I am happy to announce that the fuse was replaced and the saw does work, I was able to reattach the blow tube, which is better now than when the saw was new. The speed is still kinda wacky, so I had my wife pick up a replacement 'pot' for me. My local Radio Shack is going out of business and they didn't have the part I needed but they recommended another local store that did have the correct part, sort of. The original part fits in a 5/16 inch hole. The replacement part needs a 3/8 inch hole, and is quite a bit bigger, physically. It is a 50K ohm Linear Taper pot, so electrically it should work. It appears the shaft is a bit larger also.
I am wondering if I should go ahead and modify the saw to use the new 'pot', or keep checking to see if I can find the proper part. Any thoughts and/or concerns would be greatly appreciated.
BTW, even though I am 55 years old, I can't talk about a pot without chuckling like an 8th grader