What to do with broken drill?

[Fugio]

So last week, when I bought my M18 combo, the guy had a Dewalt DWD110 sitting there too, so I bought it. He either threw it in with the deal or I paid 5 bucks for it. I can't remember.

I wanted a corded drill for those rare times when batteries were drained or for when the load was so heavy that batteries weren't enough for the job.

Anyway, I got it home and realized it was broken. The guy said it was, and he was right. The switch and motor are great, but the main drive gear is missing 4 or 5 teeth and the keyless chuck is ruined.

I could just buy a new one for only a few bucks more than fixing this one. So what would you do with the drill? I hate to throw stuff away if I can make something cool with it or find some other use for it.

 

[Big Pete]

I used one in similar shape to drive a drill sharpener. I used a peice of hose to connect the motor spindle to the grinder spinle, as they don't need much power. I clamped the drill to a board using steel banding. Worked a treat until I got access to better kit. You could also do the same thing with one of the pumps intended to be drill driven.

 

[Fugio]

Nice idea! Oh man I bet it would make one hell of a pencil sharpener too!

 

[Ign]

There's a guy that advertises on my local CL as wanting dead or broken tools and equipment. I rounded up ~6 items that were either dead, obsolete (old, heavy, all-metal, slow, impractical Thor grinders) or just sucked from the get-go (one of those all-metal $19.99 Cman 1/2" impacts that feels like it does 80ft lbs on a good day) and gave it all to him.

Point being, I bet if you scour your shop you'll find other tools you really don't want and know you can't sell but don't want to throw away. See if you can find someone like this on CL. I'd almost suggest a free listing but that can REALLY be a PITA. I suspect my guy was just a hoarder but I don't care - once it leaves my sight I have to forget about it.

Or see if your local scrap yard will pay by the pound for electric tools.

I will tell you from experience DON'T fix it if a new one is close to the cost of parts. I know this sounds terrible but you'll most likely come out $$ behind. Only repair it if you feel so strongly on the principle of it that in the end you're willing to actually pay more for a used tool (which is entirely your choice).

I dumped way too much $$ into a Milwaukee die grinder once and could have almost bought a new one for the cost of parts, plus the tool still wasn't right after $160+ in parts and shipping!! I eventually gave it to the guy above because I NEVER used it.

 

[404]

If nothing else save the carbon brushes, they likely will fit something else in your future.