FridgeFreezer Posted September 30 Share Posted September 30 I have a feeling the pads on my X-Brake are getting a tad low but having checked the internet people seem to want well north of £50 for a pair of very small pads... so the thought occurred to me that for the princely sum of about 10 quid I could buy a set of regular pads from something else and just whittle them down to size. But then I've no idea if brake pad material is sensibly cuttable let alone machinable - I'm sure that breathing the dust is a Bad IdeaTM but even outside of that, the pad material is likely not good for cutting tools either. Is this a daft idea or has anyone actually done it? Certainly feels like something @Stellaghost or @simonr would have experimented with at some point Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stellaghost Posted September 30 Share Posted September 30 5 minutes ago, FridgeFreezer said: I have a feeling the pads on my X-Brake are getting a tad low but having checked the internet people seem to want well north of £50 for a pair of very small pads... so the thought occurred to me that for the princely sum of about 10 quid I could buy a set of regular pads from something else and just whittle them down to size. But then I've no idea if brake pad material is sensibly cuttable let alone machinable - I'm sure that breathing the dust is a Bad IdeaTM but even outside of that, the pad material is likely not good for cutting tools either. Is this a daft idea or has anyone actually done it? Certainly feels like something @Stellaghost or @simonr would have experimented with at some point Absolutely done it before, I used a grinder and a dust mask, if I was doing it now I would do it in the milling machine as it does not create the airborne dust you get with a grinder, the pad is a sacrificial material and will not cause any issues with a milling cutter Regards Stephen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted September 30 Author Share Posted September 30 Gold star for that man, I knew someone would come up trumps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickeyw Posted September 30 Share Posted September 30 I'm sure I remember reading somewhere that these pads are available from JCB parts suppliers for considerably less £ than X-brake resellers are charging. Just need to know the machine model this caliper was used on. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSD Posted September 30 Share Posted September 30 A smidge more than your £10 target, but these fitted just fine for me. Definitely not gen parts, but no nuns or kitten have been harmed thus far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonr Posted September 30 Share Posted September 30 34 minutes ago, TSD said: A smidge more than your £10 target, but these fitted just fine for me. Definitely not gen parts, but no nuns or kitten have been harmed thus far. They look good! It doesn't say, but they look like Sintered material. You can get Organic pads which are much cheaper than the originals - but they just don't last and end up a false economy. If these are sintered, they are a total bargain. I have tried re-lining them (actually I had a local shop re-line them) but the saving was trivial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted September 30 Author Share Posted September 30 55 minutes ago, TSD said: A smidge more than your £10 target, but these fitted just fine for me. Definitely not gen parts, but no nuns or kitten have been harmed thus far. Those look spot on, I owe you a jaffa cake! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSD Posted September 30 Share Posted September 30 I can't honestly remember if they were sintered or not, but I suspect that they were. Of course, it's eblag, even if they were, it doesn't mean the next box will be. If you get one of each, the box is probably blue, and the organic half contains asbestos (and is on fire). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vulcan bomber Posted September 30 Share Posted September 30 I've milled loads of brake pads, did a set just last week. Its abrasive to even carbide cutters so they dont last long. Wear a mask and be prepaired to be covered in more dirt and snot than after a day of machining cast iron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon White Posted 19 hours ago Share Posted 19 hours ago As stated above - the caliper Si used on the x-brakes is a JCB one. EBay, or your local agricultural factors will be able to supply pads for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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