# Good uses for old brake rotors?



## Reddinr

I have a number of old brake rotors laying around because I'm a pack rat.  I made one of them into a stand but there must be some creative uses beyond that.  I've seen these examples on this forum:  Rotary table auxiliary table, index wheel and grinder stand.  Anyone else repurposed brake rotors?


----------



## middle.road

I've got one of these on a tall (6) gallon bucket. Always tipping over.
I took one of the PackRat® rotors that I have laying around and put it in the bottom of the bucket. No more tipping.
Of course when I go to grab it to move it I forget it's in there...


----------



## silverhawk

Go to the back yard metal casting web site. He starts by building a gingery large and ends up using cast iron to make things by melting it. 

joe


----------



## RJSakowski

We have a floor lamp that used a concrete (and I use the term loosely) weight at the base for stabilizing.  It finally disintegrated and I replaced it with an old rotor.  No more wobble.


----------



## Reddinr

If I go to the casting web site I might pick up another hobby...  Not sure dear wife could take me with yet another bunch of projects, equipment to buy etc.

Course, can't hurt to look...


----------



## Nutfarmer

I use them to weight down tarps covering out side stored equipment


----------



## ELHEAD

Large one from a full size van, a piece of leftover 2" rigid conduit, and a small poc of scrap 1/4" plate made a portable vise stand. ( no pic)
Flywheel for drill.


----------



## Mitch Alsup




----------



## ddickey

You can use them to tram and check nod on your mill. New ones are very flat.


----------



## GunsOfNavarone

I don't know about you, but when I replace them, it's because they are slightly warped.. I have 2 in the garage as we speak and I thought about putting on the index table and using a fly cutter to skim cut them. If I had to take them under spec, of course I wouldn't use them, I'm just wondering if I can re-true my own rotors? Lathe's swing isn't enough..
Sorry this didn't give any idea how to re-purpose them, my uses have already been covered.


----------



## BtoVin83

I take them to the junkyard and turn them into money


----------



## middle.road

ddickey said:


> You can use them to tram and check nod on your mill. New ones are very flat.


Not to be dis-agreeing with you here, but the last pair I bought for Honey's Caddy from RockAuto were out .005" after I mounted them.
Took them to an acquaintance's shop and laid them on the surface plate and they weren't 'good' at all.
Seemed to me like maybe the arbor was not registering properly during machining or something.
This was 6+ years ago and they were from Canada. (Supposedly...)
Returned & exchanged them and the replacements were fine.
Had the same thing happen with rears on my kid's car several years ago.


----------



## ddickey

Maybe some are better than others.


----------



## Reddinr

Ok, the backyard casting looks like a lot of fun!  But, too big a can of worms for me.


----------



## Superburban

Many of them say they should be turned on the car after mounting them. Depending on how they are mounted, they can be twisted by uneven tightening of the lugs. I think that mainly applies to the style that have the rotor held to the hub by the lugs, not the ones where the rotor is captured between the hub and the wheel. Do many shops even have the equipment to resurface rotors mounted on a vehicle?


----------



## Superburban

edit, removed double post


----------



## kd4gij

If rotors where dead nuts true, the pads would rub all the time.


----------



## GunsOfNavarone

Superburban said:


> Many of them say they should be turned on the car after mounting them. Depending on how they are mounted, they can be twisted by uneven tightening of the lugs. I think that mainly applies to the style that have the rotor held to the hub by the lugs, not the ones where the rotor is captured between the hub and the wheel. Do many shops even have the equipment to resurface rotors mounted on a vehicle?


I always take mine to the local checkers...they do it on a brake lathe and never charge me (I give them a handsome tip) I did have warranty twork through Nissan once...they did it on the truck and soon as I drove off..I knew something was wrong. The outside of the disc looked like a vinyl record= DEEP grooves! So the equipment/technique is secondary to skill. I don't think run out is ever a concern with brakes/rotors though.


----------



## Bi11Hudson

When rotors are "dead flat", such as surface plate flat, the pads don't get pushed clear when the brakes are released. I have never had to replace them because of marks, letting the pads work into the grooves, after which everything was fine. In addition to automotive application, I have had several motorcycles with disk brakes. And brakes on a motorcycle are a couple orders of magnatude more critical than automobiles. Never put me on the pavement, I'd say they work fine.

That said, I make scale flanged wheels for 1-1/2 inch:1 ft (1/8) scale trains from them. I actually build 1/5 scale models, where the 7-1/2 inch track represents 36 inches.

Mounting up the car disk in a lathe, I cut off the actual disk, keeping the hub and a half inch of the "web". They finish out to very nice with a 3/16 flange. Hubs are made from several layers of 3/4 plywood, well sealed. My source was a "jack-leg" mechanic working at a small shop. The biggest problem I had was getting two the same diameter on an axle. I've still got a dozen or so single wheels, all different sizes. Even after trimming, there'ws too much difference to use together.

That was the reason I had to commission the Craftsman 12X36. Everything else was done on a 9X19, and fits. I had the 12X36 on hand because I liked the idea of the full "Norton" threading box and wanted to copy it. Other than that, after I built back gears and a reversing lead screw for the Grizz, the full "Norton" and the swing were the only factors. Well, and finding room for the four foot plus bed VS a little under 3 feet for the 9X19.

So why don't I have more trains? Seems my "git up and go" got up and left town after my last stroke (#6) left me in a wheelchair. I still have a few projects sitting out and getting rusty. Drives me nuts that all I have left is the small models and had to dispose of my motorcycles. I miss the wind in my face.

.


----------



## Hawkeye

I used a pair of them to make the clamping mechanism for an adjustable welding vise.


----------



## GunsOfNavarone

Hawkeye said:


> I used a pair of them to make the clamping mechanism for an adjustable welding vise.
> View attachment 322329


Very cool idea! Out of curiosity...what is the "foot pedal" hanging by threaded rod at the bottom?


----------



## NCjeeper

I made some drink holders out of a few.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_xlOlmCHG0


----------



## mattthemuppet2

Bi11Hudson said:


> When rotors are "dead flat", such as surface plate flat, the pads don't get pushed clear when the brakes are released.



pads are retracted by the deformation of the o-rings in the piston bores and the reduction in brake fluid pressure. Press on the brake pedal, o-ring deforms a little, release the brake pedal, o-ring goes back to original shape. If the piston travel is large (like getting pads back to the disks after pushing the piston in) then the o-ring slips. Reduction in brake fluid pressure also pulls the piston back a bit, until the return port in the master cylinder is opened. Total pad travel from brakes off to on is really small, which is why the rotors have to be dead flat. Getting the pads to clear warped or bent rotors = lots of pad travel and brakes that engage way too late.


----------



## nnam

I am worry about the cast iron dust on a lathe, but wonder if it can be used to make a steady rest.  People cut them into chip, I cut them and they turn into powder.


----------



## Hawkeye

GunsOfNavarone said:


> Very cool idea! Out of curiosity...what is the "foot pedal" hanging by threaded rod at the bottom?


You can just see the chrome sleeve from a Harley rear spring below the bowling ball. The spring provides the clamping pressure. The foot pedal pulls the lower disk down to loosen the ball so you can position the vise.


----------



## Bi11Hudson

nnam said:


> I am worry about the cast iron dust on a lathe, but wonder if it can be used to make a steady rest.  People cut them into chip, I cut them and they turn into powder.



re: The dust from cast iron.

My usual practice is to lay paper towels along the ways. Cast iron (and ductile iron) make dust where steel makes curli-ques, chips. It is a known factor. I have a use for the commercial rolls of paper towels from Sam's and just tear off a couple of pieces to protect the lathe when I'm working cast.

The dust is abrasive, when mixed with oil could just as well be lapping compound. It should be avoided at all costs from settling on the machine.

.


----------



## Reddinr

I do the same thing with paper towels but I also spray some light oil on the paper towels to make the dust stick a little. Not 100% effective but it helps.


----------



## deakin

Superburban said:


> Many of them say they should be turned on the car after mounting them. Depending on how they are mounted, they can be twisted by uneven tightening of the lugs. I think that mainly applies to the style that have the rotor held to the hub by the lugs, not the ones where the rotor is captured between the hub and the wheel. Do many shops even have the equipment to resurface rotors mounted on a vehicle?



i've heard that too but i believe i am safe in saying that the car manufacturers do not turn them on the car on the assembly line so i have always ignored that theory. 
i can do them either way. the only way i do them on the vehicle is if the rotors do not come off easily.

i have a horror story of how the so called "machinist" did them at a car dealership i worked at when i was a puppy.


----------



## Bi11Hudson

Reddinr said:


> I do the same thing with paper towels but I also spray some light oil on the paper towels to make the dust stick a little. Not 100% effective but it helps.



My machine is so old and loose and literally awash with oil, that laying paper towels or news paper or even grocery bag paper will soak up so much oil it becomes saturated on contact. Of course, the flat, non-prismatic ways of the Atlas just reinforce this.

.


----------



## GunsOfNavarone

Hawkeye said:


> You can just see the chrome sleeve from a Harley rear spring below the bowling ball. The spring provides the clamping pressure. The foot pedal pulls the lower disk down to loosen the ball so you can position the vise.


That's REALLY slick! Here I am using it as a door stop....


----------



## stupoty

I've made a traveling steady for my lath from a brake rotor , non vented kind.


----------



## Reddinr

> I've made a traveling steady for my lath from a brake rotor , non vented kind.



Great idea!  I don't recall ever seeing a non-vented rotor.


----------



## Hawkeye

Take a look at post # 20. You'll see both vented and non-vented.


----------



## stupoty

Reddinr said:


> Great idea!  I don't recall ever seeing a non-vented rotor.



ahh it's them smaller european cars , even my strait 6, 2 liter 5 series only has solid rotors and thats quite a big car (for UK).


----------



## Alcap

I'm taking stupoty's suggestion and grabbed a brake rotor from work to make a steady rest , at least I hope .  I have some non-vented to try a follow-rest ,   they came off a Subaru , 
stupoty do you have a thread on your steady rest build or some pictures ? Thanks


----------



## stupoty

Alcap said:


> I'm taking stupoty's suggestion and grabbed a brake rotor from work to make a steady rest , at least I hope .  I have some non-vented to try a follow-rest ,   they came off a Subaru ,
> stupoty do you have a thread on your steady rest build or some pictures ? Thanks



I just went to take a photo and cut my finger pulling chips out of chip tray, will get back to it in a min. owch


----------



## nnam

My thinking is making tight fit holes for the two pairs of forks for the hinges, insert tubings into those for alignment and bolt up.  After all that, then take out and cut two places for the opening so everything lines up good and tight.


----------



## nnam

If I can get a used stainless rotor, it would be great.


----------



## ericc

Making a follower rest sounds like a very good idea.  I didn't think of this.  I drew a scaled picture based on an Ebay photo and laid it on a scrap rotor.  It doesn't fit, of course, but it is close.  Maybe a little bit of fitting and welding, and you're there!  I think I might try this out.  There is one thing I need a follower rest for, which is to make a new cross feed screw for my old worn out one.  But, my machinist friend says this is beyond my skill level and I should just buy the kit on Ebay.  Maybe it will be a long term project.


----------

