Wire Brushes?

[Striker169]

Ok so how do you know when you should replace your wire brush on a drill? I am working on sanding down parts of my cab and frame to get rid of the rust and well any tips on when to change them out?

[Tx Firefighter]

The wires will wear to be much shorter than when new.

If you're doing a lot of wire brushing, you need an angle grinder (as cheap as 15 bucks at Harbor Freight) and a knotted wire cup brush. I use mine on everything. It's many, many times better than a drill mounted unit. Also, make sure it's the knotted wire brush, and not straight wire cup brush. See how there are many ropes of wires woven together into bristles rather than zillions of individual wires.



You can buy them at any hardware store or Home Depot for about 15 bucks. They last forever.

[Striker169]

Hmmm... Maybe I will get one of those I saw those when I was getting some wire wheels today at harbor freight.... Any recomendations on a good angle grinder, I dont like the cheapo harbor freight tools they just brake and brake and brake.

[raidermanny]

I recently finished stripping my frame and have to agree that the knotted brushes with a grinder will do the job much faster and last longer. However you will not be able to reach all areas with a grinder and will need to use a drill with a brush also. You will be able to tell when the brush needs to be replaced by the amount of time you need to spend in one spot to remove any paint/rust. Once it starts taking a lot longer of a time replace it. I have a 4" Makita grinder that I use for work and it worked fine. It was only $40 on ebay.
Good luck

[71SWBChevy]

We have a fairly cheap Makita grinder that my dad has had forever and we have done everything in our power to kill that thing and it just doesn't die. My dad bought it planning on using it for 1 job, that was about 10 years ago and it is still running strong. it is a little underpowered but not to bad and the other bad thing is it has an odd size on the head so it is kindof hard to find cups that fit it.

[Tx Firefighter]

I have 2 angle grinders, an old Harbor Freight 20 dollar one, and a new, pretty expensive, DeWalt one. The old HF one works just as good as the expensive one. This is like the first time in my life I've recomended a cheap tool. I usually have Cadillac (re..Snap-On) taste in tools.

[Striker169]

Tx Firefighter, yeah I think its a luck of the draw with those tools, becuase my older brother has gone though 6 YES 6 of the harbor freight tools and I told him after like the 3rd that he should just fork over the money for a nice Dewalt which is what I think I am going to get.

[Strictly Gravy]

I have a metabo. Not a cheap grinder, but I got it as a gift from a company I used to work for. I have beaten the hell out of that things. Stripped 2 cars, cut tons of metal plate and aluminum, etc. If it ever breaks, I really dont kno what i would do.

-Greg