Uses for old brake discs.

[Mark P.Participant @markp]

Hi all can anyone suggest any uses for used brake discs?

Regards Pailo.

[Mark P.Participant @markp]

[Alan Worland 1Participant @alanworland1]

Flywheel?

Alan

[Boiler BriParticipant @boilerbri]

Bin!

Sorry

Brian

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

Too big for bandsaw, too lazy for hacksaw.

Can anyone suggest a way of breaking them into usable chunks? Sledgehammer bounces off, 20 foot onto concrete damages concrete…

Neil

[geoffParticipant @geoff]

how about an anglepoise lamp base for the bench nice and heavy so the lamp stays put

geoff

[Gordon WParticipant @gordonw]

Cut a groove with angle grinder or chisel to break clean. Also make a good flywheel.

[Russell EberhardtParticipant @russelleberhardt48058]

Fix to a backplate to make a disposable faceplate? Possibly an adjustable one.

Russell.

[SpringbokParticipant @springbok]

Leave them out for our itinerate friends to steal……

[Mark P.Participant @markp]

Thanks chaps,food for thought.

Pailo.

[Jeff DaymanParticipant @jeffdayman43397]

Brake discs make excellent bases for racks to support bent rods used in hanging painted parts to dry. The holes or studs in them can be used with all-thread and nuts or threaded couplings to make any shape of rack needed. Also excellent for weights used in welding jigs to hold small parts while tacking. I've seen a big one from a truck used as a base for a pedestal mount for a small bench grinder.

Incidentally I have broken up a few by dipping in liquid nitrogen for a few minutes and then appying a splitting maul (looks like a sledghammer, but one side of the head has a chisel wedge, which applies an enormous point load to the cold iron). However that was when the place I was working had the liq nitrogen readily available in big vats often and at very low cost…. ahem

JD

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

Posted by Jeff Dayman on 30/04/2012 19:58:25:

that was when the place I was working had the liq nitrogen readily available in big vats often and at very low cost…. ahem

So you were the man on teh bus witha thermos hissing suspiciously in his knapsack…

Neil

[Jeff DaymanParticipant @jeffdayman43397]

No, that was just my soup…

I took the brake discs into the plant though, for breaking up, as well as any other "cryo" jobs. The guys in that group didn't mind people occasionally using their vats with proper precautions, but didn't like the cold stuff walking out. I imagine it was because if someone had a spill/frostbite type accident taking the stuff away, the managers would know right where it came from, and heads would likely roll.

JD

[alan frostParticipant @alanfrost17805]

My plan eventually is to use an old brake disc or two to form a heavyish turntable on which to mount at least three of my grinders/linishers, indexing the turntable to bring the required grinder to the front of the bench. I prefer to have coarse, medium, fine ,green grit wheels , a polishing mop and a small linisher all available wthout changing a retruing wheels. This many grinders can devour and waste a lot of space unless mounted on an indexable turntable.

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi, here's how I've used one.

It was shown at the ME centenary exhibition in 2007 and also at the Midlands, and a brief description can be seen in the artical on the Midlands Model Engineering Exhibition 2007 by Richmond in MEW 132 pages 34-36.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 30/04/2012 23:16:18

[Jens Eirik Skogstad 1Participant @jenseirikskogstad1]

I used the brake disc as material (brake disc is made of cast iron) for piston ring, piston for small model engine, some parts in steam engine where cast iron is necessary as material.

Easy to work with hack saw, file and drill, lathe and milling machine.

[Terry LaneParticipant @terrylane]

Extreme Frisbee!

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

By the time I come to change my discs theres not much left worth salvaging!

Have often wondered what use they are as to anything useful but mostly just scrap.

Clive

[Tony JeffreeParticipant @tonyjeffree56510]

Posted by Boiler Bri on 29/04/2012 16:11:05:

Bin!

Sorry

Brian

Brian –

You couldn't make a very large bin out of one…

Regards,

Tony

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

You could stick one on the bottom of the bin to stop it falling over. Ian S C

[Ray LyonsParticipant @raylyons29267]

Looking for a flywheel to fit inside my mill/drill, I bought a new one to fit a Vauxhall Nova at a car boot sale for £2. It fitted nicely inside the drive pulley and together with another lump of 11/2" steel completely changed the performance of the mill. It helped having six 6mm holes through which I used 3 bolts to hold the flywheel in position.

Ray

[Speedy Builder5Participant @speedybuilder5]

Could you profile them and then use them as formers for boiler backheads etc ?

[Boiler BriParticipant @boilerbri]

I still think the best place for them is in the bin!!

Bri

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

It would seem they are quite high quality and I wonder if some one who has a home smelter could use them and cast big lumps out of them.

Clive

[Tony JeffreeParticipant @tonyjeffree56510]

Posted by Clive Hartland on 01/05/2012 22:33:37:

It would seem they are quite high quality and I wonder if some one who has a home smelter could use them and cast big lumps out of them.

Clive

Presumably the big lumps then go in the bin?

Regards,

Tony

Edited By Tony Jeffree on 01/05/2012 23:18:37

[Author]

Posts