Grinder Project Completed for $11

This weekend started like the previous one – lots of snow.  The project from the previous weekend was still in pieces, so I wanted to wrap that up.  After studying all the parts, I decided that I only needed to purchase new motor brushes, which are little rectangular slabs of carbon.  The bearings were in excellent condition, and the bevel gears only required new grease.  I grabbed what was left of the carbon brushes and headed to the Torch River Ace Hardware store.

There were 4 boxes of carbon brushes of various sizes to pick from.  Not a single brush was an exact fit, so I decided to buy a pair that were slightly larger than what I needed.  These carbon brushes can be filed or ground down re-size them very easily.  The new brushes were $5.50 each, so my total investment in this tool repair was $11.  When I got home, I spent a few minutes at the grinding wheel to reduce the carbon brushes to the size needed, then reassembled the tool.

The Hilti Angle Grinder went together much faster than I expected, but there really weren’t many parts.  When it was finished, I plugged it in and pulled the trigger.  The tool spun quickly, starting right up with a solid kick.  I put on a new cutting wheel and tried it again.  It really sounded good, and had a lot of power.  This tool will only see occasional use – how many times do you need an angle grinder?  Maybe for the next motorbike project this will come in handy.  Thanks very much, Ryan!

About Kevin Forth

Always learning, Kevin is an IT professional that likes to tinker with electronics, motorcycles, and whatever he can take apart.

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2 Comments on “Grinder Project Completed for $11”

  1. Kevin, I used to make my own carbon brush’s for my 59 Norton dominator 99. I would saw open AA battery remove the carbon rod cut it in two, they were a pefect fit in my magneto.,it beat having to buy a high priced set from Lucas. Glad the grinder worked out good ,some tools have whats called a thermal overload wired into the armature winding which can be removed it that fails and the two wire ends soldered back together. I did that with a vacuum cleaner. They fall for many reasons, one of which is the overloads are a one time overload, they don’t reset. Keep looking for that next project ! Graham

    1. Thanks for the tips, Graham, and for the great story about the AA battery. (Would love to have that ’59 Norton today. Wow!) Yes, this tool has a thermal overload wired into a voltage regulator, but thankfully that appears to be working. This tool will have an easy retirement life in my garage – it’s not often that I need an angle grinder, but it will be nice to have when I need to cut a hunk of metal off something, or smooth out a weld.

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