Let’s face it—seeing a good tool go to waste is heartbreaking. So when his cordless drill’s motor gave up after some unfortunate exposure to the elements, [Chaz] wasn’t about to bin it. Instead, he embarked on a brave journey to breathe new life into the machine by swapping its dying brushed motor for a sleek brushless upgrade.
Things got real as [Chaz] dismantled the drill, comparing its guts to a salvaged portable bandsaw motor. What looked like an easy swap soon became a true hacker’s challenge: incompatible gear systems, dodgy windings, and warped laminations. Not discouraged by that, he dreamed up a hybrid solution: 3D-printing a custom adapter to make the brushless motor fit snugly into the existing housing.
The trickiest part was designing a speed control mechanism for the brushless motor—an impressively solved puzzle. After some serious elbow grease and ingenuity, the franken-drill emerged better than ever. We’ve seen some brushless hacks before, and this is worth adding to the list. A great tool hack and successful way to save an old beloved drill. Go ahead and check out the video below!
I recently threw away an older black & decker corded drill that was “intermittent.” Found the connections on the switch was loose. I probably could have fired it, but I already have three newer drills plus a drill press, so I at least got to perform a “failure analysis” (I did keep the chuck key, as I’m not an animal after all)
but not the motor?
i guess we are all half-animal…
Throwing away a working drill with just a loose wire instead of giving it to someone with no drill at all to fix it for himself is very humane way of handling resources. Congrats.
Turns out most people aren’t interested in old trash
The amount of effort it takes to even give stuff away and the assumed lifetime warranty people expect makes giving stuff away unattractive.
I’ve been burned several times by being generous.
Fully with you on this. Giving away things to have someone complain years later that it’s not working? Never again.
I’ve given away faulty stereos for free on a free adverts site and never had an issue. I agree that there’s something wrong with those who want free stuff that’s uneconomic to repair. it’s like they lose all perspective. it has to be high end to get takers, a cordless drill wouldn’t get any interest.
I’ve advertised stuff for free on Craigslist and got no takers, even after a few days. But when I put it out by the curb it disappears within minutes. And nobody can complain about some trash they picked up from the curb. :)
Why are you the way that you are_
an anecdote to reaffirm your choice
had an old milwaukee sawzall where the trigger had gone dodgy. went to milwaukee for the official replacement part and they sent me to some ereplacementparts.com sort of garbage and they did have my old model in their index but the part they shipped me was wrong. it fit physically but it resulted in the saw having only a tiny fraction of its previous power. it went from unstoppable to totally useless. i kept using it for a while in denial…soooo frustrating.
replaced it with a pawnshop black and decker saw.
“I recently threw away”
Can someone provide me a good reference as to what this phrase means? I’m entirely unfamiliar with it.
it’s what your kids do with your workshop treasures after you’re gone
I fixed my Ryboi 1/2HP saw-saw recently. One had a burned motor; the other one a broken blade holder. Luckily, there was almost no difference between the designs made about four years apart. I simply swapped the working assembly to the newer one and was back in business. Saved myself at least $50. I had been meaning to throw the old one away, but glad I hung on to it.
I have a burned up HF $20 hammer drill. I re-used the trigger and it controls a winch, forward and reverse.
Using a resistive pressure sensor for trigger control would have never occured to me for this application. Didn’t think it had the R range or current rating needed. Neat !
I must remind you that a simple model aircraft driver is not competent for this job. The driving circuit of the power tool must withstand sudden stalling and speed changes, which will bring about voltage spike processing and current control requirements. The required safety level is much higher than driving an aircraft to fly.
i agree it seems like a poor fit but i’m not sure about your specific points. hobby rc controllers are designed to be pretty bulletproof. people do play with the throttle lever alternating 100% / 0% just as eagerly as any power tool user. and between disintegrating in mid air and running into trees and the ground, they definitely experience a lot of sudden stalls. in my limited personal experience, they’re totally indestructible to this sort of abuse. i wouldn’t be surprised if a power tool is way too much for them, but i wouldn’t be surprised if they can handle that too.
i’m curious what you mean by safety level, though. most drills i’ve had are perfectly happy to break your arm when they stall. i did pay extra for a dewalt drill with an electronic feature to turn it off if it binds, because i knew i’d be using it for hole sawing…and it works and i’m glad i have it but it’s definitely the exception
They AREN’T indestructable. Btdt, moved on.
They are far from indestructible, just ask anyone who flies drones, you can burn out a speed controller in a crash because the motor stalled. Also speed controllers and other electronics made for planes or drones are usually designed to require airflow over them which happens naturally for drones and can be designed for planes, inside a drill housing is a very different environment with limited ventilation and could lead to overheating.
Tremendous hack. As someone that proudly shoe horned a kids toy little into an also broken finger nail dryer and had it work- I felt like I’d completed a heart transplant.
The wires broke, the fit was terrible and needed much shims with cardboard and everything else but after the case (thermowelded! Darn you!!) went back on no one but me could tell.
*Kids toy motor.
Autocorrect + no editing = crazy fun.
It would have been a lot easier to glue a level bobble on the new drill
I look at things this way…….if I can’t fabricate something myself…why would I throw it away ill start my list with screws so I save categorize and store
I turned it into a servo-robot for auto-parsing
Walmart sells brand new brushless drill kits with battery, charger, and warranty for $30.
You’re not wrong but there is non-monetary value in repairing something that is broken. Sometimes for the challenge, sometimes to save something from the landfill. Not sure this drill hacker’s particular motivation but the existence of new items doesn’t negate the value in repairing old items