I own sixty-eight circular saws, and that’s utter lunacy, part three-the Guild saws

Previously, we’ve seen the development of the K-series saw from the engineering prodigy of the K-8 to the hugely successful K-88. We’ve delved into the 507/508 saws that would influence the next generation of heavy-duty models, bringing us up to the early ‘50s regarding the commercial level, or Speedmatic, saw lineup. Let’s take a moment to familiarize ourselves with the saws of another line, one meant for the sawyer on a budget. I speak of the Guildtool line, and the A-4/A-6/A-8 saws.

In 1936, Porter-Cable decided to set up an alter ego aimed at the home handyman, known as the Syracuse Guildtool Company. Located at 1720 N. Salina St., Syracuse, NY ( the Porter-Cable Machine Company was at 1714 N. Salina Street if you're wondering, so no one was really fooled; the mental image of George G. Porter taking time from his dieting regimen to put the equivalent of Groucho glasses and a trench coat on the new business never fails to crack me up). The Guildtool line was never very extensive, with only eleven known tools made under the Guild aegis, and would be brought into the Porter-Cable fold by the '50s. The earliest tools to surface were the 2-A sander, the HT hedgeshear, and the 4-A circular saw.

Left A-4, to the right, the original 4-A

The 4-A is a far cry in every respect from the Speedmatic first and second-generation saws, being made of much finer castings and using ( gasp) bronze bushings for the arbor, a design that seems reprehensible in the era of inexpensive ball bearings but was, and is, completely acceptable in this class of tool. A bronze bushing, properly lubricated, can take an exceptional amount of stress, as thousands of metal lathe headstocks can attest. The 4-A was a reversion to the worm drive design Skil had developed in the early '20s, save for scale. The 4-A introduced the concept of the 4 1/2" blade, making it very handy for trim and sheet goods. A common application today for these saws is the breaking down of plywood, and I've found mine to be indispensable for making repairs to damaged clapboard siding, allowing (with the addition of a scrap clapboard, turned upside down) a cut that is accurate enough to go through the board without sawing the tar paper underneath.

The 4-A would be followed by the A-4, which seems like apple polishing nonsense. However, the A-4 differs mechanically in being an all-ball bearing saw. The switch was also replaced with a beefier trigger, necessitating a change to the handle casting. There are three known variants of the saw, almost undetectable at a glance. The A-4 is an excellent if somewhat fragile saw, better suited for delicate work than heavy carpentry ( why a dado set was available for it we may never know), and it soldiered on until 1956. Rockwell would introduce a much stouter version, the 314, in the '70s, but the elegance of the earlier saw was lost.

Left to right (deep breath) A-8, c. 1949, A-8 c. 1950, A-8 c. 1952,A-8 c. 1956, A-6 c. 1950, A-6 c. 1952, A-6 c. 1952.

The next (and last) Guild saws would debut in 1947. The A-6 and A-8 were an attempt to offer a circular saw at a cost that the home handyman, serious hobbyist, or frugal tradesman would find more agreeable. Costs were cut in this case by eschewing the traditional gibbed dovetail depth slide and angled segment, producing a saw that retailed for 65.00. This was a considerable saving, as a K-75( the smallest Speedmatic line saw of the time) was 110.00.

The A-6 was quite popular, both because of the lower cost and because of the handiness of a 6" saw for trim work; the biggest downside is that the original A-6 and A-8 weren't capable of anything other than a 90-degree cut, the base only having provision for adjusting depth. This was changed by loosening the twin knobs at the front of the saw and turning the captive thumbwheel in the handle to the specified measurement. This deficiency was remedied almost immediately by a clever retrofit, as seen on this early A-8,



The tilt attachment is simply a pair of plates, joined by an integral piano hinge and incorporating twin wingnuts to hold the chosen angle. The metal strip at the front that appears to be a rip guide is actually the marker for lining up the saw, as the hinged base geometry doesn't keep the edge of the base constant in relation to the saw blade. This worked well enough, although there was an extra adapter plate required to mount an early A-6 to the saw table.

Did I mention the saw table?

The Guild saw table was designed to offer an option similar to the Speedmatic 5500 saw table available to owners of the smaller K-series saws. After finding this particular unicorn and trying it out a bit, I think the Guild is better in certain respects, as it comes standard with legs ( they were an option with the 5500), has a rather clever guard arrangement, and is lighter to carry. The only real failing is the difficulty in changing the blade ( the 5500 table flips up for blade changes) and the somewhat rickety push rod for the switch, a less costly design than the switchable outlet of the professional model.

By 1950, the A series saws had been redesigned to incorporate a conventional angle bracket and base, the depth arrangement being converted to a screwless slide locked down with a bakelite knob. the notch in the handle for the depth thumbwheel was covered by a new Guild tag and was deleted from later handles ( though the earliest of this second type have both the notch under the tag, and the helical inserts for the front knobs, being old stock items used until depletion ). During this time, the aluminum thumbscrew that locks the angle bracket was replaced by a largish wingscrew, but the greatest change ( other than the tilting bracket) was the upper guard. Originally, these saws had what I refer to as a fender skirt, which wins several points for style ( now, tell me that isn't straight out of Detroit), but serves no practical purpose and strikes me as potentially being done to compete with Craftsman power tools of the period, which tended to be very streamlined. It doesn't make it any harder to change blades; the threaded jackshaft and blade nut were still king on N. Salinas, and the upper guard had to be removed to swap out blades for any of the A-6s or A-8s anyways.

Around 1952 or so, the fender skirt idea fell by the wayside, and a newer upper guard appeared.This shaved off the "-6/8 Porter-Cable" found on the earlier guard. By 1954, the whole affair was looking a bit dated, and both saws were redesigned to use the "kick proof clutch" blade screw and washer of the 507-508 saws, while the distinctive, prow-like handle was replaced on the A-6 by the 115 style handle which allowed the cord to exit the side instead of the back. The last year for the A-6 was 1955, and the A-8 made it until 1956, having undergone a lesser facelift, including a kicky new metal tag, available with red or black lettering ( I have no idea when, or why, this change was made, but several examples exist). The A-8 kept the original handle to the bitter end.


For those of you playing at home,

A-6: 3,200 rpm (load), 6" blade, 12 lbs
A-8: 2,700 rpm (load), 8" blade, 14 lbs


The A-6 and A-8 were considered economy saws, but they are far from cheaply made, being quite a bit more robust than the same fare from other manufacturers. Guild saws can be found at flea markets and garage sales to this day, as they were made in large quantities and held up very well to the level of use most of them experienced. These saws had few faults ( once the lack of tilt was corrected), and most of the changes throughout production were cosmetic, essentially attempts to disguise how dated the saw looked. The development of these saws, and the further evolution of the design, taught Porter-Cable a lot of valuable lessons in design. Several of those concepts would find their way into our next group, one of which was the saw that got me started collecting and restoring, the unimpeachable 115.