I have an Evolution Rage 3-S compound mitre saw. It's been OK. I replaced the bushes earlier in the year having had the saw for 18 months. It blew up this week. Looking at the armature, a couple of the copper pads that the brushes brush against have come off. Probably the brushes broke and ripped up the armature.

The replacement part is £60, or a new saw is £120. Do I take the risk that a new armature solves the problem? The blade is great, so I could probably eBay the new blade that comes with the saw for £20. What would you do?

fpr the price difference i would get a new one, there used to be places that would rewind / repair armatures, may be worth having a look round

you have repaired it once, get a new one
I notice cpc (farnell) sell them, and they show it with a 3 year limited warranty, so maybe possible to 'claim' from that

I wonder what you can use the rest of the broken one to build...

Hi
From my years of running work shops I would say buy a new one with warranty and back up. Inevitably the trigger or something else will be worn and only available at huge expense and down time when you need the tool. We have replaced bearings in routers and motors in drills and angle grinders. Return springs in pillar drills etc usually means the machine has had a lot of use.
More valuable equipment where the price of a new motor or rewind is a relatively small percentage of the value makes repairs worthwhile but mig welders seem to be uneconomic unless it’s smaller components
Hth
Mike