Don’t throw away your old wire brushes, restore them
Does your wire brush look anything like the one above? Pretty useless huh? And yes, yes, I know you’re not supposed to put too much pressure on the tip of a wire brush, but hey, I’m a contractor, time is money right? So if you’re like me and you let impatience get the better of you and you’re lifting up the rear of the brush for that little more ‘oomph’, prematurely wearing out the tips, then read on…
This quick tip is simplicity itself, all you need to fix this wire brush and get a good deal more use out of it, is a saw. Now this was a plastic brush so I used a hacksaw, but I’m sure an old wood saw would have worked just as well. Wooden wire brushes of course cut easily with a normal wood saw.
Choose the new first row of full length bristles and aim your saw cut in front of this, (right up to the first row of bristles you’re cutting off). This leaves the maximum amount of wood or plastic in front of the now “new first row” of good bristles. Cut from the top side of the brush, otherwise the teeth on your saw will get snagged up on the wire bristles. And hey presto, a ‘new’ wire brush. Perfect for those smaller wire brushing jobs. You might even be able to do this twice on larger, longer wire brushes.
That’s it, your done, hope that’s given you an idea!
Stay well,
Ian
