We picked up some nice hardwood countertops from Ikea and proceeded to remove the old ones. We needed to cut out for the sink and stove top.
I quickly found out that my father's Sears circular saw was no longer working, it was down to the basement to find another saw. Sure enough the only one there was a Stanley circular saw circa 1950. It was the saw he used to build the other house. After many years of sitting in a damp basement, it still worked. It lacked many of the standard safety features you'd find on saw today. The safety feature I particularly liked was a separate grounding wire. You were supposed to screw into the outlet center screw, luckily we were plugged into a GFI outlet. If things went really wrong I was trusting that this metal saw would trip the GFI before I got too electro-shocked.
Here are two quick videos in case you want to try this at home.
I had to do a few plunge cuts and use a jigsaw to cut out the corners but in the end it came out well. The only piece left to complete is the back splash. I'll use the counter cut outs and rip them with a band saw to cut them down to 3/4 inch then glue them together.
The finished product.
