws and just went and got a new chain.
Don’t tell my wife about this saw, she’ll want it. I gave her a Sawzall years ago for her birthday, and she loves that thing.
Okay, I’d sure like to know, what does she do with it? My daughter has one, she used to build movie sets and is probably the most valuable tool she has. It should be noted, the word “Sawzall” is a patented name by the Milwaukee Electric Tool company,,,from my hometown of that same name,,in 1951. Like Kleenex or Jello, all reciprocating saws are “Sawzalls”. By the way, did I ever tell you how a sawzall helped tremendously in my Fox Mustang heater core issue? :D
My God I am old….. This was the first saw I ever ran when I was a kid. My Dad showed me how to run it, and handed it off to me. I was in 4th grade…..
I love when barn finds has these random items from a bygone age
Movie reboot : The Wisconsin Reciprocating Saw Massacre.
HA! I know just the place too, Plainfield, Wis. home of Ed Gein,,,:0
My dad had one,,don’t know how much he used it tho.
About 1961 or 1962, they still had salesmen come out and demonstrate new tools. My grandfather had a guy come to the camp with one of these and they cut down a tree. My grandfather did not buy it; sticking with a chainsaw.
Yep,, I guessed it was around 1960 when my dad had that saw and we’re not that far from Plainfield either about 40 min. drive
You must admit, Barnfinds, is diverse. From airplanes, to chain saws!
you will cut your arm off kid. i would only use this as garage art
all my yrs in da woods, never saw one.
I’d B sure to use the dogs (& maintain them well) as if not used, it would/could vibrate the heck out of you. The ele recipro saw is a good example.
Might B easier to sharpen than the chain saw’s blade. Only + I see~
Perfect for your next Halloween get up!
That’s cool ! Milwaukee invented the sawzall in ’51 according to the history channel for plumbers and then we carpenters took a shine to it. I have a Homelite xl chainsaw 62cc with a 20 inch bar.Shes a beast with a new chain .no safety guard for your hands but it awesome even has copper fuel lines built in 1968.
This probably wasn’t too safe or efficient, as are today’s reciprocating saws. They probably didn’t sell well. I’ve been around since the 1950’s and have never seen one like that in any store or advertised anywhere.
We had one when I was an early teen. Was a great step up from a crosscut saw.